The Story of Geisha Coffee: Pour-Over Brewing, Flavor Profile, and the Premium Price of Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha

The Rise of Geisha Coffee: Understanding FrontStreet Coffee's Premium Selection

Nowadays, the bean selection for major coffee competitions mostly consists of Geisha coffee varieties. How does this outstanding coffee variety perform? How are Geisha varieties graded? FrontStreet Coffee has also deliberately tried many Geisha coffees, attempting to find patterns among them.

What is Geisha?

Geisha refers to a coffee variety, called "Geisha/Gesha" in English, which coincidentally shares the same name as "Geisha" in Japanese, so some people also call the Geisha variety Geisha.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that variety is an important factor affecting the overall flavor of coffee, just as there are differences between green apples and Red Delicious apples among apples. High-altitude Geisha coffee tends to have obvious floral aromas and delicate, elegant fruit acidity. Such elegant flavors are one of the reasons it has become popular worldwide.

Where Does Geisha Come From?

The Geisha variety was discovered in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia in 1931. Afterward, Geisha was sent to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya. In 1936, it was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania, in 1953 to Costa Rica, and in 1970 to Panama. Initially, not many people paid attention to Geisha until Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda separated it from other varieties in 2003 and it became the BOP competition champion in 2004. Only then did the Geisha variety formally enter everyone's spotlight.

La Esmeralda Estate

When it comes to Panamanian Geisha coffee, we must mention the famous La Esmeralda estate. In 1964, American banker Rudolph Peterson retired, moved to Panama, and purchased La Esmeralda estate located in Boquete, initially focusing on dairy operations. Later, his son Price resigned from his medical position to help his father run the farm, introducing Caturra and Catuai coffee bean varieties in 1987, and establishing a washing processing plant in 1994, thus having their own coffee processing facility.

Currently, La Esmeralda mainly has three estates growing Geisha varieties: El Velo, Cañas Verdes, and Jaramillo. In 1996, they acquired Jaramillo, which had excellent geographical conditions and good-flavored original coffee varieties. El Velo was acquired by La Esmeralda in 2012. FrontStreet Coffee believes that La Esmeralda's decision to acquire estates with good production and high altitudes was unique at that time, which also allowed La Esmeralda to occupy a certain position in the coffee industry.

Among these, Jaramillo estate is the one that grows Panamanian Geisha coffee bean varieties. Due to its low production, the previous owner only used it as a windbreak tree until it was acquired when its extraordinary flavor was discovered. FrontStreet Coffee finds this fascinating about Geisha - the harsher the growing environment, the better the flavor performance. Although La Esmeralda initially discovered coffee beans with flavor expression, for precision, they cupped coffee beans from different areas within the estate and determined planting plots based on altitude.

Starting from winning the Panama BOP competition in 2004, it continued to amaze everyone. After expert identification, it was discovered that these coffee beans were the Geisha variety from Ethiopia. Afterward, the Peterson family devoted most of their energy to developing infrastructure to support excellent batch separation and fine processing.

La Esmeralda Geisha Grading: Red Label, Green Label, Blue Label

La Esmeralda's marketing strategy differs from other estates. Based on cupping performance, cultivated varieties, and planting plots, they are divided into five brands. Geisha varieties have three brands: Esmeralda Special, Private Collection, and Geisha 1500. Catuai varieties have two brands: Diamond Mountain and Palmyra.

Esmeralda Special

The Geisha produced by Esmeralda Special is what we commonly hear as the Red Label. It selects Geisha beans grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, with cupping scores above 90 points, produced from the Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes regions. The Red Label that participates in auctions comes from Geisha batches selected from designated plots for La Esmeralda's own independent auctions. However, there are also non-auction Red Labels on the market now, which are actually Geisha beans selected from the same plots but not participating in auctions, then circulated in the market. The variety and quality are consistent, only showing differences in selling price.

This grade of Geisha uses natural or washed processing methods, with flavors featuring special, bright floral aromas and citrus notes.

Private Collection

Private Collection, commonly known as Green Label, consists of non-independent competition batches, growing Geisha varieties that don't participate in auctions but still have excellent quality. It selects micro-batch mixed beans grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, produced from different plots including Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, and others.

Due to the mixed bean approach without detailed plot specifications, sometimes Green Label Geisha and Red Label Geisha show very similar flavor profiles, but the next production might differ. Although Green Label Geisha doesn't reach the high level of Red Label Geisha, it still carries Geisha's classic flavors - floral, fruity, citrus acidity, and thick, juicy texture. In recent years, Green Label Geisha has been available in both washed and natural processing.

As is well known, higher altitudes bring richer flavor changes to coffee. Geisha coffee also has an interesting characteristic - it performs best when growing in more extreme environments. Those familiar with this variety's history know that Geisha was discovered in windbreaks due to its peculiar flavor. This characteristic is reflected in FrontStreet Coffee's selection cupping. FrontStreet Coffee uses different grind sizes for different beans to ensure all tested samples have a 70% pass rate through standard sieves. To achieve this pass rate, Green Label and Red Label require adjusting the grinder to smaller settings compared to other lower-altitude beans. This is also true for some other high-altitude beans.

Geisha 1500

Blue Label Geisha selects mixed beans from three different plots - Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, and El Velo - grown at altitudes of 1400-1500 meters. The flavor features light floral notes, fruit acidity, and sweetness, with a relatively less thick texture. Blue Label Geisha originally only had washed processing. A natural processing version was added in 2020.

Among these La Esmeralda levels, since Red Label and Green Label belong to the same altitude beans, with Red Label specifying plots while Green Label is mixed harvest, the price difference is significant. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee's view is that Green Label offers better value for money.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee roasts these three different grades of Panamanian Geisha coffee beans with the main approach of highlighting Geisha's rich floral aromas and bright, complex fruit acidity characteristics, using light roasting methods. However, Frontsteet considers that each grade has different growing environments, so roasting details need corresponding adjustments.

Frontsteet Panama La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha

Enter drum at 150°C, heat at 120, damper open to 3; Return to temperature at 1'36", when drum temperature reaches 140°C, open damper to 4, heat unchanged; When drum temperature reaches 147.6°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering dehydration phase. When drum temperature reaches 150°C, adjust heat to 100, damper unchanged;

At 7'38", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma clearly changes to coffee aroma, can be defined as prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack starts at 8'10", damper open to 4, develop for 1'28" after first crack, discharge at 189.5°C.

Frontsteet Panama La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha

Enter drum at 160°C, heat at 110, damper open to 3; Return to temperature at 1'28", when drum temperature reaches 140°C, open damper to 3.5, heat unchanged; When drum temperature reaches 153.3°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering dehydration phase. When drum temperature reaches 161°C, adjust heat to 90, damper unchanged;

At 6'54", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma clearly changes to coffee aroma, can be defined as prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack starts at 7'50", damper open to 4, develop for 1'20" after first crack, discharge at 192.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Panama La Esmeralda Blue Label Geisha

Enter drum at 180°C, heat at 130, damper open to 3; Return to temperature at 1'32", when drum temperature reaches 104°C, open damper to 4, heat unchanged; When drum temperature reaches 151.6°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering dehydration phase.

At 7'56", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on bean surface, toast aroma clearly changes to coffee aroma, can be defined as prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack starts at 8'30", damper open to 5, develop for 1'28" after first crack, discharge at 190°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee suggests using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing to maximize the rich flavors of the coffee. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days because Frontsteet深知 that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects flavor. Frontsteet's roasting philosophy is "Freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring every customer who orders receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee's resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at the peak of flavor.

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

Frontsteet considers that these Frontsteet Panama Geisha coffee beans are all lightly roasted. Light-roasted beans have lower coffee substance dissolution rates than dark-roasted ones. Therefore, to ensure full extraction of Geisha flavors, higher water temperatures are used for brewing, while also choosing finer grind sizes.

Brewing Method

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, also called three-stage brewing. Use 30g of water for 30-second bloom, then continue pouring with small water flow in circles to 125g for segmentation. When water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. Wait for water level to drop and is about to expose the coffee bed, then remove the dripper (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time is 2'00".

Geisha Coffee Flavor Descriptions

Frontsteet Panama La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha: Bright rose and citrus aromas, brown rice, berries, apricots, complex fruits, honey, with thick juice texture, rich flavor layers, and obvious sweetness.

Frontsteet Panama La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha: Rich jasmine floral aroma, high sweetness, citrus, berries, juice texture, cream, green tea, orange peel, cantaloupe, overall rich flavor layers, with persistent floral and citrus aftertaste.

Frontsteet Panama La Esmeralda Blue Label Geisha: Floral aroma, with gentle lemon and grapefruit acidity on entry, honey sweetness in the middle, oolong tea notes and brown sugar sweetness in the finish, with relatively clean and bright texture.

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