What's the most you've paid for coffee?

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jpender
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#1: Post by jpender »

I bought a pound for $100 the other day. Way off the charts for me but it was kind of a special occasion. Still, I felt weird about the extravagance of it. Then I read this:
another_jim, on November 5th, 2006, 10:04 pm, wrote:There's roughly 64 cups of coffee per pound. This means that even at $100 per pound, it's only $1.56 per cup, or cheaper than a plain coffee at Starbucks. So instead of asking why some people pay so much for good coffee, you should be asking why so many more people pay so much more for indifferent coffee.
Now I feel better. :-)


So what's the most you've spent on beans?

Plinyyounger
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#2: Post by Plinyyounger »

What did you buy? I think the most I've spent was a little over $60, but for 2 pounds.

For me, one pound of coffee makes 23 drinks (20 gr shots) But my math could be in error, math and I don't get along well.
Family, coffee and fun.

PIXIllate
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#3: Post by PIXIllate »

I've been tempted by a few roasters offering "special micro lots" for ~$60/100g.

Currently I think probably $50 for 200g of a couple of Geisha.

SutterMill
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#4: Post by SutterMill »

$50/lb for Jamaican Blue Mountain. Worth every cent.

Pressino
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#5: Post by Pressino »

Probably the most expensive coffee I got was a 100gr bag of Luwak Coffee beans, but I didn't pay for it...a colleague bought a couple of bags on a trip to Indonesia and gave me one on her return. I still have it unopened in the fridge...I did try a cup brewed with beans from the other bag and it was OK but not stellar. The most I've spent on roasted coffee was for Yemeni Mokha's, about $27 when Peet's had it. Yemeni coffees are my favorites and I usually get them green from Sweet Maria's when they have them (at much less than $27 per pound. :)

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LBIespresso
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#6: Post by LBIespresso »

jpender wrote:I bought a pound for $100 the other day. Way off the charts for me but it was kind of a special occasion. Still, I felt weird about the extravagance of it. Then I read this:
another_jim wrote:There's roughly 64 cups of coffee per pound. This means that even at $100 per pound, it's only $1.56 per cup, or cheaper than a plain coffee at Starbucks. So instead of asking why some people pay so much for good coffee, you should be asking why so many more people pay so much more for indifferent coffee.
I have the same sentiment but haven't spoken it with the elegance of another jim. Thanks for sharing that.

We are creatures of relative value and if we keep coffee in its own box we get stuck comparing a bag of the finest gesha to whatever is in the grocery store when we SHOULD be comparing our better coffee to that glass of wine, bourbon, beer, or whatever else that we pay much more for.
LMWDP #580

jpender (original poster)
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#7: Post by jpender (original poster) »

I did the calculation and I find that Jim isn't right. Starbuck's coffee is less than half the cost of making your own with $100/lb beans. And even if he were right I think you can get into trouble thinking about money that way. But it still made me feel better to read his words.

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another_jim
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#8: Post by another_jim »

I based the calculation on 7 grams per cup of coffee, which is the traditional measure. But it is incorrect for Starbuck's, since it's the same 4 ounce "cup" you see on coffee makers. If you are getting a 12 ounce cup, a $100 per pound coffee would set you back $4.67.
Jim Schulman

jpender (original poster)
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#9: Post by jpender (original poster) »

Yes, and although I haven't been to a Starbuck's in many years the web says their 12oz coffee cost $1.85.

I was also wondering how much coffee they put into that 12oz cup. I found references to 10g of coffee per 6oz of beverage, so 20g for a 12oz cup, about the same as 7g/4oz. But is that really true? Some time back I measured the TDS of various cafe coffees and Peet's clocked in at 1.8% which would imply a higher coffee/water brew ratio. Is Starbuck's really brewed to only 1.2% or so?

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civ
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#10: Post by civ »

Hello:

A bit off topic but relevant.
jpender wrote: ... haven't been to a Starbuck's in many years the web says their 12oz coffee cost $1.85.
I haven't ever been or had the inclination going to Starbuck's for coffee save for the time I went into the first store they opened up here.
I was curious about the equipment they used, but that was many years ago.
And no, I did not order anything.

Now ...
Whatever it is that ends up in their cups, whatever the size ...
Can it be reasonably thought of as being coffee?

I seriously doubt it would stand up as such in my aunt Clara's* eyes.

* The craziest %#*$ing thing I've seen all day...

Best,

CIV

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