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Nicaragua Laurina Reserve: Starbucks Sells Out Of Rare Coffee Bean Featuring $16 Per Half Pound Price Tag

By Tara West
Published on: 09:29 PST, Mar 18, 2015

Starbucks purchased the entire harvest of Nicaragua Laurina beans from a farmer which amounted to only 750 pounds after roasting. The rare bean yields small harvests as the bean grows on small shrubs, which yields small quantities. As a result of the small harvests, the beans are considered a “micro lot” and are extremely hard to come by. Therefore, Starbucks only released the Nicaragua Laurina reserve at a select 20 locations and priced the beans at $16 per half pound.

Starbucks Melody, an expert on all things Starbucks, notes that the beans were sent almost exclusively to stores in the Seattle area, but also a few stores that specialize in Starbucks “reserve” items. According to Melody, the beans were shipped to the following locations.

  1. Williamsburg Reserve (Brooklyn, New York)
  2. Harvard Yard (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
  3. Oak and Rush (Chicago, Illinois)
  4. Pacific Place (Seattle)
  5. 6th and Union (Seattle)
  6. SODO 8 Starbucks (Seattle)
  7. University Village 3 (Seattle)
  8. University Village 1 (Seattle)
  9. First and Pike (Seattle)
  10. 7th and Pike (Seattle)
  11. Queen Anne (Seattle)
  12. Madison Park (Seattle)
  13. East Olive Way (Seattle)
  14. Columbia Center (Seattle)
  15. Ballard (Seattle)
  16. Fremont (Seattle)
  17. Roy Street Coffee and Tea (Seattle)
  18. 1912 Pike Place (Seattle)
  19. Terry and Republican (Seattle)
  20. Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room

It seems the pricey beans were a hit with at least one store, Harvard Yard, says the Nicaragua Laurina was sold out in less than 24 hours. Other coffee lovers seemed to be scrambling for a taste of the rare coffee treat. Check out some of the Twitter postings about the limited edition, rare reserve below.

The Daily Mail reports that though the Nicaragua Laurina was priced at almost double a standard bag of Starbucks coffee, it is not even close to being the most expensive roast ever sold by the company. In fact, Starbucks sold a limited offering of Costa Rica Finca Palmilera beans in 2012 that was priced at an astonishing $40 per half pound.

Did you know that Starbucks had stores dedicated to limited edition reserve coffee beans? Have you ever tasted a Starbucks reserve roast?

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