We received an email from the people at Peet's Coffee & Tea in August about Peet's coming to the Philly area for a series of cuppings (that's fan-cay talk for tasting). The carrot at the end of their proverbial stick? They were bringing along a sampling of the most expensive coffee in the world, Panama Esmeralda Geisha:
Grown on just one small block, at the highest altitude of Hacienda La Esmeralda in the Boquete region of Panama, Panama Esmeralda Geisha is an heirloom variety – known as "Geisha", after its probable origin in the Ethiopian region of Gesha. Characterized by an unforgettable jasmine-like fragrance and pristine citrus clarity, this coffee has been judged best coffee in Panama and has garnered ten first place awards in the last four years. Only 215 sacks of this rare coffee were produced in 2007, and on May 29, 2007, just tens sacks of Panama Esmeralda Geisha were sold for the highest price ever paid at an international coffee auction – an astounding $130 per pound wholesale.
Messy very much wanted in and Picky, not being a coffee drinker, was intrigued by the lure of this expensive coffee. Oh yeah, they were also holding the cupping at the Four Seasons with desserts paired to the coffee offerings. Messy (pictured above taking a sniff of the roasted Geisha in the Four Season's Courtyard) is a coffee addict, and until this event, an uneducated one. She has gone through many rotations in her coffee preferences, from Dunkin' Donuts light and sweet to soy creamer in whatever is on sale at the grocery store to her most recent preference: the darkest and cheapest version of fair trade coffee at Whole Foods with a little half and half. But, in general, Messy likes her coffee like she likes her wine: cheap but powerful. So it was quite an eye-opener to taste gourmet versions of her drug of choice. The coffees we tried were so good and so smooth that they didn't need to be dressed up with cream or sugar — even Picky was able to drink them black without experiencing any strange or bitter aftertastes.
In addition to the Geisha, we tasted (from near to far) the Columbia and Major Dickinson's Blend®. The green beans in the photo above are unroasted Geisha with the roasted ones behind them. All of the coffee was prepared in Bodum French Presses, the smaller carafe was reserved for the pricey Geisha.
Our host from Peet's was the delightful Erica Hess, a Peet's Coffee & Tea's Coffee Educator, and an 11-year veteran of the company. She told us about the history of the company (Peet's gave birth to Starbucks and the coffee explosion in the rest of the country). She also told us a little anecdote about her first encounter with Mr. Peet while working at a shop in Berkeley. Mr. Peet walked around the counter and started to fiddle with the coffee. She thought, "Hey, this is Berkeley!" and let it go. Until she realized that it was Mr. Peet himself. He checked in on his stores regularly. Above is a shot of Erica showing us what the coffee cherries look like – they really look like cherries!
Erica described the roasting process in their new, LEED certified plant in Alameda, CA. All of their beans are roasted by hand in small batches and delivered fresh within 24 hours of ordering without warehousing. It's the careful roasting process which results in a distinctly smooth and un-bitter cup. Erica also explained the brewing process in detail. She loaded two tablespoons of Geisha beans into a grinder. She noted that you should a dedicated grinder for your coffee beans and to think twice before using the one at the grocery store. Mixing your spices and coffee beans will lead to some odd couplings of flavors and the grinder at the store can be a crapshoot with all the mixed beans. (At this point, Messy began to cringe thinking of her own coffee making strategy, which usually involves eyeballing, microwaving and rarely cleaning the pot.)
After grinding your beans, then comes the hot water. After boiling, let the water sit for 30 seconds. Erica warned that you don't want to hit the grinds with boiling hot water or else you'll burn them. It's okay to pour boiling hot water on tea though (except for a few varieties).
The secret to not having your French Press explode is to plunge about halfway and let the gases from the beans expand. Don't plunge all the way down until grinds have bloomed for three minutes (we're not going to lie to you — we had to look up the word "bloom"). Then, pour and enjoy ASAP.
From left to right are the Columbia, Major Dickinson's and Geisha. We sipped from each cup. Erica told us to slurp and aerate the coffee to get the full taste. The Columbia is more of an everyday coffee and was Picky's (his first favorite coffee!). The Major Dickinson's has a little more punch to it and was Messy's favorite. The Geisha had an incredibly different taste to it accentuated by tasting the other cups and going back to the Geisha – with each successive sip, the citrusy flavors were more and more apparent.
After one round of coffee by itself, we got to sample a plate of pastries prepared by Executive Pastry Chef Eddie Hales who has been with the Four Seasons since 1983.
First up was the chocolate cake with figs and honey.
Then came the croissant bread pudding with white chocolate shavings. This was Messy's favorite, even though it's probably too sweet to eat in large portions.
The tiramisu was delicious as well. This was Picky's favorite.
Lastly, the almond cake with pear jelly and diced pear on top. This went well with the slightly citrus-y Panama Esmeralda coffee.
We were supposed to be noticing the subtle differences in the flavors of the coffee and the desserts, and we certainly sharpened our (formerly nonexistent) skills in that regard, but honestly, all of the coffees and all of the desserts were delicious. We were given a bag of the Columbia and a two tablespoon scoop to use at home. This prompted us to buy a new grinder (Messy broke the old one in our recent move by knocking it off the top of the fridge.) Messy was also inspired to (finally) clean her $20 coffeepot. Even in the clean pot, freshly ground and properly measured, the coffee didn't taste as good as it did when Erica made it. It did, however, taste a hundred times better than Messy's usual morning cup — and we can thank Peet's for that!
And there's the scene after we were all done. Also on hand, at different times, from Philly were a couple bloggers: Foodadelphia and the video blogging dynamic duo that is Fork You. The Inky sent Rick Nichols and his column is here. We're not aware of spots around town that serve Peet's, but feel free to leave some comments if you do. You can get your Peet's fix at ACME through a new partnership and at Genuardi's. To ensure freshness, Peet's has a team of people making sure the coffee isn't on the shelves for more than 90 days.
We haven't tried any of the sodas yet, as we are always lured away by the ice cream. However, the phosphates — "electric sodas with a dash of citric acid" — seem quite tempting as well. Picky did have some root beer in an awesome root beer float once. [Why are good root beer floats so hard to find?] We have tried various ice cream flavors from the long list of choices, including Hydrox cookie [not Oreo!]; green tea; cherry vanilla; and cookie dough. 
