For around $360, what would you choose: a customizable Louis Vuitton card holder or a cup of coffee? Yes, you read that right, a single cup of coffee, not a year’s supply! Known as the world’s most expensive cup of coffee, this exclusive brew costs 315 euros or roughly $360. Hailing from Japan and made exclusively for Japan, it comes from the Nakayama Estate, located on Okinawa, often called the ‘coffee belt’ of the region. The astronomical price is due to a highly expensive and tedious production process.
At Nakayama, farms sit between 150 and 500 meters above sea level, producing pesticide-free coffee while paying workers higher wages than typical coffee-producing regions. The growing conditions are far from ideal, which directly affects the price. To put it in perspective, while Brazil produces over 3.1 million tons of coffee annually, Nakayama produces barely 300 kilos per year.
Forget luxury labels, compared to even Starbucks, Nakayama coffee is astronomically priced. A typical Starbucks cappuccino in the U.S. costs about $5.65. Even if you splurged on a Venti Frappuccino every day for a year, you would spend around $2,300, still far less than making Nakayama a daily habit. Even in Switzerland, where Starbucks is notoriously expensive (a tall latte costs around $7.50 due to high wages, operational costs, and strict food import regulations), a cup remains cheap compared to Nakayama’s offering.
When compared to the world’s most expensive coffee pod, the Nespresso x Zhōng Chá Chinese Pu’erh Vintage Coffee Pod, Nakayama’s coffee still stuns. The Pu’erh pods sell for around $500–$600 for a set of 10, featuring aged Pu’erh tea-fermented coffee beans that are matured like fine wine.
Moving on to some of the most labor-intensive coffees in the world, there’s Black Ivory Coffee, made using Arabica beans that are eaten by elephants. Yes, the beans pass through an elephant’s digestive system, where natural enzymes break down proteins responsible for bitterness. A cup of Black Ivory Coffee at luxury resorts like Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort in Thailand or The Ritz-Carlton in the Maldives can cost around $100.
Then there’s the world-famous Kopi Luwak, made from beans eaten and excreted by civet cats, small nocturnal mammals found in Southeast Asia. While a pound can cost between $100 and $600, a single cup still would not come close to the $300 mark.
British coffee expert James Hoffmann, a 45-year-old English barista, YouTuber, entrepreneur, coffee consultant, and author, found Nakayama coffee interesting but not worth the price. “It’s more acidic than I expected and has a good texture, a touch of wood, and is very fruity,” Hoffmann said. “The barista did a really good job. There’s a good barista behind this coffee, and it’s a mature, well-processed, well-roasted, and well-made coffee, but I don’t think its flavor and price are connected.”
