What is the most expensive type of coffee. Vietnamese Luwak coffee: unusual production

Coffee has never been a cheap product. History remembers the times when coffee beans were worth their weight in gold. And this is not an exaggeration.

The Europeans, having found a “gold mine”, began from the middle of the 18th century, plantations with coffee trees were actively developed all over the world, where only the climate allowed them to do this: in Colombia and Mexico, India and Indonesia.

Coffee became cheaper, but still brought enormous profits to those in whose hands were its production and sales. You can read about how and where coffee is grown in the world.

Even nowadays there are varieties that are available to only a few due to their high cost. We are no longer talking about coffee as such, but about the exclusivity of certain types of raw materials, in unusual ways its receipt and processing and the associated significant expenses.

A list of all coffee varieties with names and their characteristics can be found in the article.

You can find a review of the most expensive tea in the world.

The world's most expensive coffee made from dung

Most of the most expensive varieties of coffee in the world are obtained by exploiting “our little brothers.” And you can’t even ask for better assistants.

The fact is that animals and birds are endowed by nature with amazing extrasensory perception, which tells them which coffee fruits are the ripest and tastiest, and which ones are best ignored.

Human assistants include lemurs in Bali, monkeys in Indonesia, elephants in Thailand, bats in Costa Rica.

The most famous among these varieties is Indonesian coffee., which is called Kopi Luwak. A person's "partner" in this case- the musang animal, or Malayan palm marten, lives in Southeast and South Asia.

Gourmets consider this type of coffee to be the drink of kings, although they know very well what it is made from - excrement.

However, this is not entirely true. They are made, of course, from coffee beans, but only after they are eaten by a cute animal, they go on a journey through his digestive system and will again find themselves outside to undergo the necessary “sanitation” in skillful human hands.

Coffee beans- the favorite food of musangs. They will never eat “greens”; they will choose the ripest and most delicious fruits. They will be found on the tree and under it - at least a kilogram in one day.

Scientists have found that of this total amount of coffee beans, only 5 percent remain undigested, and they leave the animal’s body safe and sound.

However, being inside the animal, they manage to pass treatment with gastric juice and an odorous substance called civet. Both are good for the grains.

They are thoroughly washed, dried, and fried. Manufacturers guarantee 100% purity and safety finished product, although details of raw material processing are kept secret.

Those who have tried this coffee note the whole a bouquet of exquisite flavors - vanilla, dark chocolate and caramel.

Analogues of this drink, which are produced in Ethiopia, according to tasters, are significantly inferior in quality and cannot be considered a worthy replacement Indonesian Kopi Luwak.

The famous coffee from Indonesia is not a cheap pleasure. On average 25-35 thousand rubles. costs one kilogram of roasted beans.

Chon from Vietnam

Chon coffee from Vietnam is produced in almost the same way as Indonesian Kopi Luwak. Coffee beans are eaten by Asian palm martens.

It is believed that, having been in the body of this animal, the grains acquire healing properties, so the cup Chon coffee– it’s not only tasty, but also healthy.

The drink is surprising aromas of hot chocolate, cocoa, vanilla and caramel. It has a persistent, very pleasant aftertaste.

Interestingly, the Vietnamese method of preparing coffee differs significantly from the generally accepted one. It is never cooked in Turk.

Condensed milk is poured into the bottom of the mug, then a device called a “fin” (metal filter) is installed. Pour ground grains into it (the grind should be coarse), press it with a press and pour boiling water.

The drink is strong and rich. There is also summer recipe, in which I use ice instead of condensed milk, and a tall transparent glass instead of a coffee mug. An excellent drink in hot climates.

The price of the Chon variety per kilogram is 150-250 dollars. There are offers on the Internet to purchase a 500-gram package for 2,700 rubles.

This brand belongs to Thailand. IN technological process preparations elite coffee included...elephant poop.

If, having learned about this, someone exclaims: “Never in my life will I taste coffee that remembers what elephant dung is,” you will have to agree with this.

Yes, never most people on the planet have not tried and will not try Black Ivory. And not because everyone is so squeamish.

The fact is that only 50 kilograms of these grains go on sale per year, and they are sold only in a few cities in Thailand. A drop in the sea. To get a kilogram of finished product, an elephant must eat 35 kg of the best coffee beans.

While in the giant’s stomach, the “surviving” grains completely lose their bitterness, but are saturated with the aromas of everything that he ate with pleasure - bananas and others. tropical fruits, sugar cane.

Costs an elite Black Ivory – 75 thousand rubles. per kilogram roasted grains.

Terra Nera

Terra Nera is the most expensive existing coffee brand. The price per kilogram can exceed 20 thousand dollars.

Moreover, in this case, the buyer overpays not only for exotic “excrement”, but also for luxurious packaging.

Coffee of this variety (by the way, it is produced even less than Black Ivory, only 45 kg per year) is sold in just one London store in a silver paper bag, which reliably preserves the aroma of the beans.

The packaging is protected from unauthorized access by a special valve and tied with a ribbon with a gold tag. If the buyer wants, his name will be engraved on the tag.

Full participants in the coffee production process are palm civets (closest relatives of musangs), living in the southeast of Peru.

Classic Arabica, having been in the stomach of these animals, acquires hazelnut and cocoa aromas and, according to experienced tasters, has a truly great taste.

Other types of coffee made from animal feces and more

And briefly about some other expensive varieties. Coffee Bat(the name speaks for itself) are obtained in Costa Rica with the help of this animal.

The animal cannot swallow coffee beans whole, but bite them with sharp teeth and suck out the juice - please! It turns out that the grains begin to dry out right on the tree. The work begun by the bats is completed by the hot tropical sun.

These grains are collected, processed and prepared by people in a very tasty coffee, which is worth 30 thousand rubles. per kilogram.

Blue Mountain(translated as Blue Mountain) is obtained in Jamaica traditional way, without the participation of animals and birds. The quality of the raw materials here is influenced by a combination of various natural factors: the growth of coffee trees at high altitudes, the wind blowing from the sea, the special composition of the soil.

Tasters note in this type of coffee harmonious combination three tastes - bitterness, sweetness and sourness. This variety also surprises with the aroma of fresh nectarines.

Buying Blue Mountain is difficult - 85 percent of its coffee is sent to Japan, where the drink is very popular. The cost of a kilogram of grains is 27 thousand rubles.

The Jacu bird in Brazil is involved in the creation of a coffee variety called Jacu Bird. For a very long time in the southeast of the country, the bird was considered a pest and exterminated.

This continued until one local farmer at the end of the last century realized to use bird droppings just as in other countries they use the excrement of some animals.

Coffee obtained from such unusual raw materials surprises with its flavor notes: pineapple and coconut milk. A kilogram of grains is estimated at 28 thousand rubles.

It is difficult to say which of the listed types of coffee tastes better and more justifies the high price they ask for it.

It’s rare that someone gets to try all the exotic species.. In addition, there is always a great danger of purchasing a fake.

If a person has the opportunity to visit different parts Svetlana as a tourist or on official business, you should definitely try the coffee there - it most closely matches the characteristics of the variety and is much cheaper.

There are many products in the world that are available only to a select number of buyers. These are rare, unusual goods that, due to their exclusivity, are expensive. These include coffee.

Unusual coffee

There are such exotic varieties of coffee that not everyone dares to try them. These include the most expensive Kopi Luwak coffee and the no less precious Black Tusk. Both are extracted from animal feces. It is difficult to answer the question of who came up with the idea of ​​extracting grains from the droppings of wild representatives of exotic fauna, but this business quickly began to generate enormous income.

Today, small coffee plantations in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and other countries that specialize in producing the most expensive coffee in the world generate the same income as large plantations in Brazil. There is nothing complicated in the production technology; you just need to feed the animals whole coffee berries and remove them from the excrement in time.

On the world market, the most expensive coffee in the world can reach a price of 1200–1500 euros per kilogram, and a cup of the drink made from it can cost 50–90 euros. Not everyone can afford to start their morning with something like this. expensive product. What is special about coffee made from excrement?

When whole berries, collected from the coffee tree, pass through the digestive tract of the animal, under the influence of its digestive enzymes, the breakdown of proteins, fats and carbohydrates contained in the grain occurs. Due to this, the component composition changes, bitterness disappears, and transformations of some substances into others occur. This is a kind of fermentation that changes the quality of the product and directly affects the taste of the future drink.

Gourmets claim that these types of coffee are distinguished by an amazing softness of taste and many shades of aroma. They are worth trying at least once in your life.

Kopi Luwak

In most rankings, the most expensive coffee in the world is Kopi Luwak. Its main producers are Indonesia, Vietnam, South India and the Philippines. There are small Arabica plantations growing at an altitude of at least 1500 m above sea level.

A small rodent, the civet or luwak, as the locals call it, also lives here. He is the main person in the chain of turning ordinary coffee berries into elite and expensive coffee.

A wild civet eats about 1,500 kg of fruit per night

The animal is kept in a zoo and processes several kilograms of ripe and other coffee berries every day. Its maintenance is not so cheap for farmers, because for normal life it needs meat. The rodent is nocturnal, so feeding occurs late in the evening and early in the morning. To get 50 g of coffee beans ready for processing after an animal, you need to feed it about 1 kg of berries.

In addition, the luwak must be released into freedom, since it does not reproduce in captivity. They are later recaptured and placed in a zoo.

How is coffee processed from animal feces obtained?

• Plantation workers collect animal excrement every day and send it for drying.
• After this, the grains are washed under running water and separated from the excrement.
• Next comes the process of drying the grains.
• The final stage is roasting.

Typically subjected to medium degree roasting, to taste future drink should be soft with an almost imperceptible bitterness. Prepared from fried coffee beans It has a chocolate-caramel flavor and vanilla aroma. Today, a lot of Kopi Luwak comes from Vietnam. In recent years, this country has become one of the world leaders in coffee sales in general.

What explains such a high price for Luwak coffee? In addition to the costs of caring for plantations and paying workers, farmers need to maintain wild animals that require care, and this is a lot of money. In addition, the output is a much smaller amount of good coffee beans than if they were simply collected and dried. Advertising praising the unusual taste of the drink also adds weight to the price.

Black tusk

Another product that can challenge the title of the most expensive coffee in the world is Black Tusk. It is produced in Thailand and three regions in the Maldives. Already from the name it is clear which animal is an important link in the coffee production chain. This is an elephant. He is also not averse to eating coffee berries.

The coffee production technology is similar to the Indonesian Kopi Luwak. The elephant eats grains, or rather berries, which, passing through the digestive tract, undergo a kind of fermentation. Next, they are extracted from the feces, washed, dried and fried. Digested grain in a volume of 1 kg is obtained from more than 30 kg of berries.

The elephant loves fruits and berries, so Black Ivory has a mixture of their tastes and aromas

Made from taki grain drink distinguished by rich fruity taste and aroma, it contains floral, chocolate and nutty notes at the same time. There is no bitterness, but no sourness either. It is gentle and soft, as a good Arabica should be. This variety of coffee is known throughout the world as Black Ivory; its price reaches $500–600 per 500 grams.

Other expensive coffees

In addition to those varieties of coffee that are obtained thanks to animals, there are no less valuable ones produced in a less exotic way. Expensive varieties of coffee grown in the traditional way differ exquisite taste only due to the peculiarities of climatic conditions and the varieties of coffee trees themselves. Below is a rating of especially valuable ones.

• Hacienda La Esmeralda ($100–125 per 1 kg), produced in Panama, Arabica plantations are located high in the mountains in the shade of spreading Guavas. The drink has a mild but rich taste and is considered the purest in the world.
• St. Helena Coffee ($80 for 500g), grown on St. Helena Island. Features citrus, floral and caramel notes in the finished drink.
• El Injerto from Guatemala ($50 for 500g). The finished drink has taste and aroma exotic berries, chocolate and fruit with a nutty aftertaste.
• Fazenda Santa Ines from Brazil ($50 for 500g). Winner of many world awards at coffee exhibitions. Has a taste of citrus and chocolate.
• Blue Mountain from Jamaica ($50 for 500g). It is grown in the mountains at an altitude of over 1500 meters. Gives rich taste chocolate and fruit with refined notes of red pepper.

Traditionally expensive varieties coffee is sold in beans. Instant is not included in the list of elite products. It’s also difficult to say which one will suit your taste. One thing is known: products marked as elite, as a rule, confirm their special position, so it’s worth allowing yourself to eat them at least occasionally.

Most tourists plan their holidays in Vietnam in advance, starting well in advance to collect the necessary information about the country from various sources. Very often, future travelers are faced with the statement that the most delicious coffee is grown and prepared in Vietnam. How true is this information and what does Vietnamese coffee taste like?

Vietnamese Luwak coffee: unusual production

Luwak coffee in Vietnam is a kind of “highlight” of the country. This coffee is one of the most expensive and unique in the world. And the point here is not at all in the plant variety itself. The secret lies in unusual technology production.

In Vietnam there are small animals that have several names: some call them musangs, some call them civets, and some call them palm martens. Their size is small - about the same as that of an ordinary cat, and the colors of the animals resemble gray foxes.

These wonderful creatures of nature feed on the berries that ripen on coffee trees. After digesting food, civet cats excrete their droppings. naturally, leaving undigested coffee beans in it. Specially selected employees who collect such droppings wander around the territory where the musangs live, with containers, filling them with grains for the future aromatic drink.

Coffee Luwak in Vietnam animals are not completely digested - only the outer shell of the coffee beans disintegrates in the stomach. The kernel itself only changes chemical composition, after which the drink becomes softer, with a pleasant chocolate aftertaste. It is precisely due to the fact that the grains undergo a kind of “processing” in the stomachs of the animals that the drink costs a lot of money, and not every tourist decides to try it.

Cost of Luwak coffee in Vietnam

Only these animals are involved in the production of the Vietnamese drink Luwak, named after the furry animal - the palm civet. Scientists have conducted many experiments involving other animals, but coffee beans collected from their droppings did not have such an unusual taste. Multiple laboratory procedures were also carried out, as a result of which the coffee beans were subjected to special processing. However, it was not possible to obtain the same taste as after digestion by civets.

All this greatly affects the cost ready drink. According to statistics, the cost of 100 g of Luwak coffee in online stores is about 3000-5000 rubles. In Vietnam itself you can buy it almost everywhere.

Of course, the local population often makes money from tourists who dream of tasting this exotic drink, and offers them to buy coffee at an incredible price. Currently, 1 kg of such elite coffee costs approximately 1000 US dollars.

Luwak coffee from Vietnam is the most expensive coffee that is collected in the wild. There are some nuances here regarding the search and collection of grains. It is precisely because of the difficulty of collecting droppings that in recent years the population of Vietnam has begun to build special farms where palm martens are bred and fed with coffee beans. This does not affect the taste of coffee in any way, because the animals still eat only ripe coffee berries.

How to make Luwak coffee?

The technology for preparing Luwak coffee differs from the usual brewing method. In order for the drink to be the most aromatic and tasty, you need to use only freshly ground coffee.

1. In Vietnam, coffee is never prepared in Turks or coffee pots.
2. Coffee is poured into a special filter.
3. Pour boiling water over it.
4. Then they place the cup and wait for the drink to slowly collect in it, dripping one drop at a time.

How is coffee brewed in Vietnam in restaurants or cafes? Using the same special filters. If a client orders coffee at a restaurant, he will be served a cup with a filter from which the coveted drink slowly drips. Often a cup filled with green tea with ice, and also bring a thermos with boiling water. At the client's request, they can serve him a bowl of sugar or a glass of ice.

If a visitor to an establishment orders a full set, his entire table will be filled with dishes. And all this just to enjoy aromatic coffee Luwak. Boiling water is necessary so that it can be used to dilute coffee. Drink it in pure form a little complicated. After diluting with boiling water, you can add sugar to your coffee to taste, and then slowly, enjoying every drop of this precious drink, drink it.


How much does Luwak coffee cost in Vietnam today? The price per cup here is not the highest compared to the USA, Japan and European countries. You can pay about $90 for a cup of drink here. It is the high cost of the product that gives rise to even stronger interest in it.

And more and more tourists coming to Vietnam on vacation are buying coffee made from animal feces from Vietnam to take home with them and trying to prepare it themselves.

As is known, true gourmets ready to give for favorite dish sometimes unthinkable by the standards of other people. This also applies to ardent coffee lovers, because the cost of some varieties of this drink can be tens of times higher than the price of regular store-bought ones. The most expensive coffee - what is it and where is it produced? What is the minimum cost of exclusive Arabica?

The most expensive coffee in the world – Hacienda La Esmeralda (Panama)

Hacienda La Esmeralda coffee is revered by coffee gourmets as one of best views coffee in the world. This variety is considered elite; it is grown and processed in the mountainous region of Baru, located in Western Panama.

In this region, the soil is flavored with volcanic ash and is well suited for growing coffee trees. The coffee produced on the Panamanian farm is considered environmentally friendly and hypoallergenic.

The farm itself was purchased in 1967, along with a large area of ​​land, by a Swedish entrepreneur. On the land he bought long time only wild ones grew coffee trees, and only 20 years later the family of an entrepreneur named Peters decided to grow new plants. It is here that very rare organic coffee grows to this day. original taste, bearing the same name as the farm, Hacienda La Esmeralda.

It is not for nothing that Hacienda La Esmeralda is considered one of the most expensive coffee in the world. The cost of one pound (approximately 0.5 kg) of this product is constantly increasing. In 2004, coffee was sold at auction for $35/lb, and in 2013 it was $350/lb. At the moment, the cost of packaging this coffee (almost 3,500 rubles) exceeds the cost regular drink about 6 times.

Coffee Black Tusk or Black Ivory

Another variety of one of the most expensive coffee varieties in the world is called Black Ivoty (black tusk). This type of coffee is produced in an unusual way. Harvested highland Arabica beans are fed to an elephant, after which the grains pass through its digestive tract. The stomach acid of the massive animal eats away the protein in the coffee, which is the main cause of the bitterness of the drink. As a result, the taste of coffee from the litter is mild even when brewed strongly.

The high cost of the product is due to the limited volume of its annual production, because to obtain 1 kg of coffee it is necessary to feed 33 kg of beans to an elephant. Production of this unusual coffee established in Thailand.

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee

Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Recognized as One of the Highest Growing coffee varieties, because it is collected at an altitude of 2200 m above sea level.

Not all Arabica beans in Jamaica have Blue Mountain status. This is the name given to only those grains that were grown in the eastern regions of the sunny island.

The high mountain location of the plantation allows coffee beans bask in the sun for a long time, slowly ripening. Absolutely all Jamaican coffee It is assembled by hand and processed using a wet method.

Blue Mountain coffee is grown on small, high-altitude plots, resulting in only a limited amount of beans being harvested for export.

This type of coffee is supplied in 70 kg barrels. The Coffee Association issues a special certificate guaranteeing the quality of the product. This measure helps minimize the possibility of counterfeiting original product. Large quantity The collected coffee is exported to Japan, a small part goes to England and France.

The price of coffee is about $50 for 50 grams.

Drink from Saint Helena

Saint Helena Island is located in the South Atlantic Ocean. His fame is due to historical fact: it was here that Napoleon Bonaparte, removed from the throne, was taken. The former ruler was very fond of high-quality coffee, so before exile he announced that the only advantage of the place of his exile was the coffee growing there.

Without exaggeration, this product can be called the most expensive and... rare variety coffee in the world. Its average cost is approximately 5,000 rubles per 100 g of grains.

And all due to the small amount of grain harvested and the complexity of communications with the distant island. Unusual taste local coffee is due to the maritime climate and volcanic soil composition.

Starting your morning with a cup of aromatic and invigorating drink, have you ever wondered how the most expensive coffee is grown and produced? It is enough to go to any supermarket to see a huge assortment of this product. But in simple store It is problematic to acquire truly elite varieties. To do this, you will need to visit specialized departments or contact the supplier company directly.

If you want to try the most expensive coffee and decide to start searching of this drink, you will need to know ten elite varieties, included in the top ten, and their features.

In first place is a special variety called “Kopi Luwak”. The supplier of this coffee is Indonesia. Huge plantations are located in Java and Sumatra. The main difference between this variety and all others is that it is quite exotic way its production.

The most expensive coffee in the world is the excrement of a small civet animal. Colonies of these animals live near plantations and feed ripe berries In the stomach of the animals, all parts of the berry are processed, except for the hard coffee bean, which comes out naturally. The excrement is collected, thoroughly washed with water, dried and lightly fried.

An honorable third place is occupied by a drink made from “St. Helena Coffee” beans. It costs $79 per pound. Coffee plantations are located on St. Helena Island. This variety gained great popularity due to historical events associated with the exile of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Fourth place in the “Most Expensive Coffee” list is rightfully occupied by the “El Injerto” variety. It is native to the Huehuetenango region of Guatemala. This drink is one of the most favorite drinks in the world. In fifth place is a brand called "Fazenda Santa Ines", whose homeland is a place called Minas Gerais in Brazil. This variety received first place in the Quality Cup competition held in Brazil in 2006. Either of these two varieties can be purchased for as little as $50 per pound.

In sixth place is the most beloved coffee in Japan called “Blue Mountain”. It is grown in the Blue Mountains of Jamaica. The coffee beans harvested from these plantations differ low content bitter and special mild taste. It is for these qualities that the Japanese love him so much. Up to 80 percent of the total harvest of this variety is exported to the islands Rising Sun. One pound of Blue Mountain costs $49.

The seventh place in the rating list is given to a drink under the Los Plains Coffee brand. The grains that received such a poetic name grow on the sunny plantations of El Salvador. This variety took an honorable second place in the Quality Cup competition held in Brazil in 2006. Out of a hundred possible points, this coffee received 93.52 points according to the jury. One pound of this variety of beans costs $40.

Next on the Most Expensive Coffee list is a variety called Hawaiian Kona Coffee. Its homeland is the Big Island of Hawaii. The famous plantations are located in the northern and southern regions on the slopes of the Mauna Loa and Hualalai mountains. This variety is considered the most sought after throughout the world and costs $34 per pound.

The ninth place is rightfully occupied by a variety called “Starbucks Rwanda Blue Bourbon”. This one was opened by Starbucks in 2004 during a visit to a place called Rwanda. From now on, farmers living in the area are exclusively engaged in growing this variety of coffee beans. Starbucks Rwanda Blue Bourbon costs $24 per pound.

The last place in the top ten, but which has not become any less prestigious, is occupied by a variety called “Coffee Yauco Selecto AA”. Its homeland is considered to be plantations located in the southwestern region of the Puerto Rico mountain range, in a place called Yauco. Distinctive feature This variety has a moderate aroma and excellent rich taste. This brand of coffee beans will cost you $24 per pound.