World's Most Exquisite Coffee, Demours, Debuts During Exclusive Tasting At The Daily Meal
Just call it the one percent of the one percent of the world's most elite and exclusive coffee. Demours Coffee, which launched in January, boasts the most expensive and elite coffee in the world, selling for between $78 and $144 per 9.7-ounce package. The price may sound steep, but for coffee connoisseurs, it's worth it: you'll get select coffee beans from small lot growers in the top coffee-producing regions in the world. As the brand's website describes it, "of all the coffee in the world, one percent is considered specialty grade. Only one percent [of that one percent] can be deemed Café Privé Sélect... the sole domain of Demours." The Daily Meal was the lucky host of Demours' first public brand announcement, during which guests tasted three diverse coffee selections: the Kenya Durango Wamba AA, the Panama Perci Natural Lot 32, and the Ethiopia Hachira Suntable No. 19. Right now, the coffees can only be purchased online, although they may soon be popping up at fine dining establishments.
"These are all auction lot and micro lot coffees that I have personally sourced from the world's best coffee growers," Jennifer Stone, Licensed Q Grader and founder of Demours said. "Our sourcing standard encompasses complexity of taste; coffees with unique beginning, middle, and end flavor experiences."
Stone has been roasting coffee for 18 years and is part of the small international jury that ranks the world's best coffees for the Cup of Excellence award. This elite panel of judges contains the foremost experts on assessing and dictating coffee quality.
The quality of Demours is not just something to be appreciated by coffee experts. Even for non-coffee drinkers, the difference between the unique Demours cup and other popular coffee brands is stark. The Daily Meal event attendees, who included chefs and interested representatives from James Beard Award-winning and Michelin-rated restaurants like chef Kerry Heffernan, as well as people from Ai Fiori, Union Square Café, Hella Bitters, Soho House, and the Rainforest Alliance, sampled the tart and fruity flavor profile of the Panama Perci, which tasted almost like a tea. The Kenya Durango varietal, on the other hand, had so many complex layers of lemon and tomato acidity that one participant jokingly said that she almost felt as if she were drinking tomato juice. The runaway favorite varietal was the Ethiopia Hachira, a fuller-bodied varietal with strong notes of velvety chocolate and sweet tropical fruit.
Each unique cup was paired with custom-designed breakfast selections from chef Joey Campanaro of the Little Owl.
"I have a new appreciation for coffee, ever since my trip to Guatemala and meeting Jennifer Stone," said Campanaro. "Upon my arrival, I learned so much about the complexity of coffee in general, the intricate growing process, the sorting and cleaning, the drying, roasting and all the way down to the brewing. It seems like coffee is super underappreciated in our culture and luckily for companies like Demours and The Daily Meal, those times are a changing for the betterment of all human kind."
Guests noted that, almost like magic, the taste of Demours coffee evolved after a bite of scone.
"When you taste these coffees, let them speak to you and challenge your minds to distinguish the different flavors," said Jennifer Stone.