Morons Paying $12 for a Cup of Coffee in Manhattan: 'It's a Cacophony of Nuances'

Good grief. Twelve bucks is about what I pay for six week's worth of coffee that I brew at home. If I were a multibillionaire I wouldn't spend that much on coffee. But this is some special Ethipion blend or something so I guess the idiots will line up for it. Heck, it wasn't that long ago Sally Struthers was pleading for us to send 50 cents so we could feed a starving Ethiopian kid for a week. They must be living large over there now.

If the caffeine doesn't wake you up, the price certainly will.

At $12 a cup, the coffee at Cafe Grumpy makes Starbucks seem like a bargain brew.

Made from handpicked beans grown and coddled in Ethiopia, the pricey grind will be sold starting today at the chain's locations in Park Slope and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and Chelsea.

"There are flavors you would expect in a really nice glass of wine -- it's a cacophony of nuances," said Steve Holt, vice president of Ninety Plus Coffee, the company distributing the beans.

"You detect flavors of apricot, pineapple, bergamot, kiwi and lime. The deeper tones are levels of chocolate, and the finish is super clean."

Is it just me or does Holt sounds like the kind of guy you'd like to bludgeon with a blunt instrument? A cacophony of nuances? WTF does that mean? Deeper tones? Bergamot? Dude, it's a cup of coffee! But wait, there's more.

"It is a higher-end coffee, and you have to take a lot of time developing and processing it," said Holt. "Once the coffee is harvested, it is dried on a raised African drying bed -- the actual coffee cherries never sit on the ground."

Oh, I get it now. A raised African drying bed! Why didn't you say so? Still, now that people know of the special raised African drying bed, not everybody is dumb enough to part with $12.

"I've spent $12 on a cocktail, but I'd be reticent to pay that much for a cup of coffee," said Whitney Reuling, 25, after taking a taste.

"It's good -- but I can't taste the difference. My palate is not at an advanced level for coffee -- a $2.50 cup is fine."

How much you want to bet the same people dropping $12 on coffee are the first to whine about $3 gas?