AUSTIN (KXAN) – It’s happened to many of us. You go to check out that new hip café after driving past it several times. You order something simple, like a latte. Then you see the price tag blink onto the screen, and it gives you palpitations before any caffeine has entered your system.
Well, Proud Mary Coffee — with locations in Australia; Portland, Oregon; and Austin, Texas — has doubled down (or perhaps tripled down?) on the “coffee has become too expensive” cliché by offering a cup of coffee for $150.
Proud Mary is calling it “the most life-changing coffee ever released in our cafes.”
The coffee on offer is from a winning lot in the Best of Panama competition, a contest started in 1996 that gives Panamanian producers an opportunity to promote their harvests. It’s produced by the Hartmann family, who has been growing in the region since the early 20th century.
Coffee lovers hoping to try it should plan ahead, since only 22 cups of the extravagant joe are being made available in the United States: 11 cups at the Portland shop, and 11 cups at the Austin shop.
A staffer at the Portland location confirmed the sale starts Monday morning on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Not everyone had to spend $150 for the lavish cup of joe, though. Proud Mary offered a chance to win a Golden Ticket — one each in Australia and the U.S. — to taste the coffee for free, the cafe said.
The winner of the Willy Wonka-style competition, which ended Thursday, is among the customers who bought the presale Finca Hartmann’s Geisha Natural coffee. The Golden Ticket was included in the shipment of one lucky coffee enthusiast.
