{"id":606755,"date":"2026-09-21T03:04:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T03:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/606755\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T03:04:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T03:04:14","slug":"verdict-in-on-christchurch-cafes-100-coffee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/606755\/","title":{"rendered":"Verdict in on Christchurch cafe’s $100 coffee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coffee connoisseurs wanting to try a Christchurch cafe’s “rare” $100 cup of joe will have to be quick, with a third already sold by breakfast. <\/p>\n

The coffee comes from Mt Totumas in Panama, and was bought through Panama’s premium coffee auction.<\/p>\n

It has scored 96.2 out of 100, putting it in the ultra-premium category, with floral, clean and acidic flavour notes.<\/p>\n

Rook cafe co-owner Kyle Cabangun told Breakfast they only had 200g – enough for around 14 or 15 cups – and that five had sold already. <\/p>\n

\"Rook<\/p>\n

Rook cafe’s $100 coffee (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

“The 200 grams that we have is the only 200 grams we can get, and we won’t be able to get more of this specific coffee, there’s just no more of it,” he said. <\/p>\n

Cabangun said the beans were “very high quality and very hard to get”. <\/p>\n

“A rare coffee, I suppose, which is why it’s so expensive,” he explained. <\/p>\n

He said the five people who had so far ordered one had “really enjoyed it”. <\/p>\n

“For the people that have come in so far that are really like into their coffee, it’s a rare moment or a rare experience for them,” he said. <\/p>\n

Cabangun said he tried the coffee himself a few weeks ago, and described the flavour as “really nice”. <\/p>\n

“It’s got really nice citrus-like acidity. It’s very floral and very, very sweet. It’s just a very high quality, like very clear cup of coffee.” <\/p>\n

‘It’s definitely worth it’ <\/p>\n

\"Self-proclaimed<\/p>\n

Self-proclaimed “coffee snobs” Talen Hignett (left) and Maxwell Cotter have tried the most expensive brew in town. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Self-proclaimed “coffee snobs” Talen Hignett and Maxwell Cotter were two of the first to try the bespoke brew at 7am. <\/p>\n

“We just really like coffee, and we like trying different beans and the flavours are always so different and you really get a lot of really nice flavours,” said Cotter. <\/p>\n

“We’ve known Kyle since he was a barista at a previous cafe, so partly it’s for support and also for a $100 cup of coffee, who are we going to trust more? It’s got to be Kyle.” <\/p>\n

“It’s such a rare bean in such limited quantities on the global market, so once in a lifetime chance really, so I think it’s definitely worth it.”<\/p>\n

“Definitely once in a lifetime at that price,” Hignett laughed. <\/p>\n

Hignett joked that he “covered his eyes and started crying a little bit” as he tapped his card on the payment machine. <\/p>\n

\"Self-proclaimed<\/p>\n

Self-proclaimed “coffee snobs” have flocked to try the most expensive brew in town. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

“Just don’t check the bank account later,” he laughed. “We had to take photos we just had to really prove that it was $100 coffee,” he said, showing the receipt. <\/p>\n

Asked how the coffee actually tasted, the pair both picked up on the “very floral, very nice flowery” notes that the beans were known for. <\/p>\n

Higgett said as the temperature changes and cools, so did the flavours. <\/p>\n

“I mean, yeah, just like Talen said, we got like real floral notes to begin with, and then just as our second sip happened, it was plum, fruity; it was really nice,” Cotter said. <\/p>\n

\"Lily<\/p>\n

Lily Hym (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n

Another customer, Lily Hym, said she walked in to try her luck in getting a cup of the coffee.<\/p>\n

“It’s really lovely. To me the taste is quite floral and when you first drink it it sort of hits you, and then it softly weaves into its floral flavours.” <\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including disappointing scenes after the Warriors\u2019 loss, and Princess Diana\u2019s brother speaks about Harry and Meghan. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coffee connoisseurs wanting to try a Christchurch cafe’s “rare” $100 cup of joe will have to be quick,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606756,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,158,144,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-606755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-christchurch-canterbury","tag-food-drink","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}