The Tyranny of Exclusivity

12 dollars for a glass of Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda La Geisha, done either on the siphon or the clover machine?!  10 dollars for an Ethiopian Nikasse?!  Wow, it should be disturbing that the Hawaii Kona looks cheap at 5 dollars for an espresso, or that Jamaica Blue Mountain just lost its status for most expensive seasonal coffee at 7 bucks a pop.  Yet then again, here I am savouring the fruity, wine-like body and complexity of an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Grade 3 clover at 5 bucks a glass in Proud Mary.  In the meantime, the person next to me is declaring how good he finds his little sample shot of the same coffee but how it pales in comparison to the Panama La Geisha.

Ok ok, so the only batch of the Panama La Geisha that is available in this country come courtesy of Seven Seeds and they did pay a pretty decent auction price.  That probably justifies the cost...right? 

Are Melburnians truly spoilt when it comes to coffee, happy to pay any price to have a taste?  Or is this the new reality of coffee prices for brews by baristas?

Ways To Save $ on Coffees (Without Resorting to Instant Coffee) and Still Get Diversity:

• Bring a friend or two, and join Toshi at the daily free 10am cupping session in Market Lane before sharing a pourover Coffee Flight.  At AUD12, you get to taste three types of coffee with the equivalent of two full coffee cups per type.  You can extend the flight further by doing your tasting blind before relying on the provided notes. 
• Try a coffee at the cafe in the style that you would have at home so e.g. a coffee that you enjoy as a siphon, clover or pourover will probably work at home on the French press and pourover.  Then buy a batch of the beans you like for home use.  Bonus: some places like Toby's Estate offer one free coffee with every 250gm of beans bought.
• Frequent drinker cards - use them wherever they are available.
• Consider and implement the most likely way that would make you have coffee at home instead of a cafe.  The French press, filter, Chemex and pourover systems are all effective at home and in the office environment while the stovetop is suitable for the weekend home brunch (and weekday breakfast).
• Invest in a good grinder.  This will allow you to play with blending different coffees as well as enjoy single origins while the coffee is still fresh.  Whole beans keep a lot better than ground coffee.
• Buy beans and split them with friends.  The beans go faster which means you are less likely to compromise on freshness and the cost gets shared around as well.
• Discipline.  Lock in a schedule of days in the week when you SHALL only have coffee personally brewed.  Coffees brewed in the work environment have the benefit of your ability to use a colleague or two as your sharing companions to keep you in check.
• Grow green leaf vegetables.  This one sounds left-of-centre but used coffee grounds are good as compost for these vegetables, which mean that the coffee you drink become beneficial for the environment and your health (when you harvest fresh vegetables to throw into your cooking).

Any more tips?  Send them in!