How Much Does Panama Geisha Coffee Cost? Is the Most Expensive Emerald Red Label Geisha Coffee Worth the Price?

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We know that Blue Mountain coffee is a premium among coffees, with dense aroma and rich, mellow taste, but unfortunately its price is relatively high. But now there is a coffee that has gained more attention than Blue Mountain, also hailed as one of the most expensive coffees in the world, and that is Panama Geisha, which even gives people the feeling that they can't afford it. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for, so what exactly makes Panama Geisha coffee so expensive?

I believe many friends, just like FrontStreet Coffee, were amazed when they first tasted Red Label Geisha with its sweet rose floral aroma, thick juice-like notes of berries, apricots, and citrus, as well as its richly layered flavors, leaving an unforgettable impression to this day. FrontStreet Coffee would like to mention here that when baristas refer to Geisha coffee, they are mostly referring to Geisha coffee from Panama, with Hacienda La Esmeralda being the most famous.

Panama Geisha Coffee Beans

As we all know, coffee is also a type of agricultural crop, and its flavor is certainly closely related to its growing environment and climate. The Geisha coffee bean variety is quite picky about its growing environment, only producing coffee beans with rich, captivating floral aromas and delicate, elegant fruit acidity when grown in areas with high altitudes, cloud cover or extensive shade trees, and fertile soil. Located in Central America, connecting North and South America, bordering Costa Rica and Colombia, Panama's coffee journey can be said to have been born with a silver spoon.

The reason Panama Geisha coffee beans are world-famous is largely due to their growing environment and climate. All coffee cultivation in Panama revolves around the Chiriqui volcanic region, with the most beautiful being the Boquete region. There, the unique volcanic fertile soil, abundant water, regular rainfall, dense vegetation, and cloud cover nourish the coffee trees, which in turn produce high-quality coffee beans with rich flavors. Many different microclimates also help produce coffee beans with various flavor characteristics, and Hacienda La Esmeralda is located in this region.

Geisha is actually a coffee variety that grows in Ethiopia, discovered in the Geisha forest in 1931, located in Ethiopia, and sent to a top coffee research institute in Kenya.

In 1936, Geisha coffee was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania; in 1953, Costa Rica also began introducing this variety; finally, in the 1970s, Mr. Francisco Serracin from the Tumba Estate in Panama received seeds from CATIE in Costa Rica and began planting Geisha coffee. Due to extremely low yields and the need to participate in auctions, at that time it was just an unknown coffee tree, with the impression of low production, tall trees, and difficult harvesting. After nearly half a century, Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama separated it from other varieties in 2003, and in 2004, it became the BOP competition champion, officially bringing the Geisha variety into everyone's spotlight.

The Rise of Geisha's Fame

Since winning the Panama Cup of Excellence, Geisha coffee's reputation spread rapidly. It's simply the basic principle of supply and demand - when production is limited but many people want to try it, the auction prices for Geisha coffee have risen straight up, from $350.25 per pound in 2013, to $803 per pound in 2018, to today's $1029 per pound. Every year sets new price records, and although more coffee farmers have started growing Geisha coffee, the annual price increase is unstoppable.

After Geisha became famous, Geisha coffee beans from Hacienda La Esmeralda became the favorite among participants in many coffee-related competitions. Besides the Geisha grown by Hacienda La Esmeralda, many other Panamanian estates later cultivated Geisha coffee beans with extremely refined flavors and participated in competitions and auctions. Many estates hold auctions to bid high prices for fine Geisha coffee. At the 2019 Best of Panama (BOP) competition, Panama's Geisha coffee continued to maintain its throne as the most expensive coffee at $1029 per pound! This adds another weight to the price!

Accessing Panama Geisha Coffee

Of course, not all Panama Geisha coffee beans are that expensive; it mainly depends on the reputation of the producing estate and whose Geisha flavor is more refined and outstanding. Some Panama Geisha coffee that doesn't specify a particular estate can still have excellent flavors. For example, the Boquete Geisha sold by FrontStreet Coffee has the unique and captivating orange-honey sweetness of Panama Geisha coffee. For friends who are new to specialty coffee but hesitant to buy expensive Geisha, this Boquete Geisha coffee is very suitable for beginners to try, with a more affordable price of 98 yuan/100g!

Both the Esmeralda Red Label Geisha and Green Label Geisha roasted by FrontStreet Coffee have full guarantees in terms of brand and quality, but more importantly, they offer extremely high value for money. Each 100-gram bag of Esmeralda Red Label costs only 350 yuan; each bag of Esmeralda Green Label costs only 158 yuan. Calculating at 15 grams of coffee beans per cup, one bag of Red Label can make 6 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 60 yuan. Compared to cafes selling cups for hundreds of yuan, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

After Geisha coffee became famous, coffee-producing countries around the world, including other estates in Panama, also began researching and growing Geisha coffee. Besides the Geisha coffee from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda, FrontStreet Coffee also sources Costa Rica Geisha coffee, Ethiopia Geisha coffee, and Colombia Geisha coffee. All are worth trying and are much cheaper than Esmeralda's Geisha coffee, but you can still taste and understand the basic flavor characteristics of Geisha coffee.

Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha Red Label

Early Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha was also divided into Red Label, Green Label, and Blue Label based on planting altitude. However, in the 2021 season, Hacienda La Esmeralda announced that there would no longer be a Blue Label series, and Blue Label is no longer seen on their official website, leaving only Red Label and Green Label.

Red Label Geisha: This is the highest grade among Hacienda La Esmeralda's current Geisha coffee varieties. Friends who have learned about Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha coffee beans should know that Red Label was originally translated as "Hacienda La Esmeralda Selection" because the brand's Geisha coffee icon is red, so it's directly called "Red Label."

To be selected for Red Label, Geisha coffee beans must be grown at altitudes between 1600 to 1800 meters and have cupping scores above 90 points. Red Label grade Geisha coffee beans mainly come from the Jaramillo farm and Cañas Verdes farm. This grade of Geisha coffee beans has extremely rich Geisha coffee flavor and can be traced to specific plots, providing detailed information for friends who want to understand Red Label Geisha.

FrontStreet Coffee's bean shelf certainly cannot miss this classic Geisha flavor. The Red Label Geisha coffee beans that FrontStreet Coffee sourced come from the Mario plot of the Jaramillo farm, the same plot where Geisha coffee flavor was first discovered, and belong to the same farm that won the BOP competition in 2004.

FrontStreet Coffee's Esmeralda Estate Red Label Geisha uses natural processing, making the typical Geisha flavor more intense, with richer and more complex layers, and enhanced sweetness and aroma. The reason FrontStreet Coffee chose natural Red Label Geisha is also because Red Label is Esmeralda Estate's most iconic Geisha coffee, and natural processing allows this iconic Geisha coffee flavor to be fully expressed.

FrontStreet Coffee Geisha Brewing Suggestions

FrontStreet Coffee's baristas consider that Geisha coffee beans are lightly roasted, and lightly roasted coffee beans have a lower dissolution rate of coffee substances than dark roasted ones. Therefore, to ensure full extraction of Geisha flavors, they use higher water temperature for brewing and also choose a finer grind size.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Parameters

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using these brewing parameters: Hario V60 dripper, 90°C water temperature, 15g coffee dose, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, and medium-fine grind (Chinese standard #20 sieve 80% pass rate).

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, also called three-stage brewing. Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. When pouring small circular streams to 125g, segment the pour. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. Remove the dripper when the water finishes dripping. Time from the start of pouring: extraction time is 2'00". Next, take the entire cup and shake it well, then pour into cups for tasting.

Flavor Description

Red Label Geisha coffee flavor: Bright rose and citrus aromas, brown rice, berries, apricots, complex fruits, honey, with thick juice-like mouthfeel, richly layered flavors, and noticeable sweetness.

For coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee always suggests that freshly roasted coffee beans better showcase the rich flavors of coffee. Therefore, all coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee are roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee. The coffee degassing period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at peak flavor.

Of course, some customers need FrontStreet Coffee to grind the beans for them, which is fine. But FrontStreet Coffee must remind you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, they need to be brewed promptly; if already ground into coffee powder, there's no need for degassing because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide in the package also helps mellow the coffee flavor, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the coffee powder. However, coffee powder oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate relatively quickly, and the coffee flavor won't be as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests buying whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing to better taste the rich flavors of coffee.

Of course, FrontStreet Coffee has over 50 types of single-origin coffee beans, some expensive and some inexpensive. The best recommendation is FrontStreet Coffee's 7 daily drinking beans. Called daily drinking beans, they refer to the most representative flavor coffees from 7 producing countries, offering extremely high value for money. For friends new to coffee, they are the best introductory beans and also the best choice to discover which flavors you prefer! Of course, if possible, you should try every one. After all, while you can't visit every producing country to taste their flavors, you can experience them all here at FrontStreet Coffee!

Important Notice :

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