Coffee is an affordable luxury. Whether its a cappuccino or a pour-over, coffee provides true daily indulgence. This is what makes it beloved globally.
There are multiple luxury coffee brands that have climbed their way to the top of the coffee chain. These brands all have unique profiles and offer special products. Exploring the variety of luxury coffee types, we can discover the identity and history of the world’s top luxury coffee brands.
What Makes a Luxury Brand?
Luxury may seem like a pretty vague concept. There are a lot of elements that make a coffee brand luxurious! This regards its quality, its type, and most importantly the experience it provides.
Breaking this down altogether exposes the individuality of each luxury coffee brand. Each evolved from its own independent roots. With coffee culture a global phenomenon, there are companies out there that developed very distinct identities.
Expertly organized by category, below are various luxury coffee brands with distinct images on the global coffee market. We invite you to explore them and discover what truly makes each one of a kind.
Luxury Italian Coffee Brands
Italians set a major tone for coffee culture. Coffee bars and shops are ubiquitous throughout Italy. Some are admired for their gorgeous architecture, with beautiful marble bartops and dazzling chandeliers. No matter the decor, the coffee behind the bar is what holds up all the splendor. It is what provides the luxury of enjoying a caffe every day.
It comes to no surprise that Italy leads the way in luxury coffee brands. There are a few core brands that reign supreme. Each has its own style and products. But, all ensure a luxurious coffee experience.
Lavazza
This brand has become a global household name. Nonetheless, Lavazza’s diverse and delicious coffee offerings make it a top luxury coffee brand.
Lavazza all began way back in 1895 as a small grocery store in Turin, in Northwestern Italy. Luigi Lavazza’s explored the world, particularly Brazil, drawing on how to source the best beans. His curiosity about coffee led to transforming the store into a coffee shop and roastery. This was a brand new concept at the time. Lavazza’s innovativeness did not stop there. It eventually opened its first factory in 1965, becoming the largest coffee roasting facility in Europe. It even introduced the first vacuum-sealed coffee bag in 1971.
The true luxury of Lavazza evolved in the 1990s. The marketing team decided to employ Italian fashion photographers to create attractive ad campaigns. In fact, the famous Helmut Newton shot campaigns for Lavazza, using stunning supermodels like Carla Bruni, to capture indulgent coffee moments. Later, Lavazza even played on the luxurious Florentine architecture for its “The Art of Coffee” campaign.
Lavazza undoubtedly bolstered Italian coffee culture to global fame. It is clear that Lavazza set a remarkable tone for luxury coffee brands. Its iconic labels and effective advertising continues to seduce everyone with a perfect espresso shot.
To treat yourself to a delicious espresso, the Lavazza classic espresso blend offers a dark roast of 100% arabica beans. If you are looking for the perfect coffee for your moka pot, the Lavazza Qualità Rossa provides rich and chocolatey flavors. It also comes ground or in whole bean format. Lavazza even offers single-origin roasts; its Kiliminjaro ground coffee creates a delicious pour-over brew!
Caffè Vergnano
On a smaller scale, Caffè Vergnano maintains a strong luxury brand. Caffè Vergnano might actually be the oldest known coffee brand and shop in Northern Italy. It, like Lavazza, began as a simple grocery store. Caffè Vergnano was founded right outside of Turin in 1882. In a small town called Chieri, Domenico Vergnano commenced an epic coffee journey.
Through the 20th century, Caffè Vergnano evolved its coffee quality. Exploring coffee beans from Kenya, the company aspired to create something new. Yet, it was not until 1970 that Caffè Vergnano truly emerged as a popular luxury brand. This is when the company developed its signature black, red, and gold label.
Today, Caffè Vergnano has several coffee shops worldwide. It supplies beans to even more coffee bars. Its sleek label and eye-catching tazze, or espresso cups, are a chic addition to any coffee shop aesthetic. And, the signature espresso blend is phenomenal. Arabica beans are slow-roasted to create a classic rich espresso shot.
Bazzara
Even smaller, but just as mighty, is Bazzara. This newcomer to the chic Italian coffee scene really puts the luxury in coffee. It is the best example of a small Italian luxury coffee brand.
Bazzara started on the opposite side of Italy, in the Northwestern most Italian city of Trieste. Dionisio Bazzara took over La Brasiliana-Industria Triestina del Caffè. Since then, the company began importing superior quality beans from all over the globe. It continuously values the construction of a perfect coffee roast. It even began its own coffee academy, inviting those from all over the globe to learn about the comprehensive roasting and brewing process.
However, what stands out most about Bazzara is the brand’s luxury image. The packaging, labeling, and overall marketing showcase exactly how luxurious a coffee experience can be. Bazzara’s clear cut blue and white labeling is hard to miss. This is what has made Bazarra the household brand for many restaurants and hotels worldwide.
To best capture Bazzara’s essence, their famous Dodicigrancru coffee (which means ‘12 grand cru’ in Italian) is a must-try. It skillfully combines the beans of 12 top tier coffee plantations. This really makes for a worldly espresso!
Rare and Single-Origin Coffee Brands
There are only a few brands that have rapport for their rarity. These brands efficiently sell some of the world’s most secret and incredible coffees.
Black Ivory Coffee
This is a remarkable brand from Thailand, with a very unique product. Its beans are one of the most expensive in the world, at nearly $1100 U.S. dollars per kilo. The reason for the price is actually quite surprising.
It all starts with coffee cultivation. The coffee cherries are fed to Thai elephants, where they are digested for 12-72 hours. Once the elephants ‘release’ the cherries, they are handpicked from the elephants’ excrement. These cherries are then washed and naturally processed, through sun drying. Once the beans are extracted and processed, they are roasted only per order. This exceptional and rare coffee is said to lack the bitterness many coffees traditionally have.
Black Ivory Coffee is a brand that sources these exceptional coffee beans. It also heavily supports maintaining the well-being of wild elephants. The brand’s sleek black and gold packaging looks like the perfect present on Christmas Day (if you can afford it!)
Fortnum and Mason Panama Hacienda Esmerelda Geisha
Have you ever heard of the Geisha tree? Well, it produces some of the rarest coffee beans in the world. Fortnum and Mason is a luxury department store that offers these exquisite beans.
In the heart of Panama, a micro lot of coffee plants grow 2000 meters above sea level. The beans that result are exceptional in quality, winning several awards each year. Not to mention the brand that sells them – Fortnum and Mason’s luxury branding only makes the beans more desirable. This brand is one of the U.K.’s top luxury department stores.
A small 125-gram tin costs 60 pounds or roughly 75 U.S. dollars. But, the coffee’s amazingly delicate and tea-like aromas will have you hooked in no time.
Finca El Injerto Coffee
This is a special coffee from a single farm in the heart of Guatemala. The El Injerto farm started over 100 years ago. The rich volcanic soil of the area is said to give the coffee a distinct and rare character. The farm continues to produce a bounty of coffee varieties, from Bourbon to the rare Geisha. All coffee is roasted at the farm as well. This is a very rare practice!
The farm is also incredibly sustainable. It is Rainforest Alliance Certified and is the first in Guatemala to be certified Carbon Neutral.
Getting your hands on a bag of these unique beans will provide you with a truly luxurious coffee experience. It is like brewing historical gold! The long history and quality of beans make Finca El Injerto one of the best coffee brands in the world.
Volcanica Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee
The Volcanica brand may offer a variety of coffees. But, their Jamerican Blue Mountain is the most unique. This coffee is hard to find and worth the money (at $99 U.S. dollars a bag!)
This peaberry coffee is very rare. Only 5 percent of Jamaican coffee is peaberry. Grown in the high altitudes, smallholder farmers cultivate these special blue-green beans in very limited quantities.
Volcanica carefully sources these beans. The Japanese coffee market imports 90% of the peaberry beans already, leaving only 10 percent for the rest of the world to fight over! A cup brewed from these excellent beans is definitely a luxury.
Coffee luxury goes beyond just the image. Several coffee brands provide a unique product that is an experience in itself. We know that coffee is what makes for the luxurious experience. Let us know about your most luxurious coffee experience in the comments below!
