A café in Dubai is now offering what may be the most expensive cup of coffee in the world, priced at 3,600 dirhams — approximately $980 per serving. The drink features Nido 7 Geisha beans, an exceptionally rare coffee variety grown on the volcanic slopes of Mount Barú in western Panama.
The beans were acquired by Julith Coffee after a competitive auction in Panama earlier this year, where just 20 kilograms of Nido 7 were sold for around 2.2 million dirhams ($600,000). Julith secured the batch after 549 bids, marking the highest price ever paid for a coffee lot. Only about 400 cups of this expensive cup of coffee will be available.
Julith’s head roaster, Serkan Sagsoz, noted that one cup has been specially reserved for Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. “This is not a marketing gimmick,” Sagsoz said. “It’s a piece of history, and only a few people on the planet will ever get to taste it.”
The Nido 7 Geisha coffee is described as having delicate floral notes of jasmine and citrus, with hints of apricot, peach, and a honey-like sweetness. Connoisseurs hail it as the “crown jewel” of the Geisha coffee family, renowned for its complexity and aroma.
Nido 7 scored 98 points at the “Best of Panama” competition, the highest ever recorded — with some judges awarding it a perfect 100. This new expensive cup of coffee surpasses Dubai’s previous record of 2,500 dirhams ($680) for the priciest brew, securing its place in coffee history.