This past week I noticed a huge sales increase in our Geisha Coffee Costa Rica. So much so that we quickly went out of stock. I knew something was up and on Thursday morning on the local TV news, I figured it out. Starbucks announced that they are now selling this as the most expensive coffee at $7 per cup.

News outlets across the country picked up Bloomberg reported that Starbucks is marketing the coffee, called Costa Rica Tarrazu Geisha, as part of its luxury reserve line. They are also selling it for $40 for an 8 oz. bag, which compares to Volcanica Coffee’s Geisha Coffee Costa Rica, which sells for $29.99 for a 16 oz bag, which is twice the coffee.

We have been selling Geisha Coffee in Costa Rica for a few years and it is a variety of coffee that is grown in Costa Rica. It is an Ethiopian wild coffee origin, which is ancient and very rare. The name Geisha comes from the Ethiopian town of Gesha where the coffee plant was found. It has about 30% less caffeine than most other coffees.

The taste of Geisha Coffee from Costa Rica can be described as a soft and delicate profile with quietly complex aromatics that reward patient attention: flowering grass, lavender, a crisp, somewhat vegetal cocoa, hints of molasses and pipe tobacco. Gentle acidity, medium body, silky mouthfeel. Flavor, particularly cocoa, saturates the long, lingering finish.