"A Cacophony Of Nuances"

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."

So why does a cup of Grumpy cost six times the price of a cup of Starbucks?

"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."

Colleen Duhamel, a coffee buyer and barista at Cafe Grumpy said the Nekisse beans, which are roasted on site, yield a far more complex coffee that should only be taken black. "As soon as you add milk and sugar to this, you lose a lot of the nuance," she said.

But not all customers are ready to pay the premium.

Even regulars at Grumpy to whom The Post provided samples of the $12 coffee said they would stick with the coffeehouse's cheaper offerings. "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.