Why Is Coffee So Expensive? (Solved & Explained!)

Coffee is so expensive because coffee production is a complex process. In addition, coffee farming takes place only at specific climate and environmental conditions, which increases its cost.

In this article, we will go through various factors that contribute to an increase in the price of coffee, such as the coffee process, what the most expensive beans are, and why certain types of coffee are so costly.

Why Is Coffee More Expensive than Tea? 

Below are some of the important reasons that make coffee more expensive than tea:

1. Coffee Plantation is a lengthy process. 
2. Coffee plants take a long period to grow than tea plants.
3. As a result, coffee plants yield the fruit that produces the coffee beans much later than tea.
4. On average, it takes about three and a half to four years from the plantation of coffee trees to the production of fruit. 
5. Some plants may take even more time, even up to five years, to produce fruit. However, after plantation, coffee plants, like other trees, have a long life span. They can live for about twenty years. Therefore, during the early period of their life (three to five years), farmers have to take good care of the plants.

To get the desired amount of coffee beans, they have to nurture every plant for an extended period. On the other hand, tea plants only require three years to grow, so it’s more expensive to buy coffee.

Coffee plantations require a specific climate. Therefore, the environment directly affects coffee production, related to an increase in its cost. Coffee grows well in tropical areas at temperatures ranging between 16°C to 28°C throughout the year.

Coffee plants are more sensitive to cold, frost, and sunlight. They need rainfall between 125-200 cm. While tea can grow in subtropical and tropical climates, coffee is more expensive.

How Coffee Processing Makes it Expensive?

Coffee needs many years to grow, which makes it more expensive. This is because the coffee growing process needs so many steps, from its cultivation to a full cup of coffee. However, coffee plants grow into complete trees and can live for many years.

Next, the harvesting methods and its preparing methods need more steps than tea, making it more expensive than tea.

For example, if you choose selective harvesting of coffee fruits, which is a time-consuming process as it is either done by hand or through types of machinery which require a lot of money for the payment of workers and for being types of machinery. Next, you pass it through a hot or wet process depending upon the type of coffee you are harvesting.

The other reason is the growing and harvesting time, as some coffee trees produce fruits twice a year, while some produce once a year. Therefore, if the climate allows the harvest action twice a year, their coffee will not be as expensive as compared to those who have the production of coffee trees once a year.

When the coffee is produced, it is harvested and passed through extensive dry and wet processes. In the dry process, you simply keep the fruits under the sun, and in the wet process, you keep the berries in the large water tank.

This process will allow the ripened fruits to sit at the bottom surface of the water, and spoiled fruits will come on the top surface of the water. After that, the bad fruits are picked and removed.

The outer skins of all the fruit are removed, and the fruits are added to the palping machine. These beans are added to the tank for one or two days. After that, they are washed well and left for drying. The following process is the roasting process. This is the process where beans goat most of their flavor.

For roasting the coffee beans, you must know the science when you are starting, such as when you need to stop and when you need to cool down, as missing any step can affect your coffee cup’s quality and taste. Also, they are packed carefully after all these long harvestings, drying, and roasting processes, as coffee beans are sensitive to moisture.

There is a danger of rodents and insects attacking the coffee, so packers should seal it properly. When it is transported overseas, it requires unique packaging material called jute. This type of packaging is complicated and more expensive than burlap but is also eco-friendly.

What Are The Most Expensive Coffee Beans? 

Here is a list of some of the most expensive coffee beans from around the world:

1. Black Ivory’s price is about $1200 per kilogram. 
2. Kopi Luwak’s coffee price is approximately $600 per kilogram. 
3. E1 injertopantaleon mocca coffee is about $464 per kilo gram.
4. Don Pachi Geisha’s coffee price is $363 per kilogram. 
5. Ospina’s coffee price is $330 per ko gram. 
6. La Esmeralda’s price is $281 per kilo gram. 
7. Costa rica finca is $176 per kilo gram. 
8. St. Helena’s coffee price is $174 per kilogram. 
9. Fazenda Santa Ines’ coffee price is $109 per kilograms 
10. Blue Mountain’s coffee price is $107 per kilogram. 

Why is Black Ivory Coffee so Expensive? 

Black ivory coffee is the most expensive coffee because many coffee beans are required to produce the final product, which is passed through an elephant before being cleaned, extracted, and packaged. About thirty-three kilograms of coffee fruits are needed to produce only one kilogram of black ivory coffee beans. 

Due to the unique digestive tracts of elephants, they give the coffee a new taste with notes of chocolate, malt, spice, and mild grass without the intense bitterness of coffee beans.

Black coffee is made in Thailand by Black ivory company ltd. It is made from arabica coffee beans. This coffee is not available in most places, even online. The sellers mostly prefer luxury hotels, where hotel frequenters can find a line of their coffee products.

People can only purchase this coffee online via a small portion that the Black Ivory company especially sets aside for international consumers. Therefore, the sale of this coffee depends upon the amount of its average production.