I feel fortunate to have had a front-row seat as Esmeralda Special, now widely known as the most celebrated coffee of all time, was discovered and introduced to the world.  I was one of the first to taste the magnificent Esmeralda Special of 2004, in the year of its introduction.  The magnificent floral-honey-citrus flavor of this exquisite coffee changed the way I thought about Latin American coffees, and it did the same for coffee experts all over the world: Esmeralda Special smashed all records for coffees sold at auction that year, and has repeated the feat every year since.  I feel fortunate to call the Petersons, the owners of Hacienda Esmeralda, friends, and I am honored to have been invited to participate in the private auctions they host to sell their super-rare coffee.

And so, in preparation for the 2009 Esmeralda Special auction, I was thrilled to receive the samples from Hacienda Esmeralda.  This year, the Petersons chose to divide their harvest into seven discrete microlots - dividing the small portion of their farm where the Esmeralda Special is harvested even further, and selling the harvests according to the month in which they were picked.    After tasting all of these lots, it was very clear: the coffees from the “Mario” section of the farm were the most delicious, brimming with the lemon-jasmine flavor that makes Esmeralda Special so incredibly rare.  It’s no surprise, really; this was the very same section of the farm where the original, paradigm-busting Esmeralda Special was harvested in 2004!  Of the three lots from Mario, our favorite was harvested in April and named “Pascua” after the Easter holiday.  We set our sights on Pascua, and prepared to bid, collaborating with DEAN & DELUCA CEO Mark Daley to purchase a special lot especially for DEAN & DELUCA customers.

The competition at auction was even fiercer than expected and heavy bidding came from Japanese buyers, who have come to appreciate the beauty of Esmeralda Special as much as we do.  The bidding on a coffee auction such as this lasts for hours, as bidders send their bids in from Europe, Asia, and the United States.  In the end, we were able to purchase 150 pounds of this super-rare coffee for DEAN & DELUCA, and are proud to import and roast it for you!

Peter Giuliano
Director of Coffee & Co-owner
Counter Culture Coffee