Yahoo Finance Aussie cafe slinging $1,500 coffees losing customers as prices dropped
"Regular high-end coffee drinkers have eased off back to 'normal' coffee."
A cafe selling cups of coffee for $1,500 each has seen sales go off the boil as the cost-of-living crisis tightens its grip.
Mitch Johnson’s Brew Lab Cafe in Penrith has been serving up the “world’s most expensive cup of coffee” for six months and, in that time, has “sold a handful”.
“But we have definitely noticed a drop in the high-end coffees over the last few months for sure,” he told Yahoo Finance.
“Just a few regular high-end coffee drinkers have eased off back to ‘normal’ coffee.”
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‘Extremely rare’ beans
Made from an “extremely rare batch” of beans from the “most exclusive farm in Panama” in Central America, Mitch said the $1,500 coffee was “arguably the rarest of the Geisha variety so far”.
“The flavour will typically produce notes of strawberry, lemonade, rose and juniper. However, as this coffee cools down, you will receive even more of the sweeter flavours as our sweetness receptors receive more information at lower temperatures,” the barista explained.
But it’s not just the unique taste that keeps prices high, it’s the serving experience.
“Another reason for the cost is due to the way we serve it in the cafe, strictly as an after-hours, one-on-one session after a palate-cleansing procedure using multiple servings of different waters served at different temperatures,” he said.
Tightening the belt
Along with the extravagant brew, the cafe offers a wide range of rare coffees, starting from $20, made with beans from the “most exotic farms in the world”.
“We have been serving $100-plus coffees for over four years now,” Mitch explained.
But, in September, he was forced to make some changes to his offerings, “completely scrapping” the food menu in favour of a “much smaller” menu.
“The cost of goods is just getting out of hand,” he told his Instagram followers. “So, it's [the food menu] not even making enough money to justify the time and energy that it is receiving.
“With this crazy world constantly changing and evolving, I’m doing my best to stay ahead of it all.”
Along with changes to the food menu, Mitch has also dropped prices for his customers.
“To help you all with the current cost of living, I have made some changes that have allowed me to drop my coffees back down to ‘pre-COVID’ prices without negatively affecting the quality of our coffee,” he said.
The barista is also going it alone.
“Anyone trying to run a small business will understand how difficult it is to find good staff these days. So, I’ve decided to scrap that plan and do it all myself,” Mitch said.
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