World Record Coffee Prices

This week, records were set in the 29th Edition of the Best of Panama.

I feel like I’m echoing, as just two months ago, records were set in the same 29th Edition of the Best of Panama…

Then, it was the highest average score in any global coffee competition at Geisha Natural scoring 97 points in the morning, and wa broken with the Geisha Washed scoring 98 points in the afternoon.

Now, it’s the highest price ever paid for a coffee, all three, Geisha and non-Geisha

a judge at the Best of Panama

In June, I was one of 22 International Judges, of which 4 judges (and also 1 Guest Cupper) scored this GW-01 Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha Washed a perfect 100 points. It showed a world record score of 98 points overall. I scored it 98.5 and to this day I wonder, why not award that other 1.5..?

It was the best coffee I’ve ever had in my life, and now, if I want to drink it again, I’ll have to fly to Dubai and visit Julith Coffee, where they’ll have to figure out the pricing formula to sell this by the cup. I calculate a cup of 250mL will cost Julith $604 and there’s approximately 50 cups of this size per kilogram of green coffee. They purchased 20kg which is around 1000 cups - if they sell for $1000 per cup, that will equate to around $1,000,000 in revenue.

Look for a conversation with Serkan Sagsoz, the founder of Julith Coffee coming soon on the podcast

The Geisha Washed and the Geisha Natural had the same core structure all the way through the cup - the flavour, the sweetness, the acidity, everything, beautiful. White florals, jasmine, gardenia, white peach, juicy, mouthwatering, sweet mandarin orange, bergamot. It reminded me of a Panamanian beverage, agua de raspadura. As a judge, I had a presumption that both of these coffees were from the same region, or in the industry we same the same terroir.

There’s 50 coffees that sold in the Best of Panama Auction for a weighted average of $2861.20/kg.

That’s 1000kg of coffee selling for $2,861,200.

It’s about 50,000 cups of 250mL at an average cost of $57.25

There are 8 coffees that sold for more than $8000/kg

What does it mean beyond the prices paid today?

What this indicates is we’re entering a new era of coffee as a luxury and beginning to shift into a world where $100 cups are being offered in countries all over the world. Why? Because, there are home consumers that have entered this high-end auction space and they’ve brought an avid passion for coffee as well as the capital to bid, putting real money down to purchase these lots, and it seems they’re willing to spend in order to secure the World’s top coffees - no different to the culture in wine, whiskey, tea, art and many other collectible / consumables.

We’re seeing the prices in coffee auctions reach new levels on a fairly regular schedule, with a lot of the buyers being non-industry professionals.

The big question looms - does this raise the floor for pricing across the industry?

Or does it widen the gap, leaving the low, low and the high staying astronomically higher than the middle?

If you’d like to help us fund our Best of Panama purchase potential, please click this ad below, it truly helps us build our platform here at Buy the Drip and further our ability to create content that you’ll love, weekly.

The Good 

Craft at its peak – These prices reward the extreme skill, agronomy, and terroir mastery of Panama’s top producers.

Global spotlight – Panama Geisha now sits in the same luxury conversation as other consumables, Champagne, top wines, caviar, and single-malt whisky.

Proof of possibility – Farmers worldwide can look at these numbers and believe in the value of pushing boundaries, building brands and focusing on quality.

Growth opportunity – As we see a new wave of consumers willing to pay luxury prices enter the coffee space, we’ll see new business opportunities, as well as ways to approach the service and celebration of top-end coffees.

The dollars – the Specialty Coffee Assocation of Panama, has just brought in a massive $2.8million dollars, which I believe they keep ~35% for organization funding and to invest back in the development and growth of specialty coffee in Panama. Huge. They were founded 29 years ago as Panama struggled to sell for prices worth the struggle of producing coffees, less than $1/lb | $2.2/kg in the first years of the auction.

In 2004, “Jaramillo Special” the coffee known as the discovery of Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda, sold for $21/lb | $46/kg. These prices then were “unsustainably high” and “created divide between the top and the bottom”. Today, these prices are fairly common to see as off the shelf prices for all types of coffees being sold at true quality focused, specialty coffee farms, especially when they invest in their brands and identity.

The Bad 

Market split – We’re now talking about a two-tier system: coffees for the masses vs. coffees for millionaires.

Perception gap – For everyday drinkers, $30,000/kg feels absurd and risks alienating them from the specialty movement. The flip side of this argument could be made as well.

Hype over habit – Luxurious one-off lots may grab headlines, but they don’t solve the overall industries pressures of making coffee production more sustainable for the future.

Accessibility cliff – If “the best” is untouchable, will the wider industry still feel inspired, or just priced out?

The Ugly 

Billionaire brew pressure – Imagine paying $300 for a single cup… and the barista over-extracts it.

Bubble risk – If these prices become about status alone, the market could pop just as fast as it has inflated.

Bullying – there’s some extremely negative comments posted on social media that step into varying degrees of hate speech, publicly casting assumptions, name-calling and general bullying. It’s not nice to see, and it would be great to see people stand up and say that it’s not okay.

Why These Prices Matter for All of Us

Even if you’ll never brew a $30,000/kg coffee, this auction changes the game.

• It sets new benchmarks for what’s possible in the coffee space

• It proves that coffee can live in the luxury space alongside the world’s rarest consumables and collectables

• It challenges the industry to keep quality rising - not just price tags.

But it also forces us to ask: Should coffee’s value be defined by its most expensive examples? Or should our benchmark be the quality of what’s in your cup every morning? Would love to hear your opinion on this subject matter.

Luxury coffee is here. The question is, do we embrace it, chase it, or guard against its excesses?

Hit reply and tell us: If you had the chance, would you drink a $100 cup? If yes, what’s the limit you’d pay and for what quality tier? Or, would you rather see that value spread across the coffee supply chain and pay a more modest price per cup?

We asked last week, and we’re asking again;

What Do You Want to See Next?

We’re heading into year two and we want your input

What would make this better?

What do you want more of? What should we cover that no one else is?
What’s missing in the coffee conversation?

Hit reply and tell us. We read every message.

Here’s to year two. Let’s make it count!

Distance: Buy the Drip run club. Clocking some kilometers. Help us push a few more kilometers through this week?

Want to join us as we hit the road? Let’s connect on Strava! or, join our Whoop group - just respond to the email and let’s grind together!