STiR coffee and tea magazine

44 STiR coffee and tea | 2024 Issue 4 (August / September) Daniel Peterson manages the farms, processing, and production at Hacienda La Esmeralda. Rachel Peterson leads sales and marketing as well as quality control. Owen and Rhinehart rode the Esmeralda Geisha wave for several years, but as the farm and variety gained fame and the price continued to rise in auctions, the early adopters that helped shape the industry by helping to in- troduce a new taste experience were crowded out by higher-end buyers in emerging markets, vowing to win the best coffee in the world year after year. After reflecting on last year's auction purchase, Jeff at Coffee Me Up ad- mitted he thought his Esmeralda Geisha was "too cheap" and that the coffee should have a higher value. So what continues to make Esmeralda Geisha worth the high price? "Firstly, the taste," Jeff said. "Esmeralda's coffee taste is unique; no other farm has [it]. Also history. Coffee price is not decided by taste only. We re- spect the history that we cannot see and taste." Jeff also touched on the contentious topic of infused coffees that has re- cently come to a head in the Best of Panama competition. He says that while experimental and infused coffees are "fun" he only buys "pure" coffees for his market. For the Petersons, pure means carefully controlled processing with no infusions or co-fermentations like the coffees that were rejected from the Best of Panama competition. Coffee that comes from Hacienda La Esmerald's Jaramillo farm displays the unique characterists of the area's terroir, just like a fine wine. Daniel Peterson notes that in the last 20 years, they've homed in on several methods, some more traditional than others, that have landed on the "cleaner" side of processing in order for Esmer- alda's signature flavors of jasmine, mandarin, and stonefruit to always shine through. Twenty years of auction success seems to prove that this meth- od is tried and true. While it's clear that the Spe- cialty Association of Panama seeks to keep infused or co-fermented coffees out of the current auction format to clearly distinguish them from "genuine specialty coffee," it's unlikely that this will be the end of the discussion of infused coffees in the Panama coffee ecosystem. In 20 years, no other singular variety or pro- cess has been able to unseat gesha from its throne, particularly the Panama Geisha brought about through the Peterson's meticulous nurturing. But in the spirit of celebrating the records and bound- aries pushed by the Esmeralda Geisha, it's impor- tant to remember that it was also once rejected from the cupping table for not fitting the profile of Panama coffee, and it broke that rule, too. For now, Panama Geisha remains the gold standard by which all other coffees are compared.

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