Hacienda La Esmeralda

Yesterday we launched the Esmeralda Special. For the first time in Denmark. And a LOT of people showed up. Thanks to everyone who came out in the pouring rain to celebrate this spectacular coffee with us. It's definitely confirmed for us that the Danes are ready for this kind of asthonishing coffees!

The Esmeralda Special is now available in our stores and webshop.

For the launch we decided to present this coffee in several different ways, but not as any form of espresso. We feel the Esmeralda comes out best in other brew methods - and we feel that there is too much focus on espresso in specialty coffee in general. So, we presented it as Aeropress, French Press, in cupping session and as a cold drink.

The cold drink - which Liv and Linus is serving below - was french pressed Esmeralda that had been filtered through a paper cone filter, then sweetened with a little bit of cane sugar before being cooled down slowly. It was served in champagne glasses with a bit of sparkling water added just before serving. The soda released a lot of aromas and it was just enough that it didn't get bitter. It was really tasty and the honey aromas were incredible.


Peter guided through several cupping session, where it was also possible to smell the primary aromas as the actual ingredients (apricots, jasmine tea, heather honey and bergamot oil). This was really interesting for us, because people differed in what they picked out, but all the ingredients were found by a lot. We had first a popular supermarket coffee next to our most popular coffee, Finca Vista Hermosa from Guatemala. Then we had a washed coffee from Boquete, Panama next to Hacienda Esmeralda, which is from the same area.


Together with GoFood we did a small bite of food & coffee pairing. Andy had created a blinis with apricot, buffalo mosserela, dild and a jasmine caramel flake on top. It was super-delicious and went extremely well with the coffee.



The most incredible part for us was how many people showed up and that they were standing in line out the door


Outside we had put up tents, where French Presses of the Esmeralda was presented.


Casper spend the entire evening Aeropressing like crazy. (Un)fortunately there were constantly so many people surrounding him that we didn't get a single picture of it ourselves. We'll link when we find some.

Meanwhile all the rest of the pictures from the event is up on Flickr

Thanks to everyone who showed up (especially our baristas) that helped make this a great event!

TCC proudly presents: Hacienda La Esmeralda Special

As you might have seen previously we have been fortunate enough to obtain a lot of the famous Esmeralda Special (Pascua lot) on this years auction of the Peterson family's prime coffee.

Thursday June 11th at 17:00 - 20:00 we're proud to invite you to the grand release of the Esmeralda Special - for the first time in Denmark.

We'll present samples of the Esmeralda Special in different brew methods, open cupping sessions and flavour comparisons of aromas found in the coffee with the actual fruits/flowers/whatever.

So what makes the Esmeralda Special so special?
Well, first off it's the variety Geisha, that was imported from Ethiopia into Panama in the middle of the last century. This variety apparently took really well to the Panamanian micro-climate around the town of Boquete and the Peterson family have done a great job in cultivating it. The coffee is selectively hand picked and then mechanically demucilaged, washed and then dried with sun or a combination of sun a machine drying. All the Esmeralda Special lots on auction were (of course) vacuum packed.

The Esmeralda Special have been awarded many times and it's the first farm I know of to have an internet auction for their own coffee. We like how the usual Buyer/Seller power has shifted in this regard. Esmeralda Special have won:
· 1st Place “Best of Panama” (2009, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004)
· 1st Place Specialty Coffee Association of America Roasters Guild Cupping Pavilion (2007, 2006, 2005)
· 2nd Place Coffee of The Year (2008)
· 1st Place Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality (2008, 2007, 2006, 2004)

We'll post more about the taste description in the coming days and of course reveal the actual label. Meanwhile you can read more about Hacienda La Esmeralda on their website.

Cupping and competing- Samuli knows how

Congrats Samuli Marila from Copenhagen Roaster/ Estate. He  competed his way through the Danish Cuptasting Championships and ended up as the winner of the day. The first round was a bit shaky for Samuli and he didn't feel satisfied with his performance. He still made it to the finals and once there he was getting it all straightend out. If you never heard of competing and cupping you can read more about it here.

Undersigned did a less flattering 8th place. I'll blame it on the weather or something.
No seriuosly, it was a great day and everybody at the Collective couldn't be happier on behalf of Samuli. He has been working on and of with coffee for a long time at Copenhagen Roaster/ Estate. Always dedicated and always with his very own ideas about everything from food to bikes.  A great friend. He will now go to Cologne and represent Denmark at the World champioships end of June.

I had a very nice day hanging out with some of the coffee folks from around Denmark. Discussions about coffee was all over. Of course we were focused on how the competetion was going, but that rather gives people a very good chance to talk in a relaxed environment.

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