Would you pay Dh3,600 for a cup of coffee? A cafe in Dubai is hoping connoisseurs will splash out to enjoy an ultra-rare variety sourced from a high-altitude, family-run farm in Panama.
The beans, a washed Geisha variety, will be roasted in “extremely limited quantities”, but a sample has been reserved for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
Nido 7 Geisha will be available at Julith, a roastery brew lounge in Al Quoz, from November 1 as part of its Panama Geisha experience.
It follows Julith’s record-breaking purchase of the rare coffee at the 2025 Best of Panama Auction in August for a staggering Dh2.2 million ($604,080) – the highest price ever paid for a coffee lot.
The acquisition, alongside significant purchases by other local roasters such as Archers Coffee and The Espresso Lab, made global headlines and enhanced Dubai’s reputation as a prime destination for luxury coffee.
Serkan Sagsoz, head coffee roaster at Julith, is anticipating strong demand for the Nido 7 Geisha experience. “This is not a gimmick or marketing stunt,” he said. “Nido 7 Geisha is a remarkable coffee that only a handful of people on the planet will ever taste, and now, for the first time, that’s possible right here in Dubai.
“With so little of it in existence, every cup feels like a piece of history. I would be truly honoured to one day brew a cup for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed.”
What is included?
The Dh3,600 price includes guided tasting, an experience that traces the bean’s journey from Panama to your cup, with space for up to four guests in each group.
Each session will feature “one meticulously brewed cup, served simply and without embellishment”. Guests who prefer to forgo the experience can still enjoy the coffee on its own.
With only 20kg in existence globally, Nido 7 Geisha sparked an intense bidding war at the August auction, attracting 549 bids from the world’s most respected roasters and collectors before Julith ultimately secured the lot.
Why is Geisha coffee so expensive?
Geisha coffee was discovered in Ethiopia, but is also grown in Honduras and Colombia, as well as Panama.
It needs high mountains, rich soil and careful attention from farmers to grow because it is so delicate. Only a small amount is produced each year. But it’s not just its scarcity that makes it expensive. Experts also credit its incredible quality.
The bean made history at the Best of Panama Auction by scoring an unprecedented 98 points from 22 of the world's leading coffee experts, the highest result ever recorded in speciality coffee.
No variety had previously scored more than 96.5 points, and six international judges even awarded Nido 7 Geisha a perfect 100.
Harvested in April, the Nido 7 Geisha beans underwent a meticulous 48-hour cold-temperature fermentation followed by climate-controlled drying to preserve the flavour.
