Coffee City

Melissa Allison follows the world's biggest coffee-shop chain and other Seattle caffeine purveyors.

April 8, 2010 6:59 AM

Poll: How much would you pay for a great cup of coffee?

A Baltimore shop called Spro is selling a 12-ounce cup of coffee for $13, CNN reports. It's Aida's Grand Reserve from El Salvador, and I'm sure it's good, just like the $9 cup of coffee from Hacienda La Esmeralda of Panama that Cafe Grumpy offered in Brooklyn.

But what's up with these prices? Others have served coffee that's just as good for less. Fonte Coffee Roaster in Seattle sold one of the world's most divine coffees -- La Esmeralda Geisha -- at its usual $2.26 price for 16 ounces of brewed coffee last year. (To be fair, the beans were steep at $49.95 a half pound with proceeds going to the Pike Place Market Foundation.) Paul Odom, Fonte's owner, said it broke even on the Geisha by the cup. "You wouldn't want to do that every day for the rest of your life," he said.

But $13? How much would you pay for an excellent cup?

Thanks to David Carlos and CoffeeTalk's Daily Dose for the CNN link.

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