Ninety Plus Coffee: What Varieties Are Available? What's the Price for Half a Pound?

Ninety Plus Coffee: A Legacy of Excellence

Ninety Plus Coffee, a premium specialty coffee supplier from the United States, was founded in 2006. Within a decade it had made coffee professionals worldwide recognize its singular charm, leading an unprecedented wave of specialty coffee enthusiasm. Since its first coffee in 2007, it has been the treasured first choice of industry experts and competition participants. Today, 90+ coffee has become virtually synonymous with world-class specialty coffee, its taste and quality standing far above ordinary precious lots.

Understanding the Level System

Within Ninety Plus's naming, there is a "Level" designation — the number following the "L" in a product name, so L12 means Level 12. The Level roughly tracks with price and represents a green bean grading model. Based on quality, quantity, and production cost, Ninety Plus grades its already excellent green beans as follows:

Level 7: Single-origin harvest. Rare varieties with delicate, distinctive flavors are hand-selected, then processed with Ninety Plus's unique methods to a standard exceeding the house baseline.

Level 12: Single-origin harvest. The website uses "indisputable and unforgettable" to signal that beans at this grade are flavors no coffee professional will forget.

Level 21 (L21) and Level 39 (L39): Mostly Gesha varieties cultivated on Ninety Plus's own Panama estates. The specially Red-processed Ethiopian Nekisse also belongs to Level 39.

Level 95 (L95) and Level 195 (L195): Beans from the premier microenvironments of the Panama estates, processed through patented drying technology after exhaustive screening to a designed, top-tier taste standard, most lots under the personal supervision of founder Joseph. Annual output may be only ten to several dozen kilograms — true collector's items.

Featured Ninety Plus Varieties

Kemgin (Formerly Ginseng)

Name origin: This coffee comes from the town of Nekemte in western Ethiopia, marked by a lively, clean taste with light fruit, citrus, and ginseng notes — hence "Kem" for Nekemte and "gin" for ginseng. Kemgin-style coffee is now also produced in the Wollega, Sidama, and Yirgacheffe regions.

Ginseng was officially renamed "Wild Ginger." Compared to the 2015 ginseng, and beyond its floral notes, it retains the rare juice-like body of washed beans, while this year's Wild Ginger brings higher sweetness, with the original peach character shifting toward an uncommon orange-candy flavor. Highly recommended.

Origin: Ninety Plus Ethiopia, Wellega, Sidama, and Yirgacheffe regions.

Altitude: 1,750–2,000m.

Process: Washed.

Flavor profile: White peach, lime, honeydew melon, ginseng, carob.

Hachira | N2 Level 12

Name origin: From the Aricha region series that Ninety Plus developed with S.A. Bagersh between 2006 and 2008. Hachira shows noticeable juice-like qualities and rich florals, typically with elderberry or blackberry flavors and occasional basil-like herbal shades.

Origin: Ninety Plus Ethiopia, Aricha region.

Altitude: 1,750–2,000m.

Process: Natural.

Flavor profile: Rich florals, distinct juiciness, elderberry, blackberry, and basil-like herbs, plus a lactose-like sweetness.

Nekisse Red | N2 Level 39

Name origin: Red-processed Nekisse is like her vibrant, assertive younger sister — sugar-sweet, keeping the family's classic aromatic-wood and nectar flavors, yet independent and unafraid to show her charm. Tasting it is like experiencing a richer, deeper Nekisse, as if someone had traced Nekisse's contours and drawn bold eyebrows on her enchanting face to highlight its most beautiful details.

Origin: Ninety Plus Ethiopia, Wellega and Sidama regions.

Altitude: 1,750–2,000m.

Process: Ninety Plus patented "Red Processing" — close to, but surpassing, natural processing.

Flavor profile: Red processing heightens blueberry, cherry, and dark chocolate while preserving a fruit-chocolate balance and layered texture — subtly balanced, a rare and excellent coffee.

Nekisse | N2 Level 12

Name origin: In 2009 this coffee was named "Nectar from Shakisso," for its nectar-like flavors from the town of Shakisso in Ethiopia's Sidama province. Nekisse is defined by a creamy, silky mouthfeel and intense berry-jam notes, with some lots blending citrus and assorted tropical fruits. Though originally grown in Shakisso, later Nekisse lots come from the Wellega and Sidama regions and simply kept the name. We find that Nekisse grown in Sidamo retains its original nectar and berry character, setting it apart from every other Ethiopian coffee.

Origin: Ninety Plus Ethiopia, Wellega and Sidama regions.

Altitude: 1,750–2,000m.

Process: Natural.

Flavor profile: Clean, layered texture; balanced peach, berries, passion fruit, cream, and milk chocolate — a classic. From hot to cold it keeps surprising: night-blooming jasmine, blueberry, aromatic wood, cocoa.

Tchembe | N2 Level 7

Name origin: Although this year's Tchembe comes from Yirgacheffe, the name is borrowed from the Haricho and Bolo variety coffees of the Amaro Mountains, which when naturally processed yield carob and banana flavors. Tchembe carries an earthy, chocolate richness with deeply layered citrus and berry flavors.

Origin: Ninety Plus Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe region.

Altitude: 1,750–2,000m.

Process: Natural.

Flavor profile: Distinctly full body, with earthy, dark-fruit flavors and light citrus notes.

Juliette | H2 Level 39

On Ninety Plus's Gesha estate there is a path from the farmhouse to the drying area, lined with exceptionally beautiful datura. In the evening these bell-shaped flowers release an intoxicating fragrance that lasts only about an hour; we affectionately call it "evening beauty." Datura carries its own legend: a local Panamanian indigenous tribe reportedly placed the flowers under their pillows while sleeping, believing the plant held special energy to protect the household. Datura belongs with belladonna, henbane, and mandrake in the family of "witch herbs" long used by sorcerers to prepare potions — love potions said to win one's beloved, and poisons said to bring madness or death. Once, while running a small vaporization aroma evaluation in our sensory lab, we suddenly smelled this coffee's mingled notes of honeysuckle, orange, and milk chocolate, and the scent instantly carried us back to that dusk walk along the datura-lined path. Lost in thoughts of datura and Shakespeare's tragic love story "Romeo and Juliet," we named this coffee "Juliette."

Origin: Ninety Plus Panama Gesha Estate.

Variety: Geisha.

Level: 39.

Altitude: 1,250–1,650m.

Process: Honey.

Flavor: Florals even richer than Geisha's own, with orange peel, caramel, and dried cashew in the cup.

Lotus Solkiln | H2 Level 95

Name origin: The flavor development of Lotus Solkiln emulates the lotus — the perennial aquatic flower that emerges from the mud unstained, sometimes mistaken for a water lily. Ninety Plus's Solkiln-processed Geisha dries fresh fruit much like traditional natural processing, yet yields beans that look remarkably like washed coffee. The Solkiln creates a precisely controlled temperature-and-humidity microenvironment that neutralizes Panama's notoriously humid climate — just as the lotus regulates the temperature of its petals to adapt to warm-blooded surroundings. Lotus SK breaks both with the long practice of imitating Ethiopian washed or natural profiles and with everyone's assumptions about Geisha's baseline flavors. In naming it we were also inspired by "Lotus Flower," the song by the Oxford band Radiohead — a piece about inner peace, freedom, quiet living, and love of music and the senses, much like this coffee. Its music video is pure yet varied; do watch it if you get the chance.

Origin: Ninety Plus Panama Gesha Estate.

Variety: Geisha.

Level: 95.

Altitude: 1,250–1,650m.

Process: Ninety Plus patented Solkiln honey — extended drying in chambers with equipment controlling temperature and humidity to deepen flavors while keeping washed-like cleanliness.

Flavor: Mingled fig and honey aromas, with layered sweet melon, kiwi, and light tropical fruit.

Perci | N2 Level 39

Name origin: "Perci" derives from "perspective." During our sensory experiments, in the middle of a routine overall evaluation, this coffee delivered a stunning jolt that gave us an entirely new angle on it — so we named it after that changed point of view. When we first blind-tasted it we were certain it was an Ethiopian natural (in a sense, it is), and equally certain it was not Geisha — Geisha's baseline of citrus, orange, and jasmine is only a small part of its profile, which also unfolds mango, pineapple, carob, banana, plum, red grape, honey, peach, and red coral, among many more flavors.

Origin: Ninety Plus Panama Gesha Estate.

Season: 2013–2014.

Variety: Geisha.

Level: 39.

Altitude: 1,250–1,650m.

Process: Natural.

Flavor: Intense cherry, carob, vanilla, tropical fruit, and mixed-juice flavors.

Perci Red | N2 Level 95

Name origin: Red processing's effect on Perci is like watching a beautiful sunset through red-tinted windows: the tropical fruit turns more transparent and sweeter, everything is coated in a honey-brandy feel, and pineapple, mango, and peach merge into a fresh fruit jam — the sweet-tart balance and juicy freshness of fresh fruit remain, but richer, sweeter, and much more.

Origin: Ninety Plus Panama Gesha Estate.

Variety: Geisha.

Level: 95.

Altitude: 1,250–1,650m.

Process: Ninety Plus patented "Red Processing" — close to, but surpassing, natural processing.

Flavor: Vanilla, tropical fruit, and mixed juice brought further forward; mango and pineapple gain a sweet-wine note, while banana, red grape, honey, and peach stay true.

Perci Ruby | N2 Level 195

Name origin: Perci Red is already stunning, and Ruby processing makes Perci even more singular: the tropical fruit turns fully transparent and intensely sweet, all flavors veiled in honey brandy, with pineapple, mango, and peach forming a fresh fruit jam — fresh fruit's sweet-tart poise and juiciness intact, but richer, sweeter, and far beyond.

Origin: Ninety Plus Panama Gesha Estate.

Season: 2013–2014.

Variety: Geisha.

Level: 195.

Altitude: 1,250–1,650m.

Process: Ninety Plus patented "Ruby Processing."

Flavor: Intense brandy and honeyed tropical fruit; mango and pineapple turn wild and bold, while banana, red grape, honey, and peach gain a wine note.

Sillvia Solkiln | N2 Level 95

Name origin: Sillvia was born of our first use of Solkiln processing in 2012, on coffee from lot 11 of the Gesha Estate. The entire lot was processed at once, yet only 25kg of specially flavored coffee was obtained. In 2013 we learned that Gesha cherries harvested late in the season absorbed more fruit character during Solkiln processing, since the extended processing time deepened the fruit profile. The "Sill" in Sillvia references the farm's location — Silla Del Pando, in Panama's volcanic highlands — while "via" means way or path.

Origin: Ninety Plus Panama Gesha Estate.

Variety: Geisha.

Level: 95.

Altitude: 1,250–1,650m.

Process: Ninety Plus patented Solkiln natural — extended drying in chambers with equipment controlling temperature and humidity to deepen flavors while keeping washed-like cleanliness.

Flavor: A distinct juice-like texture, rich tropical fruit, and pineapple shortcake notes with a long-lasting finish.

Lycello | W2 Level 21

Name origin: In 2013, Taiwan's World Barista Championship champion Chien Chia-Cheng visited Ninety Plus's Gesha Estate, and after tasting Geisha coffee cherries was reminded of the lychees in his backyard. So "LY," the first two letters of "lychee," became the coffee's first component; "cell," from cello, came next in tribute to the genius cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and the "o" from Yo-Yo Ma's name completed it — and thus, Lycello.

Origin: Ninety Plus Panama Gesha Estate.

Variety: Heirloom.

Level: 21.

Altitude: 1,250–1,650m.

Process: Washed.

Flavor: Beyond Geisha's signature character, rich green tea, musk, and basil aromas; soft lemon in the cup, a lychee-like sweet-tart taste, and cashew-like nuttiness.

About LevelUp

LevelUp is the secondary brand of Ninety Plus, a specialty green bean processing company — an Ethiopian green bean series launched jointly with the trader BodhiLeaf. The beans are named for flavor rather than origin, in Ethiopian languages that describe each lot's distinctive character. They keep 90+'s astonishing flavors at a friendlier price.

LevelUp Series

Ninety Plus Drima Zede (Candlelight)

Name origin: Drima Zede (Candlelight) means "Best Approach" in the local dialect. According to the producer, this Yirgacheffe is a specialized line built on 90+'s years of experience. Traditional natural processing rarely yields pure flavors, but with 90+'s technical support Drima Zede uses only hand-selected, fully ripe cherries, dried naturally with meticulous, constant stirring for uniformity. The result is a remarkably transparent, pure cup that shifts noticeably with temperature, with charming fruit, floral, and oak-barrel aromatics.

Origin: Ninety Plus Ethiopia, SNNP, Sidama region.

Altitude: 1,750–2,000m.

Process: Natural.

Flavor: Nectarine, tropical fruits, cream, cinnamon.

Ninety Plus Danch Meng

Name origin: Danch Meng comes from Level Up, Ninety Plus's secondary brand, an Ethiopian green bean launched with Bodhi Leaf in 2013. The name translates locally as "Perfect Approach." Grown by Yirgacheffe's Goldina Abayudumenso smallholder farmers and backed by Ninety Plus's processing expertise, it carries distinctly singular Yirgacheffe flavors.

Origin: Ninety Plus Ethiopia, SNNP, Kambata region.

Altitude: 1,700–2,000m.

Process: Natural.

Flavor: Cocoa, black raspberry, plum, juicy, floral, blueberry, dark chocolate.

DerarEla | Dreamer

Flavor: More intense aromatics, rich tropical fruit and lime, and a unique chamomile fragrance.

LomiTasha | Romiq

Flavor: Soft lemon, honey, and wild ginger flower, with a refined green tea texture.

Faya Deraro | Deraila

Flavor: Blueberry, strawberry cookie, cherry, white wine, raspberry.

Nitsu Ruz | Rosemary Fresh

Flavor: Floral, lemon peel, lychee, prune, kumquat, black tea.

90+ Coffee Bean Brand Recommendation

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted 90+ beans — Drima Zede (Candlelight) above all — carry full guarantees of brand and quality, and exceptional value: a half-jin (227g) bag costs only about 90 yuan. At 15g per cup, one bag makes 15 cups at roughly 6 yuan each — genuinely conscientious pricing against café single origins that often exceed 100 yuan a cup.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Geisha translates from "Geisha" and is among the most beloved of all Arabica varieties, its unmistakable florals and superb sweet-acid balance winning over countless drinkers — though low yields, weak disease resistance, and demanding cultivation keep prices high. Panama is where Geisha made its name: discovered by the Esmeralda estate and entered into the 2003 Best of Panama competition, it stunned every judge, broke the record with an average cupping score of 94.6, and became an overnight sensation. FrontStreet carries Esmeralda's two tiers: the Red Label ("Esmeralda Special"), grown at 1,600–1,800m, cupping above 90 points, with each numbered lot drawn from a single small plot; and the Green Label ("Private Collection"), a blend of multiple high-altitude plots showing the estate's signature Geisha character at a friendlier price. Beginners can taste the classic Panamanian profile — orange blossom, honeyed sweetness, oolong tea texture, and fine fruit acidity — through the entry-level Boquete Geisha.

Ethiopia, coffee's birthplace, offers Geisha's roots. The Geisha Village estate, 475 hectares built 12 miles from the Geisha forest, grows three varieties — Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931, and Ilubabor Forest — graded into Gold Label Rarities (Gesha 1931, 10% of output), Red Label Growers Reserve (Gori Gesha, 15% of output, 88+ points on the SCA 100-point scale, fully traceable lots), Green Label Single-Terroir, and Chaka. The Genlana Gesha, from a washing station founded in 2014 under Israel Degefa amid 700 hectares of fertile, shaded land, is raised-bed natural-dried for 14–20 days and, at a medium-light roast, shows bright citrus acidity, elegant ginger-flower aromatics, and mature fruit sweetness. Brew Geisha as FrontStreet does: grind to a 78% pass on the No. 20 sieve (fine-sugar texture), water at 91°C, 15g of coffee in a small Hario V60 at 1:16, three pours — 30g to bloom for 30 seconds, then to 125g, then to 225g — finishing in about 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds. Geisha also shines as an SOE: 20g of coffee, a 1:2 brew ratio, 25 seconds for 40g of espresso, or stretched 1:5 with 200g of hot water into an americano of orange, nuts, and blueberry. And for an affordable everyday Geisha-style cup, the Strawberry Candy blend pairs honey-processed Costa Rica with Panamanian Geisha — lovely as pour-over, moka pot, espresso, or an 8-hour cold brew of grape juice, rose, sweet orange, and fruit wine.