Have you heard of "Panama Esmeralda Especial?"

[Nick]

What's the difference between Panama Esmeralda Especial that's being sold by some coffee-outlets today, and the record-breaking auction coffee from this summer? (please give your answer based on your understanding BEFORE reading this thread)


The coffee mentioned in the poll is being offered a few places out there, notably the following companies (with the text from their webpages in quotes):

http://www.buystumptowncoffee.com...VIEWPROD&ProdID=29

Produced by the Peterson family of Boquete, Panama, this heirloom variety found its way from the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia, to the highlands of Panama sometime in the 1950's. The variety known as Geisha and the unique micro-climate(s) of Boquette give this coffee its beauty queen status. From the moment you begin grinding, this coffee it will seduce and tickle your fancy. With every sip you'll taste prosecco, candied ginger, myere lemon, champagne, jasmine, bergamot, persimmon and orange blossom. Esmeralda Especial is truly one of the best coffees we have ever tasted.

http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.c...mericas/esmerelda2

This is a 1/2 pound Special Offering. Like the lots Intelligentsia purchased from the Best of Panama auction, this coffee was produced by the Peterson family at their Hacienda La Esmeralda. Effusively aromatic, with a crystal clarity, profound sweetness, and rapturous assortment of flavor notes that dance on the tongue as they soar from sweet lemon-citrus to delicate apricot and from green grape to soft jasmine and orange blossom. Simultaneously intense and graceful, delicate and profound, sweet and deliciously bright.

http://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee...tml#EsmeraldaGesha

11/1/06: We first bought this coffee this year through the Best of Panama competition as noted below- and since then future pickings have become available. When we got word that 10 bags were available from the tail end of the crop, we jumped at the chance to buy them. The coffee came air freight to SFO, so coffee that was at the mill two weeks ago now is in our warehouse - which is pretty cool. We have a limited stock of this coffee - so there is a 1 lb limit per order. Notes: It's rare that a coffee varietal announces itself so clearly in the cup flavors as the Gesha cultivar does in Panamanian coffee. You remember Gesha, it was the cultivar responsible for the $25/lb La Esmeralda Jaramillo we offered in 2004. This year we paid a mere $50.25 for it per lb in the Best of Panama Coffee Auction, as part of our buying group the Small Axe Coffee Alliance (I prefer "Small Acts" myself). Anyway It won the Panama competition again in 2005 and 2006. It is what I refer to as an Exotic: Ethiopian coffee grown in Panama, and not your traditional Panama cup profile. Nonetheless, judges ask themselves"Is this good?" and (as a judge at BOP this year) my answer was YES! Another funny judging issue; The Esmeralda Gesha makes blind cupping almost senseless, since I can identify its amazing fragrance, aroma and cup flavors immediately when I come upon it in a "blind" cupping! It is that dry fragrance that lets you know right away what is coming when the water hits the cup: incredible sweet floral, citrus blossom, sweet honey perfume atomized into the air. This is our "regular" lot of Gesha from the Jaramillo plot, and I am the first to admit that it is a bit tamer than the 120 Lbs of Gesha from the competition. But the emphasis is on "a LITTLE bit" because this lot still would have blown the doors off the other coffees at the cupping table. It also won't set you back $50 or $60 bucks. We are basically part of a small buying group for this coffee, with a much bigger company (Peets) having rights to the bulk of it. We asked for double the amount we were allotted, but no matter, there simply isn't enough for even the privileged buyers given a chance at the coffee. That's why I think it's kind of neat Sweet Maria's can spread this around a bit, allow many people who truly are the most motivated coffee enthusiasts (home roasters) experience the Gesha cultivar. Yes, in terms of intensity, fruited and floral aspects, wet-processed Ethiopians and Kenyas are more in league with Gesha than any other coffee. But it is difficult to price this sort of cup character, and when it is as exotic ...no, extraterrestrial ... as The Esmeralda Gesha, it is even more hard to quantify. The dry fragrance is intensely floral, jasmine and sweetly herbal. When it hits the burrs of your grinder, you know right away this is an extraordinary coffee. Citrus, jasmine flowers, cherry, passion fruit, and mango; these are some of the flavors that come to mind as they essentially leap out at you. It's very much an herbal-floral infusion and I think those who eschew coffee in favor of such teas might do a double-take. There are tea-like, Earl Grey, zesty notes I get sometimes too. A basket of fruit, a bouquet of flowers; no description seems too sappy, sentimental or ridiculous for a coffee that is so obviously unique

There's been some discussion about branding, and confusions about certain coffees. I thought it'd be illuminating to get feedback from the H-B community.

Basically, the question is, "Is there confusion about the auction-record-breaking Best of Panama auction lot Panama Esmeralda Especial from a few months ago, and the direct-purchase Panama Esmeralda Especial that's being offered today?" Please answer based on your perceptions BEFORE reading this thread.

Thanks in advance!

[HB]

Interesting poll, Nick. Due to some last-minute edits of the choices, some of the recorded votes were reset and they'll have to re-vote. Sorry.

[jesawdy]

Nick-

No confusion here, but I must say that the Stumptown site isn't very upfront about the difference on their site (unlike Tom at Sweet Marias and Intelly).

[miKe mcKoffee]

Poll option #3 could/should include "at less than 1/3 the price of the auction lot". Or me thinks it's actually 1/4 the price. But definitely not 1/4 the quality IMO!

[King Seven]

I think some of the responsability should lie with the farm. Certainly as this farm garners superstar status already enjoyed by those such as La Minita or Daterra the whole branding thing becomes quite important.

Take Daterra. Troels won the WBC using this farm's coffee and it was part of Klaus winning WBC blend this year. Clearly this farm produces stellar coffee. This farm also produces coffee that isn't that good (no farm is anywhere near perfect). However Daterra have done nothing to stop a roaster buying up the cheaper coffees (they do a huge range), putting a load in a blend and selling it on the Daterra name. What will happen, is happening in fact, is that people taste the poor blends, note that its 60% Daterra and the farm looks bad - even though it does produce some stellar lots.

Clearly the rest of the Esmeralda crop was pretty good, but if it hadn't have been so good and many more consumers noted this (due to its greater availability) it would damage the rep of the farm, the auction and the roasters.

[swines]

None of your vote items are correct. The record breaking coffee was from the first picking and was hand sorted for the Best of Panama auction. All of the first picking / hand sorted coffee (6 bags) was purchased by a buying group that included Sweet Marias, Intelligentsia, etc.

The further offering of the same coffee was from subsequent pickings from the same area of the farm. As far as taste of the coffees, I've purchased both the first picking and the second offering. There is a very slight taste difference between the two, and if you look at Tom's cupping notes you'll see the second lot is not scored as highly as the first picking. Is there a $40 difference between the two....mmmm...no - but, then you'd have to have the first lot for comparison wouldn't you?