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Here is how gourmet or specialty coffee is defined by the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America)... “Specialty coffee is defined as a coffee that has no defects and has a distinctive flavor in the cup…Like wine and honey, specialty coffee has a unique flavor thanks to the micro-climates that produce it.”. The SCAA also estimates the specialty coffee market at 12 billion per year: According to Forbes.com, here are the top ten most expensive specialty coffees:
Coffee: Kopi Luwak
Grown in: Indonesia
Cost: $160 per pound
Coffee: Hacienda La Esmeralda
Grown in: Boquete, Panama
Cost: $104 per pound
Coffee: Island of St. Helena Coffee Company
Grown in: St. Helena
Cost: $79 per pound
Coffee: El Injerto
Grown in: Huehuetenango, Guatemala
Cost: $25 per pound green at auction
Expected to retail for more than $50 per pound
Coffee: Fazenda Santa Ines
Grown in: Minas Gerais, Brazil
Cost: $50 per pound green at auction
Coffee: Blue Mountain
Grown in: Wallenford Estate, Jamaica
Cost: $49 per pound
Coffee: Los Planes
Grown in: Citala, El Salvador
Cost: $30 per 12 ounces ($40 per pound)
Coffee: Kona
Grown in: Hawaii
Cost: $30 per 14 ounces (about $34 per pound)
Coffee: Yauco Selecto AA
Grown in: Puerto Rico
Cost: $22 per pound
Coffee: Fazenda Sao Benedito
Grown in: Minas Gerias, Brazil
Cost: $21 per pound
(source-http://www.forbes.com/2007/04/26/cellphone-blackberry-vacation-tech-intel-cx_df_0426wirelessvacation_slide_4.html?thisSpeed=15000 )
While Starbucks tries to fend off growing competition from the likes of McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts on the restaurant level...there's plenty of competition for the coffee dollars of consumers at home. A company called Super Coffee takes a look at the top coffee brands in the U.S. based on their own research ( http://supercoffees.com/ ) to the coffee-loving community to help consumers make tasty decisions
10) Yuban: This coffee brand, part of Kraft Foods, promotes itself as being environmentally friendly by helping protect the environment and wildlife in coffee growing regions.
9) Eight O'Clock: This coffee brand was formerly owned by The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company until 2003 when A&P sold it to an investment firm, creating the Eight O'Clock Coffee Company.
8) Seattle's Best: This coffee brand, part of Kraft Foods, promotes itself as being environmentally friendly by helping protect the environment and wildlife in coffee growing regions.
7) Millstone: The Millstone coffee brand, with only a small portion of the market, was a private coffee brand until Proctor & Gamble purchased it in 1996.
6) Chock-Full-of-Nuts:This coffee brand started as a New York store in 1932 and evolved into the sixth largest coffee brand in the USA.
5) Maxwell House Master Blend: This gourmet spin-off of the Maxwell brand is part of the Kraft Foods family and is gaining in popularity by coffee lovers everywhere.
4) Folgers Coffeehouse: An offshoot of the main Folgers brand, the Folgers Coffeehouse series is a gourmet branded coffee. The Folgers Coffeehouse line is a Proctor & Gamble brand.
3) Starbucks: Although Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, it's the third overall coffee brand on the U.S. Super Coffee list in the U.S.
2) Maxwell House: The second most popular coffee brand and another Proctor and Gamble Brand with a large market share based on SuperCoffee.com research.
1) Folgers: For many, Folgers remain the best way to wake up. Arguably the largest selling coffee brand in the United States, Folgers tops SuperCoffee's list of the top-ten brands of coffee.
For more information on these and other coffee brands, visit SuperCoffees.com - http://supercoffees.com/.