2008 Panama Esmeralda Special Auction

[Tim O'Brien]

And here's the link. Will be very interesting to see how this goes!!

http://coffee.stoneworks.com/auction/

[Mark Prince]

Anyone else find that auction listing system and lots organization and colour coding, etc etc. very confusing? Woo hoo, I won lot #7, subsection 6!

Mark

[Joe Hsu]

Actually there are only 10 lots which means there is only 10 different batches of coffee.
Each batch might has several lots. Each lot of a given batch will be exactly the same coffee.
So Mark, if you bid the ES 7-06 that means it is the same coffee of all the ES 7(fromES7-01 to ES7-13) and never did the high bid of whole lot ES 7.
All of the lots within a given batch are exactly the same coffee, so ideally they should be bid for the same price.

[Alistair Durie]

It allows bidders the chance to bid for the same batch, but separated into smaller (300lb) lots.

As far as I know this single estate auction is unprecedented event, there's been nothing like this before. I'm sure a ton of news media will be generated from this, and the "Esmeralda Special" brand will be found in far more cafe's than ever.

[Mark Prince]

All of the lots within a given batch are exactly the same coffee, so ideally they should be bid for the same price.

The hacienda owners must be miracle workers if they can claim that every coffee bean in 7, 10, 15, 20+ "sublots" (50lbsx6bags each) of a lot, are "exactly the same coffee". Similar, same microlot, etc I could live with. But exactly the same? Where's the fun in that.

But at least we'll know exactly how much lbs of coffee can rightfully be called "La Esmeralda Especiale Auction Lot" this year, if and when Peets et al goes on another press junket. And I'm looking forward to the fun times when some roasters claim they got "the world's best coffee" because they bought one sublot of Batch 7, whereas the people who bought batch 2 (2 available) might do so... then again, the people who buy batch 3 might just claim it since there's only one... oops, batch four is only one too...

Should be a fun year watching the fallout, fireworks, claims and boasts in the next few months.

Mark

[Alistair Durie]

The hacienda owners must be miracle workers if they can claim that every coffee bean in 7, 10, 15, 20+ "sublots" (50lbs each) of a lot, are "exactly the same coffee". Similar, same microlot, etc I could live with. But exactly the same? Where's the fun in that.

Each "Batch" is a separate lot from the farm that is picked, processed and dried together on the same patio at the same time. Each of these "Batches" are being split into 300lb lots. Otherwise the lots would be very large and not as accessible to smaller buyers. Batch Eight for instance is 25 lots of 6 bags = 150 bags = 7500lbs. It makes perfect sense.

[Mark Prince]

I need to add a big PS to my last post in this thread.

I do not begrudge the Petersons at all - in fact, I admire them for being excellent farmers and landowners, for growing a superior product, for being first rate capitalists but also good philanthropists, and for recognizing (perhaps) that their stellar coffee hurt other farmers last year by being part of the BoP, and thus the moving of Esmeralda into its own auction.

That last bit has really paid dividends - the BoP auction this year had an awesome median, and unlike the previous year, a lot of coffees got exactly the kind of money they deserved. If the Petersons were the impetus for that, much kudos to them.

Mark

[Tim O'Brien]

That last bit has really paid dividends - the BoP auction this year had an awesome median, and unlike the previous year, a lot of coffees got exactly the kind of money they deserved. If the Petersons were the impetus for that, much kudos to them.

Mark

From what I understand from the Peterson brother living here in Costa Rica, they decided not to participate in BoP precisely for that reason. To give other coffees a chance to shine, and to not wreck the curve.

[IanClark]

What I'm curious about is whether Bidder 583, if they get their way, will distinguish the top three lots at their point of sale or just pool it into one product. Even buying up all three top batches they will only have about 1300lb to sell.

[James Hoffmann]

Perhaps it is someone in Japan who has drunk so much coffee to stay awake until 6am that they've gone a bit caffeine crazy?

[Chris Kornman]

I've come to the conclusion that it's a robot programmed to break dance and then stop to bid every three minutes.

[Tim O'Brien]

I'm guessing batches one and two are from the section of farm that their BoP lot usually comes from.

I can't believe they're getting $28.00/lb for their raisins!!!!

A very successful gamble for the Petersons!

[James Hoffmann]

Do they run the risk of diluting their brand this year? I am curious about the double pass stuff - but only because I really haven't liked the double passed stuff I have had in the past from other farms.

[Robert Goble]

Are you guys bidding James?

[James Hoffmann]

We are not - we haven't cupped the samples, and the time just isn't right for us. I hope someone in the UK is, because I really would like to get my head around the coffees they produce there a bit more and get a better idea of their value to us in future.

[Robert Goble]

I kick myself for not following this closer this year -- does anybody know if there are trade restrictions in place for the way each lot is allowed to be sold (akin to Ian's question) or branded (as part of the buying agreement?).

[James Hoffmann]

I wonder that roasters will struggle to communicate what they have bought in the context of this auction, and in relation to what other roasters are offering for very different prices (looking at the $100+/lb happening now).

With the "superfarms" like Esmeralda, Daterra and or perhaps La Minita (I may be on shaky ground with this one as I don't really know enough about how the farm sells its lots of coffe) I often wonder why they don't distinguish the coffees they produce more strongly to prevent lower quality coffees that are inevitably produced from damaging the brand. In the UK there are a lot of blends that proudly boast their Daterra component, but the lots they are using are towards the cheaper end of what the farm produces and it shows in the cup and not the same high quality lot that folks like the Coffee Collective are using.

[IanClark]

I was thinking the same James. Obviously bragging rights are still considered to be important given the price of batches 1 & 2 right now, but buyers are going to want some sort of distinguishing mark to go along with the price tag. I expect they'll develop some fancy new brands for the top grades in the years to come. Just what we need, more sexy spanish words on top of an already impossibly long and all to often confused name!

Pretty soon coffee grading will be as confusing as tea under the Orange Pekoe system. "Umm, yeah... I'll have a 1/2lb of the PHLEGS2-1 for a cone filter please."

[Aldo1]

And here's the link. Will be very interesting to see how this goes!!

http://coffee.stoneworks.com/auction/

This is fascinating, I have beenwatching on and off all day. Thanks for posting the link, although I have an interest in some bidders, I didn't expect to be able to watch it.

[Jeff Jassmond]

I really want to know who 959 was. It/he/she appeared to have a huge influence on the auction but didn't get the call on a single batch.

[James Hoffmann]

Well then - a touch under $477,000 dollars of coffee. Impressive spending, could this be the most profitable farm in the world in terms of profit per hectare?

How long til names are revealed?

[Mark Prince]

I wonder that roasters will struggle to communicate what they have bought in the context of this auction, and in relation to what other roasters are offering for very different prices (looking at the $100+/lb happening now).

I speculate that there may be more than one or two advertising their $6 Batch 5 coffees (or $12 Batch 10s) as "the world's best coffee, fetching $105 in auction!, (but we're selling it for $35 per pound) !!!".

Fantastic auction for the Petersons. almost half a million dollars in sales. Yikes.

583... Stumptown? Kentaro? (sp?)

Mark

[Jeff Jassmond]

Names are named on the results page. Congratulations Stumptown!

From a quick scan it looks like some new names got involved and the distribution is much wider. Good work.

[Tim Dominick]

I wonder that roasters will struggle to communicate what they have bought in the context of this auction, and in relation to what other roasters are offering for very different prices (looking at the $100+/lb happening now).

I speculate that there may be more than one or two advertising their $6 Batch 5 coffees (or $12 Batch 10s) as "the world's best coffee, fetching $105 in auction!, (but we're selling it for $35 per pound) !!!".

I can guarantee it won't be me! Beyond that, all bets are off.

The idea that the details are in stone(works) for all to see is pretty important. It'd be fairly stupid of us to make any claims about the lot we bought since anyone can see what we paid. Beth and I happened to like the coffee, so it was a bonus that it was among the least expensive.

I think this system will actually cut down on the number of instances where roasters make reference to the "best" and serve the rest. Last year who knew where all the non-auction Esmeralda Special ended up, this year it is all laid out in front of us.

Congrats to the Petersons, from here it looks like a great day.

[sweetmarias]

How very exciting and remarkable it was ...so many of us had such a wonderful day anchored to our computers. I had a lot of time to work on my detective novel, and write this poem:

Coffee Love
The coffee inside me strong and warm
it warmed me from the inside out
actually made me want to shout
from the energy that it always gives
the life giving yummieness, forever live!
Coffee, my love....never leave............
*this poem is off the top of my head, I just had to get it off my mind.

Okay, I didn't write it: http://my.opera.com/scrawlforth/forums/topic.dml?id=203584
But I felt this poems majesty while watching the Esmeralda Auction. It was almost as good as a cup of Batch 5, the budget batch. Has anyone registered for the La Minita auction?