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Starbucks releases limited edition Geisha coffee

The rare, small batch of Starbucks Reserve Costa Rica Geisha La Ines is available online in the U.S. for a limited time.

September 8, 2014

The rare, small batch of Starbucks Reserve Costa Rica Geisha La Ines is available online in the U.S. for a limited time. Customers who purchase one of the 170 bags available will also receive a signed note card from Carlos Mario Rodriguez, director of global agronomy for Starbucks.

Each bag retails for $49.95.

The beans were grown on La Ines farm in Costa Rica. The beans were harvested from carefully cultivated trees imported from Ethiopia, according to the company. The tree, a particularly slow-growing variety, produced 150 lbs. of green coffee purchased by Starbucks.

The beans were roasted in two batches at the Starbucks Support Center in Seattle by Starbucks Master Roaster Brian Hayes.

The rare, small batch offering is part of Starbucks' strategy to source and offer high-quality coffee.

"This coffee is special, it's exotic; the likes of which the marketplace hasn't seen before," Schultz said at Starbucks' annual shareholder meeting in March. "We're not going to allow any competitor to take (coffee leadership) away from us. This coffee is going to wow our customers. I can assure you with this breakthrough innovation, we're going to have coffee that is second to none."