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[00:00.04]A Scottish dairy, or milk cow farm,

[00:04.72]is offering what it calls

[00:07.04]Britain's costliest coffee:

[00:09.64]one cup for $344.

[00:14.00]It is a huge price for a little cup of coffee,

[00:17.96]but the man selling it offers a deal sweetener:

[00:22.56]a share of a dairy farm.

[00:26.04]For that price, they also receive

[00:29.28]34 shares in Mossgiel Organic Dairy.

[00:33.44]The company offers the deal

[00:36.20]in a crowdfunding campaign it opened.

[00:39.92]It hopes to raise enough money

[00:42.64]to enlarge its sustainable operation

[00:46.12]and produce more milk.

[00:49.24]Investors who buy 34 shares

[00:52.72]get a certificate for a special coffee drink

[00:57.20]called a flat white.

[01:00.32]Holders can present their certificate

[01:03.48]and get their flat white

[01:05.52]at one of 13 coffee shops in Scotland

[01:09.44]that use the dairy's milk.

[01:13.04]The dairy's owner, Bryce Cunningham,

[01:16.20]notes his coffee costs 80 times the usual price.

[01:21.76]"We know it sounds crazy,

[01:24.04]but when you break it down,

[01:26.08]it's a pretty good deal.

[01:27.96]How much is the future

[01:30.04]of farming worth," he asked.

[01:32.72]The price tops the $320

[01:36.72]for a flat white at Shot London,

[01:40.52]a coffee bar in the wealthy Mayfair

[01:44.08]and Marylebone neighborhoods.

[01:46.92]That flat white was made with rare

[01:50.12]coffee beans from Okinawa, Japan.

[01:53.56]The Telegraph newspaper reported in April

[01:58.52]that it was the most costly coffee in Britain.

[02:02.32]Cunningham is seeking about

[02:04.96]$375,000 from small investors

[02:10.60]in order to secure a much larger bank loan.

[02:14.84]He had already raised more than a third of his goal

[02:19.44]when he offered the flat white farm shares deal.

[02:23.64]The loan he is seeking is worth

[02:26.88]more than $1.1 million.

[02:30.36]He says that financing

[02:33.20]will help him double operations

[02:36.16]and expand out of Scotland

[02:38.80]all the way to London.

[02:42.48]Shareholders receive other rewards, too,

[02:46.08]such as farm visits, milk transport deals

[02:50.80]and invitations to special events.

[02:55.28]But investors are also given a standard warning

[02:59.40]that they could lose some

[03:01.08]or all of the money they invest.

[03:03.76]The dairy farm in Mauchline,

[03:06.80]about 40 kilometers south of Glasgow, is historic.

[03:12.32]The famous 18th-century Scottish poet

[03:16.56]Robert Burns once worked at the farm.

[03:20.68]Burns, considered the national poet of Scotland,

[03:26.12]wrote while working in the fields there

[03:29.04]for two years.

[03:30.84]An image of his face is on

[03:33.56]each glass container of Mossgiel milk.

[03:38.56]Todd Whiteford is an owner

[03:40.76]of The Good Coffee Cartel in Glasgow,

[03:44.00]that is serving the costly cups.

[03:47.36]He said the store has been

[03:49.52]using Mossgiel's milk for several years.

[03:53.24]He said other milk producers

[03:55.76]cannot meet the quality of Mossgiel's milk.

[03:59.44]He said it makes "rounder,

[04:02.04]smoother and sweeter" drinks.

[04:05.00]"Theirs is the best.

[04:07.00]I'll argue with anyone about that," Whiteford said.

[04:12.20]I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

_______________________

Words in This Story

cohesive – n. exhibiting or producing the act or state of sticking together tightly

previously – adv. before; in the past

giant – n. huge

dissipate – n. to break up and scatter or vanish

diameter – adj. the length of a straight line through the center of an object or space

spin – v. to turn in a circular motion

warp - to be turned or twisted out of, or as if out of, shape

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