What is the Most Expensive Coffee? (Solved & Explained!)

The beans from Black Ivory coffee are the most expensive coffee beans you can find on the planet. Black ivory coffee is made in the same way that its main competitor is, by harvesting the coffee beans after they have been digested by elephants. The process to create black ivory coffee is both expensive and time-consuming, resulting in a price tag of around $600 US dollars for a single pound.  

Continue reading on to learn more about the growing and harvesting process of Black Ivory coffee, where you can get some for yourself, and some different alternative blends to try if you are having trouble with the price tag.  

History of Black Ivory Coffee 

Blake Dinkin, a Canadian entrepreneur, was lounging around one day, pondering what to do with his life savings. He had a concept that came to him out of nowhere. If consumers will pay $600 per pound for coffee that has been processed by a lowly civet, imagine how much they will pay for coffee that has been processed by an elephant! Thus the idea and the product, Black Ivory coffee was born.  

These Arabic beans are harvested and roasted by the Black Ivory Coffee Company from Thailand. It is made in the same way that civet coffee is made. Elephants swallow the coffee beans and metabolize them during digestion. Their stomach acid breaks down the coffee bean proteins, giving the drink a distinctively powerful flavor. The Black Ivory coffee is both rare and expensive because just a little amount of coffee beans are accessible at any given time. 

Where to Find Black Ivory Coffee 

Unfortunately, you cannot just purchase a bag of these highly sought-after beans from your local coffee shop or grocery store. The Black Ivory Coffee Company provides these beans to only five-star hotels and Michelin star-rated restaurants.  

The company does, however, sell an extremely limited quantity of beans on their website, however more often than not you will find them completely sold out. If you want to taste this amazingly rich coffee, you will need to travel to select places in China and Thailand to snag a cup for yourself.  

Alternatives to Black Ivory Coffee 

If you are like most people and either cannot get to Thailand or China or are unwilling or unable to pay up to $600 per pound of coffee beans, there are other coffee blends similar to the Black Ivory blend that are more affordable for serious coffee aficionados.  

Molokai Coffee 

At a price point of around $60 per pound, the Molokai coffee from the island of Hawaii is one of the few natural places in the United States where coffee beans are still grown. While the more popular Hawaiian version of coffee is Kona Coffee, Molokai coffee is marketed toward the serious coffee drinker. 

Moloka’i, located in Maui County, Hawaii, is the only area on the planet where Molokai coffee can be cultivated. Any coffee that seeks to imitate the qualities of Molokai coffee must be prominently labeled as “Molokai-style coffee” or bear some clear indicator that it is not real Molokai coffee cultivated in Hawaii. 

Molokai coffee is currently produced only by the company “Coffees of Hawaii.” Their 500-acre farm supplies 100% of the world’s Molokai coffee supply. When the tremendous demand from coffee connoisseurs is combined with the relatively tiny worldwide supply, the exorbitant rates Molokai coffee commands become more reasonable. 

Saint Helena Coffee Beans 

This coffee is unique and prized since it is grown on the small and relatively unknown island of Saint Helena in the south Atlantic. It stems from a little speck on the map, a British colony where Napoleon was eventually exiled. Green-tipped bourbon beans from Yemen rule the land here.   

This bean is known as the Pinot Noir of world coffee since it is difficult to grow and prepare and is prized for its complexity and delicacy. Starbucks made waves in 2016 when it prepared coffee from Saint Helena beans and sold it in specialty aisles for around $80 for every 8.8-ounce bag. 

Today, Saint Helena beans are bagged and sold globally with an average price tag of $145 per pound. While not as expensive or dark as Black Ivory, the Saint Helena beans still command the top price for their prized beans. 

Finca El Injerto 

This Guatemalan coffee benefits from being grown at a high elevation, sitting more than 5,500 feet above sea level. The beans come from a single plantation of coffee that was grafted over from a sugarcane plot. Micro lots of this coffee are frequently auctioned off, earning prices in excess of $500 per pound. 

Finca El Injerto, like Kona and other of the world’s other more prestigious coffee brands, is frequently used on roaster’s labels but isn’t necessarily manufactured with coffee grown in this desirable Central American enclave. 

Kopi Luwak 

Our most expensive alternative on the list, the Kopi Luwak coffee beans are what originally gave Dinkin the idea for Black Ivory Coffee. Kopi Luwak, a prized Indonesian method of producing premium coffee, refers to the procedure that lifts the beans to such high prices. When the coffee beans pass through the civet, a tropical forest cat, they will ferment during the process. 

In addition to the chemical changes the cat’s stomach makes on the beans (which top roasters frequently swear by), it’s thought that the civet has a nose for the best beans, only consuming the best of the crop. 

This has resulted in a very pricey coffee that is unlike anything else, at least in terms of provenance. It should be emphasized that there is a fair amount of fraud in this coffee as well, and producers continue to experiment with beans traveling through various animal species in search of something unique in the cup. 

If you are wanting a coffee experience similar to the Black Ivory, the Kopi Luwak is the closest blend you will find to replace it with. Do note that while there are a lot of counterfeits on the market, there are reputable manufacturers that you can get this coffee. Be prepared to get your wallet out, however, because the Kopi Luwak is not that much less expensive than its Black Ivory counterparts.