Would you pay $85 for a cup of Geisha coffee?

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The Coffee Academics will be serving one of the world's most expensive cups of coffee - a pour-over filter coffee made with Geisha Arabica beans from Hacienda La Esmeralda's Canas Verdes farm in Panama. Expect flavours of lychee, peach and jasmine.

Here are some highlights on The Straits Times' food website - ST Food, straitstimesfood.com.

VIDEO: $85 FOR A CUP OF COFFEE?

On Oct 26, I tried an $85 cup of pour-over filter coffee at The Coffee Academics at Scotts Square.

The coffee is made with naturally processed Geisha beans from the Canas Verdes farm, run by one of Panama's most well-known producers - Hacienda La Esmeralda.

Prized for their intense flavour profile, the beans were auctioned earlier this year at US$601 (S$820) a pound.

On the palate, you get strong lychee notes, followed by round flavours of ripe peach. An unobstrusive bitterness comes through at the end and the flavours linger in the mouth to create a long finish. After a cup of this, the coffee joint's $10 cup, made in the same pour-over method but with cheaper Panama FST Honey beans, tasted watered down and bland.

The coffee - limited to about 80 cups - will be available from Nov 6.


VIDEO: BUTTER SHORTFALL LEAVES FRENCH CROISSANTS HALF-BAKED

France is facing a butter shortage which has sent the price of croissants, the country's staple pastry, skyrocketing.

Falling milk production and rising global demand for it has resulted in its reduced supply.

Watch a Reuters video about the butter shortage: http://str.sg/4F3B


RECIPES TO TRY

Poached pears are an easy way to impress with minimal effort. The dessert can be made up to two days in advance.

Follow The Washington Post's recipe for poached pears in Earl Grey tea. The pears take about 20 minutes to poach. Use other types of tea, from chai to lapsang souchong, for a different flavour.

Recipe for poached pears: http://str.sg/4yHr

On the savoury front, try a recipe for chicken thighs in a mustardorange sauce.

Cook the chicken thighs in a skillet. Once they are cooked, remove them and make the sauce - a mix of orange juice, honey, mustard and hot sauce - in the same pan.

Recipe for chicken thighs: http://str.sg/4F3J

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on October 29, 2017, with the headline Would you pay $85 for a cup of Geisha coffee?. Subscribe