In the heart of Dubai’s specialty-coffee scene, a remarkable new offering is making headlines. At Julith Coffee, baristas are now serving a single cup of ultra-rare coffee for 3,600 United Arab Emirates dirhams (roughly US $980).
The coffee in question is the Nido 7 Geisha from Panama—a micro-lot Geisha variety grown near the volcano of Barú and hailed by industry experts for its exceptional flavour profile and scarcity.
What Makes This Coffee So Priceless?
Julith purchased a 20 kg lot of the Nido 7 Geisha at auction for approximately AED 2.2 million (about US $600,000). With such a high acquisition cost—and extremely limited quantity—each cup carries both rarity and story.
Co-founder and head barista Serkan Sagsoz described the taste profile as “white floral notes like jasmine, citrus flavours like orange and bergamot and a hint of apricot and peach … it’s like honey, delicate and sweet.”
The café plans to serve around 400 cups of this coffee globally. Once the lot is exhausted, the experience ends.
How This Reflects Trends in Specialty Coffee
This isn’t simply about price—it’s about positioning coffee as collectible, experiential and ultra-luxury. The fact that one cup costs nearly US $1000 marks a shift: beans are no longer just commodities, but curated pieces of gastronomy and design.
The auction-driven market for rare coffees is growing—where beans are valued like fine wine. In this case, the Nido 7 Geisha’s score and provenance elevate it into that realm.
Dubai, known for extravagance—from the world’s tallest building to gold-covered cappuccinos—has now extended that luxury ethos to coffee. This move also signals how regional cafés are embracing specialty coffee not just as beverage but as high-end experience.
Why It Matters
For coffee lovers and the industry at large:
- It pushes the boundaries of what a “cup of coffee” can represent, merging fine dining, luxury hospitality and coffee craft into one.
- It underscores how origin, scoring (98 points in this case), and micro-lots drive value in specialty coffee.
- It casts a spotlight on Dubai as an emerging destination for the highest rungs of coffee culture—where demand for extreme rarity meets global interest.
Caution & Perspective
While this is a headline-grabbing moment, it remains an ultra-niche offer. Most coffee drinkers will continue to enjoy quality beans at far more accessible price points. The “world’s most expensive cup” is as much about story and branding as flavour.
Still, it raises good questions: What do you value in your daily coffee? Is it origin, roast, bean variety, craft, or mere volume? This example invites a deeper appreciation of coffee as craft.
Final Note
A single cup for 3,600 dirhams at Julith Coffee represents more than just luxury—it reflects a moment in coffee history where origin, rarity and experience converge. Whether you’ll ever order one hardly matters; what this offering does is expand our imagination of what coffee can be.
For any café, roaster or coffee lover, it’s a reminder: extraordinary story + exceptional bean + flawless execution = headline-making cup.
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