DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — A cafe in Dubai is offering the world’s most expensive coffee, brewed from Panamanian beans, selling for nearly US$1,000 a cup.

The wealthy emirate is known for its extravagant ventures including an enormous mall with an indoor ski area, the world’s tallest building and an artificial island dotted with five-star hotels.

“We felt Dubai was the perfect place for our investment,” said Serkan Sagsoz, co-founder of the Julith cafe with the pricey offering.

Located in an industrial neighbourhood that has become a hotspot for coffee lovers, Julith plans to serve “around 400 cups” of the precious beverage. Sagsoz told AFP.

For a price tag of 3,600 dirhams (around US$980), the brew — which the cafe started selling on Saturday, November 1 — offers an experience of floral and fruity flavours reminiscent of tea.

“There are white floral notes like jasmine, citrus flavours like orange and bergamot and a hint of apricot and peach,” said Sagsoz, who previously ran a cafe in his native Turkey.

“It’s like honey, delicate and sweet,” he said.

Dubai notched a Guinness record for the world’s most expensive cup of coffee last month when Roasters offered one for 2,500 dirhams.

The new record staggered some people, though residents also said it was par for the course for the desert city with a luxury lifestyle.

“It’s very shocking but at the same time, it’s Dubai,” said Ines, who did not give her last name.

“For wealthy people, it’s just another experience they can boast about,“ added another resident, Maeva.

The Julith cafe bought its beans at an auction in Panama after a tough battle that lasted many hours and drew hundreds of bids.

It claimed to have paid the highest price ever for coffee.

Twenty kilograms of the beans went for around 2.2 million dirhams, or US$600,000, Julith said in a press release.

Asian buyers, Emirati coffee enthusiasts and coffee bean collectors have since reached out to the cafe in the hopes of securing some of the Nido 7 Geisha beans, which are grown on a plantation near Panama’s Baru volcano.

But the cafe said it does not plan to share its treasure, beyond a small amount reserved for Dubai’s ruling family.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Nido 7FC Panama coffee, that costs 3600 AED (around US$980), is presentd at the Julith Coffee cafe in Dubai on October 30, 2025. Photo: AFP