Japanese cafe chain operator Saza Coffee Co plans to sell Panama’s Esmeralda Especial coffee beans for 1,200 yen per cup ($18) starting Dec 2.

Saza is the first company in Japan to buy the high-quality beans through an auction by paying $117.50 per pound for the coffee.

And that is almost 100 times more than the cost of average coffee beans.

The Italian coffee company Lavazza has unveiled the 18th edition of its collectible calendar, shot by influential British photographer, Miles Aldridge.

The 2010 Lavazza calendar illustrates “The Italian Espresso Experience” through Italian music.

The 2010 Calendar, featuring six of the world’s most famous models, takes inspiration from six well known Italian songs, such as Nessun Dorma.

This special limited edition illy Art Collection was designed by renown Spanish film director Pedro Almodóvar to coincide with the release of his latest film, Los Abrazos Rotos (Broken Embraces).

Nespresso have released three new Grand Cru espresso’s into their range which come from the worlds top coffee producing countries.

These new coffee capsules will offer Nespresso owners more variety, and will extend the current line of Nespresso Grand Crus instead of just being a seasonal offering.

The idea, beyond providing a unique flavor, is to support the local ecosystems, making this a green initiative as well as a premium one.

Gennaro Pelliccia is the owner of the the world’s most valuable tongue, insured for £10million ($22 million).

He is a coffee taste-tester and an unnamed group of underwriters at Lloyd’s, the world’s oldest and biggest insurance market, will pay out if he, the chief taster at Costa Coffee in the UK, loses his mastery.

Mr Pelliccia,  Costa’s Italian Master of Coffee, is responsible for ensuring the quality of the 108 million cups of Costa coffee that are drunk in Britain each year, and John Derkach, managing director of Costa Coffee, said that he was a “vital element” of the company’s business.

Korean company Yujin Robot has been showing off a coffee barista robot that delivers your coffee with precision and with complete politeness.

For those who believe that technology and robotics will make their life a lot easier than at any time in the past, this is probably something that would not really surprise you.

Although details are sparse the robot has already been given the catchy name CAFERO and has been making the rounds at Robot World 2008, which is currently running in Seoul. There is no date set or even price tag on CAFERO yet. (Photos : Aving)