Starbucks reaches higher: $7 per cup

SEATTLE, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. coffee chain Starbucks says rare and sensational are the reasons behind its most expensive java to date, a $7 cup of Costa Rica Finca Palmilera.

The coffee is being offered at fewer than 50 out of 11,000 Starbucks outlets, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

In addition, Starbucks spokeswoman Alisa Martinez said, it leaves "a tingly, kind of light feeling. It's a very exquisite coffee."

The Finca Palmilera is made up of two brands Starbucks calls their Geisha heirloom varieties.

These were first discovered in Ethiopia although they have been grown in Central America since the 1950s, the newspaper said.

Martinez said Starbucks has 3,800 pounds of Finca Palmilera to sell.

But comedian Jimmy Kimmel said consumers were just being taken for a ride.

"I feel like this is a test to find out just how stupid we are," he said.

"Although, while it's ridiculous to spend $7 on a cup of coffee, it's actually not that much more ridiculous to spend $4 on a cup of coffee," Kimmel said on his show.