Hacienda La Esmeralda - Caballeriza 6SN Geisha
I had never tasted coffee from Hacienda La Esmeralda... the most celebrated coffee farm in the world. Think of Hacienda La Esmeralda the same way you would think of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in the world of wine or Noma when considering the hierarchy of global restaurants.
For the opportunity to taste this very rare Geisha, I "invested" $75 for a small tin containing 100 g which arrived yesterday (I'm guessing that a decent proportion of the price paid for the very fancy packaging!). Excited!
Helen and I sampled this coffee as pour over this morning. It was very special... blueberries, jasmine blossom, a hint of stone fruit. Silky, velvety mouthfeel. An elegant, extravagant, luxurious experience. I really did find the experience very special (so special that in the previous two "sentences" I failed to include a verb!).
But was it worth $750 per kg? My contention is that quality has become increasingly democratised. Mid-tier restaurants in Sydney are now producing food of the quality that you could only find in the very best restaurants twenty years ago. In the case of this particular Geisha, the diminishing marginal returns to price are very clear. I loved it, but have no desire to spend this amount of money regularly for special coffee, although the occasional treat is very fun!