Starbucks' new super-expensive coffee: Geisha variety that sells for $7-a-cup

The Costa Rican Fince Palmilera is the company's most expensive coffee

It is only available in 48 stores and costs $40 for an eight ounce bag



Starbucks has introduced its most expensive ever coffee - with customers paying up to $7-a-cup.

The Costa Rica Finca Palmilera coffee is only available in 48 stores in America.



The premium coffee is made from a rare coffee varietal, known as Geisha, that is found in Central America and is notoriously difficult to grow.



Most expensive: The Costa Rica Finca Palmilera, above, is Starbucks' most expensive ever coffee, costing customers up to $7 for a plain, black cup. The coffee is only available in 48 stores in America

A farmer helps prepare the rare Costa Rica Finca Palmilera, right. Starbucks is selling eight ounce bags of the coffee for $40 (£25)



A 'tall' cup of the coffee, without any added milk, costs $6 (£3.74), while a 'grande' cup costs $7 (£4.37).

An eight ounce bag (226 grammes) of the whole bean coffee costs customers $40 (£25).

Before the introduction of the Costa Rica Finca Palmilera, the coffee giant's most expensive variety was Jamaican Blue Mountain.

The coffee is part of Starbucks' limited edition 'Reserve' line and has proven a hit with aficionados.

One online store reportedly sold out of the variety in less than 24 hours.

Half of the stores in which the coffee is being sold are based in US city Seattle.

Seattle's residents are renowned for their enthusiastic coffee-drinking, with more coffee consumed per capita than in any other American city.



Speaking at a tasting event in a Capitol Hill Starbucks store, green coffee specialist Leslie Wolford described the brew as 'Lush, tropical, hints of white, not yellow, peach'.

Describing the coffee, she added: 'A little bit of pineapple. Herbal complexity. Super-clean. Vibrant. Sparklingness.'

THE WORLD'S TOP TEN MOST EXPENSIVE COFFEE BEANS

Kopi Luwak, Indonesia - $160 per pound



Hacienda La Esmeralda, Panama - $104 per pound



Island of St. Helena Coffee Company, St. Helena - $79 per pound



El Injerto, Guatemala - $50 per pound



Fazenda Santa Ines, Brazil - $50 per pound



Blue Mountain, Jamaica - $49 per pound



Los Planes, El Salvador - $40 per pound



Kona, Hawaii - $34 per pound



Starbucks Rwanda Blue Bourbon, Rwanda - $24 per pound



Yauco Selecto AA, Puerto Rico - $22 per pound Source: Forbes