If you thought that parting with $4 or $5 for your morning cup of coffee was brutal, just hang on a sec. In some parts of the world, that much moolah would just about give you a sip – and nothing more.
The morning started out as most of them do: the search for a morning cup of coffee. I’d just arrived the night before in Venice, and the idea of grabbing a cappuccino and parking myself in a plaza to watch the city slowly come to life seemed like a great idea.
That was until I asked for the bill – 4€! Whaa-t?
Considering that the standard cup of joe in Italy shouldn’t cost you half that at most, I was a little shocked. Was the waiter cheating this fresh-off-the-train tourist?
But alas no: I’d made the rookie mistake of wanting to enjoy my coffee with a view. And I was in Venice after all, which has a reputation for making wallets and purses run for the hills upon even hearing the city’s name. (Apparently, a coffee in St Marks Square could easily set you back € 10, FYI).
But it got me thinking: How far would you go to scratch that caffeine itch? And how many of your hard-earned beans would you trade for a cup of the sacred elixir?
Would you be willing to pay…
$23 benjamins? In New York…
A new java joint has opened up in Brooklyn, New York, that’s brewing America’s most expensive cup of joe (US$18). The coffee dispensary’s called Extraction Lab, and you can thank the ultra-advanced brewing techniques and high-tech equipment (does siphon brewing on the STEAMPUNK® and SIGHT® brewers by Alpha Dominche mean anything to you?) for the ultra-high price tag.
Coffee is treated more as a science than an art here, with baristas acting more like lab technicians making exact calculations and pulling the levers to deliver the perfect caffeine hit to hipster-my-daddy-supports-me types and the odd millionaire in the Big Apple.
But coffee lovers, don’t sweat ya beans: a normal cup of coffee should only cost you between US$2 and $4 at most cafes in the States.
Honourable mention: In Odense, Denmark, I once paid the equivalent of $8 Aussie dollars for a latte.
$115 smack-a-roonies? In London…
If a cup of the good stuff in New York wasn’t expensive enough for you, then fly over to the UK and order a latte whose beans have done their own voyaging: through the intestinal tract of Indonesia’s native cat-like creature, the palm civet.
Yes, you’ve heard of Kopi Lewak before no doubt, probably when you were hydrating yourself on another special Balinese liquid. But you probably didn’t know that outside Indo, a cup of the stuff will set you back over $100 in the Queen’s country, specifically inside DSTRKT London – a “chic, low-lit restaurant & lounge for eclectic small plates & glamorous late-night partying.”
But again, fear not of loyal coffee fiend, as a decent cup of coffee should only set you back between 1.5 and 3 GBP in the UK.
Honourable mention: Paying about $7 AUD for a coffee is standard in Iceland.
$20 clams? In Abu Dhabi…
How would you like that coffee sir? Sugar? Cream? Gold?
At a non-brain aneurysm price of about US$15 ($20), the gold-flaked coffee served at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi ain’t such a bad deal, don’t you think?
AGENTS: Learn what your coffee preferences says about you…