Back in July, we reported that a new record had been set for the price per pound of green coffee sold at auction. Part of the 2017 Best of Panama auction, the winning 100-pound lot was a natural Geisha from theย Caรฑas Verdes Farmโ€”part of the esteemed Hacienda La Esmeralda in Boqueteโ€”and sold for a staggering $601/lb to Hong Kong businessman Jason Kew of Kew Specialty Coffee Co LTD. And in November, that coffee will be available in America, in very, very limited quantities.

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Southern Californiaโ€™s Klatch Coffee secured 11 pounds of the now-named Esmeralda Geisha 601, the only roaster in America to acquire any of the coffee. Starting November 18th, Klatch will be selling approximately 250 eight-ounce cups of the worldโ€™s most expensive coffee through a โ€œseries of ticketed events at Klatch Coffeeโ€™s Rancho Cucamonga location and for purchase online,โ€ per a press release. The cost for each cup of coffee, made with 15 grams of the Geisha, will be a whopping $55 dollars and includes a special souvenir mug.

From the press release:

“We at Klatch are committed to sourcing the highest quality coffee and bringing new and innovative products to consumers,” says Klatch Coffee Owner Mike Perry. “The moment I tried Esmeralda Geisha 601 at the Best of Panama Competition this summer, I knew it was something I wanted to share with coffee lovers in the U.S.A taste of this varietal provides a coffee experience unlike any other โ€“ its notes of peach, blackberry, jasmine and other fruit flavors are so bold, so flavorful, even an untrained a palate will find it remarkable.”

$55 a cup is nothing to sneeze at (and you definitely should not sneeze at it; it will mess up the aromas and the mouthfeel), and that may be a bridge too far for even some of the most hardcore coffee drinkers. But it nevertheless constitutes what may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I know Iโ€™m going to try to be a member of the lucky one in 250. My real concern is: what if I canโ€™t go back afterward? I donโ€™t have $55/cup sort of money.

Zac Cadwaladerย is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas.ย Read more Zac Cadwaladerย on Sprudge.

*top image via Chasing the Vine

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