On Tasting $30,000 Coffee
What I learned from tasting very, very expensive beans.
Somehow, I was lucky enough to try a Geisha coffee from Hacienda la Esmeralda. In August, a special washed process Geisha variety lot from this farm was auctioned off at the lofty price of $30,000 per kilogram. There were many, many other coffees and producers from the same event that auctioned off at unprecedentedly high prices, which you can scroll through here.
So, what does a $30,000 dollar coffee taste like?
I attended a special coffee tasting at La Cabra’s Bushwick roastery focused on the top ranked specialty coffees of Panama, based on the results of the Best of Panama Auction hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association. At this tasting, I got to try five cups of coffee from different Panamanian producers that were featured in the auction, courtesy of La Cabra. The founder, Esben Piper, spoke to the room about the profound impact his first cup of coffee from Panama had on him.
As someone who loves coffee, I felt strangely honored and undeserving to be served such an expensive beverage. I thought about the recent news about coffee’s price being at a record high in the U.S alongside the devastating effects of climate change changing the lives of global coffee farmers forever. This is partly due to the current administration’s campaign of international tariffs compounded with a changing climate in main producing countries like Brazil and Vietnam. Simultaneously, I feel proud, hopeful, and excited to see Panamanian and Latino coffee producers master their craft and receive widespread global recognition.
When I tell people about my tasting experience, everyone asks the same questions. What did it taste like? Was it that good? Why is it so expensive? There is an immediate, strong reaction from people, rejecting the notion that coffee should be so expensive or considered a luxury product.
Each sip I tried—and we were served small sips because of the limited amount of this coffee—had its own personality. Each producer and variety had a different flavor profile, mouthfeel, aroma, even color. While some may regard coffee tastings like this one as snobby or ridiculous, I appreciate the intense mindfulness and attention to detail coffee fanatics have. In one sip of coffee, there are flowers, fruits, foods, and even songs. I tried each of them for myself, then read the judge descriptions from the Best of Panama auction to compare thoughts. Some may disagree, but I try to treat it as if there is no right and wrong, just opinions.
There is beautiful poetry in flavor descriptions. I find the only way to truly get to the root of a flavor understanding is to step out of the limits of sensory descriptors. My favorite line from a judge’s description of the Best of Panama is one that resonated with me deeply:
“Search Dos Gardenias on Spotify by Buena Vista Social Club. Jasmine, butter, white peach, lemon meringue pie .... A super comfy and elegant washed Geisha — like, lounging on the balcony at night, sipping on a dry Riesling.”
I couldn’t have said it better. In just a few sips of coffee, light in color and floral in scent, there is a whole world. And this is not exclusive to this award-winning, ultra-expensive coffee, but I try to find these worlds in every coffee I drink. In every taste of coffee, there are families, communities, and cities of people involved in nurturing, picking, and processing the cherries.
This is the magic I find in both coffee and wine. Instinctively, we all try to find meaning in the mundane, to attribute flavors to other flavors and make sense of the world in relation to what we know. It’s impossible to treat every cup of coffee or wine with this intentionality, but we can try. It might make us all a little happier.