Archives « Home Coffee Roasting Blog

RSS

Archive for the ‘Archives’ Category

La Esmeralda Sets New Record – $130 pound

29 May

May 29, 2007 – Panama’s Hacienda La Esmeralda set a new world auction record today selling for a stratospheric $130 per pound in the 8th annual Best of Panama auction. When the dust had settled Roastmasters.com, along with a group of six other companies, had emerged as the auction winner.

Hacienda La Esmeralda is likely the most famous coffee in the world today. It has won first place in the Best of Panama competion in the last four consecutive years – 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007. First place in the Specialty Coffee Association cupping competition for the last three years 2005, 2006, 2007. Winner of the Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality competition 2004, 2006, 2007. Record holder for highest price coffee at auction, now three times, with this current one being considerably higher than previous. This coffee had multiple bidders nearing the winning level.

La Esmeralda Especial scored 95.26 in the 2007 Best of Panama competition out of a possible 100 points. The coffee is grown entirely from Geisha varietal arabica, an heirloom species originating from Ethiopia that has found a nurturing home in Boquete, Panama.

A mere 500 pounds was auctioned and it is being divided among 7 companies. We believe we are the only company in the group to offer it for sale to home coffee roasters. We will have only 50 pounds and we intend to offer it in half pound bags.

We were also the successful bidder for Elida Coffee, the number three coffee in the auction and the top rated non-Geisha varietal. Expected arrival for both coffees is late June.

See complete auction results here.

No Comments

Posted in Archives

Best of Panama 2007

11 May

Best of Panama Coffee Competition – Boquete, Panama April 12 – 14, 2007

We recently returned from Boquete, Panama where we served on a panel of international judges for The Best of Panama, a prestigious coffee competition. The annual event’s objective is to determine and rank the finest coffees from Panama grown this year. The top twenty coffees, all small lots, will then be auctioned to enthusiastic buyers worldwide in a live internet auction on May 29th.

The top farm this year is Hacienda La Esmeralda owned by the family of Price Peterson. This now famous coffee has taken first place in the competition for four consecutive years and has also taken top honors in other multi-national coffee competitions. In last year’s auction, La Esmeralda set two records in The Best of Panama: the highest score and the highest price – $50.50 per unroasted pound. Only about 1000 pounds of that particular lot were available.

In addition to any coffees we may purchase at auction, we are pleased to say that we will be acquiring some quantity of La Esmeralda Especial, a very limited and nearly identical coffee from the winning farm. The specialty coffees from Panama have rapidly risen to ‘World Class’ status in recent years. While La Esmeralda gets most of the attention, which it clearly deserves, all of the top finalists are producing coffee at the highest level of excellence. Some of these coffees are just terrific.

La Esmeralda as well as the second place coffee are unique because they are grown from an exotic varietal called Geisha. It originates from Ethiopia and has been successfully grown in Boquete’s high altitude and cool climate. But other varietals that took top positions also show off the natural attributes of the area and the local farmer’s commitment to quality and environment. Many farmers there are adding the Geisha varietal to select sections of their land.

Best of Panama – Click to view larger images. Than, they can be seen in series by pressing the right arrow arrow button.