Black Ivory, hitting $1500 per pound, is the most expensive coffee on Earth. Black Ivory comes from northern Thailand and offers its connoisseurs an exotic, luxurious taste and aroma.
Nothing which has the name ‘ivory’ associated with it is ever less than an expensive designer label. This coffee ranges from $110 to $1500, depending on how much you want. However, the process of Black Ivory preparation is not appetizing. The beans are processed into incredibly flavorful and smooth by special enzymes in the elephant’s digestive tract.
Since coffee is the most cherished beverage, grown and drunk worldwide, coffee at its loftiest echelon is like caviar, aged Bordeaux, or truffles. It is costed to the extremity of towering rate tag, widely flirting with four digits per pound.
In this article, you will learn some of the most interesting facts on the most expensive coffees around the world.
What Does The Most Expensive Coffee Taste Like?
Black Ivory – the most expensive coffee – has a smooth and flavorful (much like sweet caramel) taste with a rich nutty aroma.
The fruity taste and aroma in Black Ivory come from an enzyme in the intestines and stomach of elephants, so it tastes in no way acidic or bitter. Black Ivory gives hints of tamarind, chocolate, and spice. This unique coffee stuff, in regards to its taste and synthetic process, makes it the most expensive and highly prized coffee on earth.
How Is The Most Expensive Coffee Made?
The most expensive coffee is Black Ivory because of its association with elephants.
- To get the most expensive coffee, the elephant is fed with a special type of coffee bean. They wait anywhere from one to three days for the elephant to offload its cargo. Black Ivory coffee is then made by collecting the remaining coffee beans from the elephant dung.
- The beans then go for drying and roasting.
- An enzyme produced in elephants breaks down the coffee protein in coffee beans. It is this protein that causes the particular bitterness in coffee. As it decreases, the bitterness of coffee will change and the taste will be enhanced. Elephants are also happy as coffee is their favorite food.
- Absolutely natural, instead of roasting in the machine, a special type of coffee bean called Thai Arabica, which is native to Thailand is used for this purpose.
- To get one kilogram of Black Ivory, you need thirty-three kilograms of coffee beans which equals 8,800 coffee beans.
Due to the difficulty of the manufacturing process, very few beans are manufactured.
In 2016, Black Ivory coffee produced only 150 kilograms. This coffee is only available at a handful of five-star hotels around the world mostly found in Thailand and Maldives. You can buy online if you do not plan to go there.
What Are The Top 5 Most Expensive Coffees?
The following are the most expensive coffees in the world:
- Black Ivory.
- Kopi Luwak.
- Finca El Injerto.
- Saint Helena.
- Molokai Coffee.
What Is The Second Most Expensive Coffee In The World?
Luxurious Kopi Luwak coffee is the second most expensive coffee all over the world. It costs $600 per pound. It’s the process of crafting the beans that elevate it to such costly territory.
The cherries of coffee are fermented as they go through the civet – an indigenous cat of tropical forests. Some chemical adjustments in the stomach of cats make such beans as they only eat the finest and the best bunch of beans. The result is exclusively expensive coffee beans that are one in their origin.
What Is The Third Most Expensive Coffee In The World?
Finca El Injerto is the third most expensive coffee all over the world. Priced between $500 to $800 per pound, the coffee comes from a single farm that is 5,500 feet above sea level setting of altitude.
The farm where it is grafted was once a sugarcane plot. The coffee is priced more than 500 dollars in micro-lots auctions.
What Is The Fourth Most Expensive Coffee In The World?
Saint Helena is the fourth most expensive coffee all over the world. Priced between $140 to $200 per pound – coveted and rare coffee is grown on an obscure and relatively small island of Saint Helena, South Atlantic. It comes from a famous territory, one at which Napoleon was exiled.
The coffee beans are difficult to grow and process as they are delicate and nuanced. Starbucks also made coffee from Saint Helena coffee beans and stole fame in the headlines in 2016.
What Is The Fifth Most Expensive Coffee In The World?
Molokai Coffee is the fourth most expensive coffee all over the world. Priced between $60 to $80 per pound – This Hawaiian coffee batch from a small island Molokai is gaining slow popularity.
Red Catuai is the most priced bean that thrives in the volcanic soils of Hawaii and produces a heavy-ended roasting spectrum with the tasting of richness all around the cup.
What Is Special About Black Ivory Coffee?
Black Ivory coffee is special in terms of taste, distinction, and preparation. A distinctive cup of Black Ivory has taste notes of malt, chocolate, spice, and a hint of grass with no bitter or burnt taste of regular coffee.
This will be the most distinctive cup of coffee that you will ever try even if you are far unaware of coffee tasting principles.
Which Country Drinks The Most Expensive Coffee?
Savingspot – American Finance Advisor conducted research that examined 104 countries on the basis of the average cost of coffee consumption. The research found South Korea as the most expensive coffee serving cup. The average coffee price is $7.77.
What Is Special About Kopi Luwak Coffee?
Luxurious Kopi Luwak is special in terms of its musty, smooth, syrupy, and earthy taste with hints of chocolate and caramel overtones. The cherry fruit of coffee is entirely digested by the enzymes in the digestive tract of Luwak giving a unique flavor as the beans are sorted out of their feces.
The most expensive coffee in the world is called Ospina Dynasty Gran Café Premier Classé Grand Cru. This 100% Arabica bean from Colombia grown at an altitude between 7,500 and 7.700 feet. It provides one of the most delicious tasting cups of coffee. It costs $1,580 for just over a pound.
But, there are other coffees that are up there in price as well. For instance, there’s Black Ivory Coffee harvested from elephant dung for $1,100 per pound. There’s also Kopi Luwak extracted from the dropping of civets which sells for about $650 per pound. But there are some others with a steep price as well like Coffea Liberica and Port of Mokah.
What Is Ospina Dynasty Gran Café Premier Classé Grand Cru & What Does It Taste Like?
Ospina Dynasty Gran Café Premier Classé Grand Cru is 100% Arabica grown in some of the highest Colombian altitudes. Because of meticulous methods, it produces fragrant and exuberant aromas of apricot, Azahar and peach with a velvety, creamy and balanced body.
There are also notes of almonds, chocolate and berries with an aftertaste that’s wine-like. The final resulting cup is crisp, clean and very refreshing. It costs $1,580 for just over a pound.
Why is Ospina Dynasty Gran Café Premier Classé Grand Cru So Expensive?
The farmers on the orchard at Ospina Dynasty take great care growing their particular variety of Arabica. The orchard itself has been in existence for over five generations. The farmers utilize a prestigious scientific method that each generation has expanded and improved upon.
The detailed care taken to produce each coffee tree combined with hand-selecting the best cherries when ripe comes with a price tag. Plus, they’re processing, fermenting and washing methods are one of a kind.
What Is Black Ivory Coffee & from Where Does It Come?
Black Ivory coffee comes from Thailand and harvested from elephant dung. Farmers select the best coffee cherries, mix it in with other foods and serve it to the elephants.
What Makes Black Ivory Coffee So Expensive?
The harvesting and procuring process is what makes Black Ivory coffee so expensive. Each bean comes from sifting and sorting through elephant droppings. This means there’s only a small output of the beans annually.
Plus, other factors come into play. Things like the elephant’s hunger levels, coffee cherry availability, the number of beans suitable for processing and the farmer’s skill at recovering beans appropriate for consumption.
All of this translates into consuming an exorbitant amount of time to create one whole pound of coffee. To illustrate, it takes 72 pounds (33 kilograms) of coffee cherries to create two pounds of a final product. Therefore, it costs $1,100 per pound.
What Is Kopi Luwak & from Where Does It Come?
Kopi Luwak literally means “Asian Palm Civet Coffee” and it comes from Indonesia and Sumatra. Like Black Ivory coffee, it’s harvested from the feces of a civet. These creatures are in a species all their own, even though some people call it “cat poop coffee.”
Civets are feline-like creatures that take on the mannerisms of ferrets but have an appearance like raccoons in their facial features. But they aren’t related to any of these animals in any way. It’s their digestive enzymes that make for a smooth, clean and crisp cup of coffee but without any acidity.
What Makes Kopi Luwak So Expensive & What Does It Taste Like?
The harvesting and processing of the beans is what makes Kopi Luwak cost $650 per pound. First, the farmer has to look for civet waste early in the wee hours of the morning due to the animal’s notorious nighttime activity. Plus, the droppings must be fresh or it won’t produce the right tasting kind of bean.
Once separated, the farmer will clean the beans and then let them dry in the sunshine. This part occurs several times to remove bacteria, impurities and food borne illnesses. Because there’s no acidity in the beans from the civets’ enzymes, the brewed cup has a very distinct flavor profile. It combines chocolate, fruitiness with sweetness and floral notes.
What Is Coffea Liberica & What Does It Taste Like?
Coffeea Liberica is a special type of coffee. First, it’s its own type of coffee bean and is not Arabica or Robusta. It’s smokier but it has notes of sweet cocoa along with citrus and coconut.
From Where Does Coffea Liberica Come & How Much Does It Cost?
It comes specifically from South Africa but roasted in Canada. Because of its rarity and high prices for export to Canada, it costs around $500 for one pound.
What Is Port of Mokah Coffee & What Does It Taste Like?
Port of Mokah coffee is a blend of several Arabica varietals specially grown and selected. There’s a tropical fruit taste to it that’s very sweet with notes of dark chocolate.
From Where Does Port of Mokah Coffee Come & How Much Does It Cost?
This coffee comes from Yemen but it undergoes roasting in California. Because of the difficulties in procuring the beans and with the expense of export, it costs around $200 for a single pound.
What Other Coffees Are Expensive in the World?
- St. Helena: Hailing from a UK Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, St. Helena produces an Arabica varietal of Bourbon from Yemen. It has a rich black cherry taste with a delightful brightness back by fruit and chocolate. It costs around $160 for one pound.
- Hacienda La Esmeralda Special Geisha Coffee: Grown in Panama with a bean from Ethiopia, it costs about $65 per pound. There is a huge chocolate tatse with notes of lavender, pink grapefruit, sandalwood and myrrh.
- Jamaican Blue Mountain: Depending on what you get, you can spend as little as $30 per pound or as much as $150. This is an Arabica bean grown in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. It provides a creamy, sweet cup of coffee with a perfect hint of chocolate.
Hi, I’m Jen Williams, chief editor and writer for ThirstPerk.com.
I’ve been drinking coffee and tea for most of my life, but it wasn’t until I started working at Thirstperk.com that I became an expert on the subject. I’m a total caffeine addict who has spent hours upon hours reading about and experimenting with the different types of coffees out there in my search to find the perfect cup of joe.
I’ve been a tea lover for as long as I can remember as well. I grew up in a house with a mom who loved to drink herbal tea, and I think that’s where my love for tea first began. These days, I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting teas to try, and I love experimenting with different brewing methods and flavoring combinations.