2007 Best of Panama

[Alistair]

The Auction is coming up on May 29th
http://coffee.stoneworks.com/auction/

check out the website for a lengthy video on Panama & Coffee, which is informative, and at times quite amusing!

[Jim Schulman]

The Panama booth was handing out samples of the Geisha and the Kotowa Organico (#4). The Organico was a real pleasant surprise to me, a gorgeous coffee. The Geisha is almost fighting its own reputation by now; and it'll be interesting to see for how much it sells this year.

The #2 Mama Cata lot is listed as partially Geisha, so that cultivar's winning streak at the cupping table is holding up.

[Mark Prince]

Prediction: $85 a pound for the bragging rights!

Because I hear there's less of it this year than past years.

Mark

[nick]

Because I hear there's less of it this year than past years.

Actually, in this auction, there's twice as much (10 bags) as last year's auction (5 bags).

[R Miguel Meza]

Except those (10) bags are (10) 50 lb bags so it is actually less than last years (5) 132 lb bags.

[nick]

Fascinating, Miguel. (sorry Mark)

Are they Howell-ish plastic bags instead of jute then?

[Tim Dominick]

The #2 Mama Cata lot is listed as partially Geisha, so that cultivar's winning streak at the cupping table is holding up.

Everyone at our cupping of the BoP lots scored this one higher. Compared to the Esmerelda, it was like the lady who wears a hint of perfume for the man lucky enough to kiss her neck as opposed to the woman who wears enough perfume so you can smell her across the room.

Geisha starts are popping up by the thousands in Costa Rica as well, and some older Geisha-like coffee in the Dota Valley has already been rediscovered.

All of this makes me think of the brady bunch: "marsha marsha marsha" poor Typica, the Jan Brady of coffee.

[trish]

The #2 Mama Cata lot is listed as partially Geisha, so that cultivar's winning streak at the cupping table is holding up.

Everyone at our cupping of the BoP lots scored this one higher. Compared to the Esmerelda, it was like the lady who wears a hint of perfume for the man lucky enough to kiss her neck as opposed to the woman who wears enough perfume so you can smell her across the room.

Geisha starts are popping up by the thousands in Costa Rica as well, and some older Geisha-like coffee in the Dota Valley has already been rediscovered.

All of this makes me think of the brady bunch: "marsha marsha marsha" poor Typica, the Jan Brady of coffee.

Not at our cupping. We thought the #2 was many steps behind the #1 Esmerelda. The 50 lb bags thing is messing with my mind, though.

[sweetmarias]

does anyone know where the coffee is? panama has always been unique in that the coffee is shipped to the US (actually, at the annex - very convenient!) either royal or volcafe bring it up. then the samples are pulled from the bags. this is also unique - the only auction where what you sample is from the finished, milled, bagged coffee.

but this year the samples shipped international fed ex from panama, and i cant find info to confirm if the coffee is still in panama or in the US.

incindently, making a vac pot of new crop esmeralda pre-ship for their non-auction offering as i type this.

tom

[Mike Ferguson]

Esmeralda closed at $99.99

[Mark Prince]

I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous. I don't care who bought it either when I say that. And apparently it's not over yet. People are fighting behind the scenes, almost as I type, to get it rolling again after the computer glitch.

I'm much more concerned with what the lowest bid prices are on other coffees in this auction - they don't look so good. Bambito at $4? La Boqueteña Estate at $2.10?? Green Mountain, at #2.25???? That's an awesome coffee!

CoE's been up big time on the median and lowest priced coffees, eCafe and BoP should catch up.

Mark, witnessing something that could be confused for a "who's got the biggest dick" event online today.

[Robert Goble]

Relax mark.... it's the early stages of a free market. Think of the arc of this over years and forget about a single auction and what it means. It's all about market forces and the development of that force. Relax with it and see it for what it is --- a necessary yet early stage in the free market auction for specialty (quality) grade coffee. Understand it and applaud it. It's not specifically about what this means for coffee today but what it will mean for coffee in 5 years.

[Mark Prince]

I see you point, Rob, but I still can't applaud it - it's just moving from the "wow" days ($23 BoP), to the "holy shit" times ($50 Brasil, BoP) to the "are you insane" notions of Kopi Luwak and now, BoP.

Think about it - 500lbs of coffee for $50K, before landed and roasting cost. And it's not over yet. Latest word is, they're going to let the dust settle for a day, and start the auction all over again tomorrow at $100 starting price. Personally, if I were the company that locked in the $99.99 bid, I'd be screaming bloody murder at this. It's not their fault that Matthew's software didn't see beyond four digits.

I do hope there are secondary benefits from this (but I'm not seeing it in the BoP when quality coffees like Great Mountain go for two bucks and quarter). I think CoE benefited from the $50 Brasil, because (and the be brutally frank about this), Vince pushed the marketing engine into overdrive and got the word out about it. Not only was Artigiano selling some of the world's most expensive coffee, but Vince got "Cup of Excellence" into major newspapers across North America. As such, public awareness went up quite a bit.

Maybe that was a benefit for CoE, maybe not. I've seen press on BoP from last year, but unlike CoEs where the median price has gone up quite a bit, it's not happening in this year's BoP.

I tell you, unless something major was wrong with that Great Mountain, whoever bought it at $2.25 got it for a severe steal.

Mark

[Steve]

Got to agree with Mark on the Median price stuff, there are some great coffees in that auction at not so great prices. Nice headlines for a few weeks at least.

[Robert Goble]

All that median stuff will sort itself out over the next few years....

You'll see overall quality move upward.... new coffees with equally better scores and attributes to excite buyers. You'll see competition for other CoE auctions, you'll see competing (quality) auction models.... you'' see a move towards proprietary branding and purchasing.... It will all work out in the wash.... just let it play out.

[Steve]

I think while these things play out consumers get confused, people become disillusioned and the real message about quality special coffee lots, and getting a great price across the board is weakened.

Again I'm with Mark (twice in in day people will talk) is the wonderful Esmerelda 44 times better than the exceptional green mountain? Not on my cupping table it wasn't.

[onocoffee]

Hundred bucks per pound?

Is this years' Esmeralda REALLY worth that much? Has the farming of that particular lot of coffee progressed from just a few years ago?

It really sounds more like Mark's notion of "who's got the biggest dick" than an indicator of a positive trend for the future of coffee.

[Steve]

It really sounds more like Mark's notion of "who's got the biggest dick".

No one told me it came with an "extension" that could have swung the deal

[James Hoffmann]

I am interested to see the consumer's reaction to this.

Will they feel resentful that the bidding has pushed the price of a lb of roasted past their limit of what they may be willing to pay for a bag. (What is this gonna retail for - or is it gonna go at cost for the bragging rights only?)

I do look forward to trying this coffee (I will find a way!)

[aaronblanco]

Hate that the price has skyrocketed like that, but have to say there will always be a market for it, at any price. You or I may not buy $200/bottle wine (sorry to bring that tired analogy back in!), but someone does. A whole lotta' somebodies, evidently.

I must agree that the market will find the appropriate range and customers given time. Meantime, we should each try to find a way to celebrate and capitalize and, as ever, educate, as best we can.

[Tim Dominick]

The fifty bucks for the entire set samples was a steal.

227 grams of the most expensive lot, plus 227 grams of every other winner. For the price a 1/2 lb esmeralda sample you get 24 additional great coffee samples for free.

[Christopher Schooley]

The overall message that is being sent out is that quality is being rewarded. I think this above all else is immediately significant. That being said, is this Reagan era like trickle down theory of the median prices rising really sound? I guess there have to be bidders willing to agressively go after these other offerings.

Edit for punctuation.

[nick]

The argument could be made that all history is ultimately about men and "comparing sizes" as you might say.

The price is high, but as always comes up in this situation (i.e., every time the online auction record gets broken), the price is justified if people are willing to pay for it.

The hard pill to swallow is that I'd guess that a great deal, if not most of the Roederer Cristal champagne sold and consumed out there isn't to the wine aficianados... but to "conspicuous consumers." I could be wrong about that, but let's say it's true: Is that a problem? Does that offend your sensibilities? If 80% of that Esmeralda Especial ended up being sold to rich Saudi oil millionaires... is that okay?

I love Lamborghinis. I think they're stunningly beautiful pieces of automotive art. I know enough about driving sports cars to feel like if I had a Lambo, I would be able to truly appreciate it for what it is, and be able to take it to 8/10ths, if not 9/10ths... okay 9/10ths is bullshit, but let's just say that I can (the "10ths" thing is car-afficianado-speak and has to do with being able to push/utilize a car's power and handling, just barely shy of the physical limits of traction). That said, I can't afford a Lamborghini... but I won't complain about the price.

The luxury-end of the coffee industry is going to be, in a significant way, part of the future growth of the specialty market. Just as 6-speed transmissions, SMG, and rear-bumper-backup-sensors have made their way from the super-luxury end of the automotive industry into cars in the more mundane $30K range, the top-top-tier will be a significant part of the development of specialty coffee as well.

To me, the bigger issue is this: if they happened to have a brand-new Lamborghini Gallardo for sale at the Hyundai dealership down the street, would the rich-guy (who can actually afford it) find it there and buy it from the greasy Hyundai salesman with the crumpled shirt and coffee-stained tie? Packaging and merchandising needs to catch up to the coffee quality, as well as an appropriate level of "luxury retailing..." and nobody's doing that, and I don't know who (among the probable BoP buyers) can right now.

[Steve]

The overall message that is being sent out is that quality is being rewarded. I think this above all else is immediately significant. That being said, is this Reagan era like trickle down theory of the median prices rising really sound? I guess there have to be bidders willing to agressively go after these other offerings.

Edit for punctuation.

Sorry to pick up on this Chris but is the message that quality is being rewarded being helped by coffee being sold at just over $2 a lb? I pay more than that for a standard offering not the best of a country's coffee for that year thats been through a reviewing process by my peers.

I can tell you from my limited experience that the median prices is what producing countries look at when it comes to how successful a competition is, not the headline price.

[Mark Prince]

I get the trickle down effect argument, and saw it take place in CoE after the whopper of a $50 bid on the Brasil.

I guess what I was really trying to say is, after three years of record breaking prices on Peterson's fantastic coffee, other great coffees in BoP ain't seeing it. $2.25 for Great Mountain? Sheesh.

And btw, it's not $99.99 any longer. It's $130. Just finished. And it's Intelly / Zoka's / Groundwork / Coffee Klasch, / Roastery, and Roastmaster / 49th Parallel.



Mark