another dance for lady ez
May 29, 2007 – 7:33 pmthe lusty panama esmeralda, subject of so much swooning CI verbage, hath scored a fresh date with a seven-company coffee consortium that has purchased the 2007 auction crop for (deep breath, double-check the numbers) $130 a pound — green. from the farm. or, if you prefer, $65,000 for 10 bags of the angular gesha stuff.
as usual, contrarians are questioning her worth. which is sort of tantamount to saying, “it’s all about the coffee — but not if you’d pay more than i would!”
free market arguments aside, this blog finds the unthinkable price tag both inspiring — people want a holy grail — and bittersweet … because it means that we’re unlikely to ever again ingest of her honeysuckle wonders or catch a fountain of mesmeralda emanating from our portafilter…
Why would the price tag be offputting? Surely if it is worth the proverbial verbage then its price to you is irrelevant?
If not – then where is the line?
hmmmm. not sure i fully understand what you’re saying.
in one sense, i’m glad to see an amazing coffee get a huge price. i’m a fan. as outlined here, i’m not saying the coffee is worth it in terms of pure relative taste — and yet, the esmeralda can do so much more. clearly, seven businesses find it worth the price.
if we’re gonna spend our lives raising the profile of coffee, then we’re gonna have to put up with some somewhat incongruous, very high-profile coffees.
the only way in which the price tag would be “offputting,” to me, is by putting out of reach for me to procure. and that doesn’t really bother me so much. as has been stated, there are plenty other worthy coffees.
jim:
maybe my use of term “unthinkable” is confusing. i don’t have a problem with the price … but it is “unthinkable,” in the sense that one would never have thought such a thing possible.
I guess what I am driving at is the point of sale between roaster and consumer that is so necessary to sustain high quality coffee prices.
My question is what is the price for you at which a bag of coffee goes out of reach? You have tasted last years crop, you loved it and it was a memorable coffee experience. However by saying you are uninterested in this year’s lot does it imply that $200/lb isn’t value for money to you in terms of coffee experience versus cost?
Within three years have the roasters bidding on this put it out of reach of their key customers who will help build the myth and the brand of the farm and the roastery? Are we in danger of pricing it so highly that it becomes a novelty solely due to its inaccessibility?
hm. that’s really thought provoking.
i guess one reason i don’t intend to buy is that is that i’ve already tasted. also, sweet maria’s doesn’t seem to be in on the winning group, so getting green doesn’t sound possible. roasted esmeralda will cost more, and i never did buy any of that.
still … last year’s price was pretty doggone high, and it was actually a selling point then. my brother drove down from chicago just to taste the stuff. obviously, what was then a record price was the reason he found it worth the trip — “why would my brother DO this?” he wondered.
this year, it’s possible that the price will put many interested people out of range. for others, it may be enough of a shock to make them want to try it. it probably depends on what those seven companies do with it. market it like cristal or a ferrari and it may be a reason to buy.
if i were near intelly, throwing a party and wanted to wow someone, i just might be crazy enough to score a pound or a half-pound for a special occasion. it could happen. but the question still is: what is the point of counter-productivity?
and i don’t know the answer. the market will tell, though. at least seven highly educated buyers thought it a worthy bet, at least this year.
You know Ben, I just don’t get you sometimes. I’ve long defended you against people who take a contrariwise viewpoint to what you say, but you showed me again you just don’t get it when you say this:
as usual, contrarians are questioning her worth. which is sort of tantamount to saying, “it’s all about the coffee — but not if you’d pay more than i would!”
It isn’t about that, Ben.
It’s about more worrying about a coffee that leeched away some valuable dollars from other very deserving coffees.
It’s about worrying about publicity dollars driving this auction, instead of this whole third wavy, transparency, ‘reward good coffee’ mentality.
It’s about the coffee. That’s the point.
that’s fair, mark. and i’m certainly not above changing my mind.
but i still don’t see how the high-flying achievements of a stellar coffee is anything to complain about. prices aren’t always gonna be totally fair. there will always be less-than-deserving losers, and people will always be free to pick up those coffees at a relative bargain.
but i just don’t see how micromanaging the market for good coffee — “X price is too low, Y price is acceptable, Z price is too much” — helps anyone. it’s about demand, hype, cachet, quality all those things, and the final results may be messy or exaggerated, but i think they’ll help everyone in the long run.
i mean, we want the world to wake up to our wares, and, through this record-setting auction, more people will. and we’re worried about that? huh?
you certainly needn’t bother defending me. i’m just some hack junkie who has access to the interwebs and still doesn’t get why people read this blog…