Panama Jaramillo Introduction: How to Roast Panama Geisha? How to Drink Geisha Coffee

The Discovery of a Legendary Variety

In 1997, the Peterson family bought an estate in Panama called Jaramillo, which was folded into Hacienda La Esmeralda. The location was Jaramillo, Boquete, Panama. Rachel Peterson, daughter of the Peterson family, spoke about acquiring Jaramillo: "I fell in love with that place immediately. At the time it was just 125 hectares of abandoned mountain land, most of it still covered in primitive forest, with 10 hectares of Catuai and Typica planted in the lower areas."

Jaramillo had passed through several different operators before. When the Petersons bought the estate, they were not actually aware of the many coffee varieties growing in the garden. Later they learned from Don Pachi Serracin, owner of Don Pachi Estate, that Jaramillo held a variety called Geisha with good disease resistance. Two years later, in 1998, Price Peterson decided to plant this little-known variety across roughly 50 hectares of the new estate - a very bold decision at the time.

The Birth of a Coffee Legend

The newly planted trees produced cherries for the first time in 2002, with the first harvest following in 2003. The next year, the Peterson family entered the coffee in the 2004 Best of Panama competition and won first place. One of the judges, Willem Boot, scored it an incredible 94 points after cupping - a score even he found hard to believe. Of 15 judges, 14 were completely won over by this unheard-of Geisha. Before that, Esmeralda beans could only sell for $1.20 per pound. Price Peterson later recalled that, before the bidding, and based on the panel's high scores, he expected the lot might fetch a record-breaking $7 at most. As the bids kept climbing, he thought hackers had broken in and were playing a joke on them. The final auction price reached $21 per pound.

In fact that was only the beginning of the golden age of Geisha. $21 was the lowest price the Best of Panama Geisha first prize would ever see again. In 2013 it set a record of $350, and in 2015 the price came back to $140. Last year, when Rachel Peterson was interviewed by the Australian magazine The BeanScene, she spoke about the discovery of Geisha: "It was purely luck, perhaps with a little bit of effort. We were lucky to have bought an estate that already had Geisha trees. We were lucky that when we replanted this mysterious variety it grew very well. We were lucky to have the right rainfall and a high enough altitude for Geisha to thrive. Everything can only be attributed to our luck."

Revolutionizing the Specialty Coffee Industry

Buying Jaramillo was luck, but that "little bit of effort" changed the entire specialty coffee industry.

After Geisha emerged, variety suddenly became a primary consideration. "In the past, merely discussing the terroir of origin was no longer enough, because the differences caused by varieties might be even greater," Thoresen said.

At the same time, the distinction between batches grew increasingly precise. Even at Esmeralda, in the beginning the competition lots were created by Daniel selecting the best batches from all the lots in the garden and blending them together. From one perspective, then, it was Daniel who "created" the final flavor of Jaramillo. From 2004 to 2007, Esmeralda won the championship every year, proving the strategy worked. But roasters, Thoresen among them, wanted to cup the different block batches within Jaramillo themselves and decide which one they preferred.

Roasting Geisha to Perfection

To fully reveal the character of Geisha, considerable effort has to go into roasting. Geisha is generally grown at high altitudes above 1500 meters. FrontStreet Coffee sources beans from 1700 m - hard, high-density beans, plump in form, medium in particle size, thick and long in body with slightly pointed ends.

FrontStreet Coffee uses a light roast to highlight the character and aroma of this bean. This roast level brings out the bean's inherent qualities best; too dark and it would damage the floral aroma and fruit acidity. The exact curve still needs adjusting to the character of the beans and the roaster's understanding of them.

FrontStreet Coffee pays particular attention during roasting: the Geisha roast curve should not run too long, or the flavor turns dull. After first crack, the rate of temperature rise should not be too high, because the pointed ends of Geisha easily develop black spots. Keeping the rise below 6 degrees works better. A light roast reveals the aroma of tea rose most fully.

Brewing Recommendation

FrontStreet Coffee brewing parameters:

Cake filter cup / 91°C / 1:15 / time 2'10"

Flavor: rose tea, citrus, jasmine fragrance, cane sugar, green tea sensation.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

When it comes to Geisha, the obvious first stop is Esmeralda. FrontStreet Coffee's Esmeralda Red Label Geisha, formally named "Esmeralda Special," grows at 1600-1800 m and every lot is cupped above 90 points; each carries its own lot number and comes from a single small plot, so buyers can follow their preference for subtle flavor differences. FrontStreet's Green Label Geisha, originally "Private Collection," is instead blended from several plots to express Esmeralda's signature high-altitude Geisha character at a friendlier price. For anyone simply curious about what all the talk is about, FrontStreet Coffee usually points newcomers to Panama Boquete Geisha, an entry-level Geisha that offers the classic Panamanian orange-blossom-honey note, an oolong-tea sensation and a fine, clearly layered fruit acidity.

FrontStreet roasts its Geisha medium-light, and because these beans are hard and tend to sink and block the dripper, the grind is set to about 78% passing a standard No. 20 sieve - roughly fine caster sugar - with water at 91°C. The pour-over uses a three-stage method: bloom to 30 g and wait 30 seconds, then circle gently to 125 g, wait for the bed to drop halfway before pouring again to 225 g, finishing in roughly 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds. For an espresso variation, FrontStreet recommends the medium-roast Granada Estate Geisha SOE, a premium Ethiopian single-origin whose fruity-floral Geisha character, dried-fruit sweetness and clean lemon acidity turn into dried apricot, caramel and nut notes in the cup.