Dubai launches coffee that costs $1,000 a cup

Rare Nido 7 variety of Geisha coffee is grown on volcanic slopes of Mount Barú in Panama

Barista Serkan Sagsoz of Julith Coffee prepares Nido 7FC Panama coffee in his cafe in Dubai (AFP via Getty)

A Dubai café is offering a rare coffee that may claim the title of the world’s priciest cup, selling for 3,600 dirhams or about $980.

What sets this brew apart is the Nido 7 variety of Geisha beans, a rare and premium strain grown on the volcanic slopes of Mount Barú in western Panama. Cultivated in tiny micro-lots, each harvest yields only a few kilograms of beans.

The ultra-exclusive coffee is being served by Julith Coffee, which plans to pour out only around 400 cups of the prized beverage.

The beans came from a record-breaking auction in Panama earlier this year, where 20kg sold for around 2.2m dirhams ($600,000) after a fierce bidding war involving hundreds of buyers.

Julith ultimately secured the lot after 549 bids, marking the highest price ever paid for a coffee batch.

Nido 7FC Panama coffee is presented at Julith Coffee cafe in Dubai (AFP via Getty)

Serkan Sagsoz, head coffee roaster at Julith, told The National a cup was reserved for Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, with only a handful of other people likely to taste what he described as a “piece of history”.

“This is not a gimmick or marketing stunt,” he said.

“Nido 7 Geisha is a remarkable coffee that only a handful of people on the planet will ever taste and now, for the first time, that’s possible right here in Dubai. With so little of it in existence, every cup feels like a piece of history. I would be truly honoured to one day brew a cup for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed.”

Mr Sagsoz, who earlier ran a café in his native Turkey, said that the brew would contain white floral notes of jasmine and citrus flavours like orange and bergamot and a hint of apricot and peach. "It's like honey, delicate and sweet," he said.

Café owner says a cup is reserved for the ruler of Dubai (AFP via Getty)

Connoisseurs describe the Nido 7 beans as the “crown jewel” of the Geisha family, an already rare and prized coffee lineage that is known for its floral aroma and complex sweetness.

Nido 7 earned a score of 98 at the “Best of Panama” competition, one of the highest ever recorded in the coffee world. None of the varieties so far has scored more than 96.5 points. At least six international judges even gave 100 points to Nido 7 Geisha.

Dubai holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s most expensive coffee, with a brew sold for 2,500 dirhams ($680). This new offering sets the bar even higher.