Panama Geisha Estate Blue Label Geisha Processing Method Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee Processing Method

Introduction

Yesterday, FrontStreet Coffee's discount promotion featured washed and natural processed Blue Mountain coffee and Hacienda La Esmeralda's Green Label Geisha. Blue Mountain and Geisha represent two completely different coffee styles. You can understand these two beans as a competition between the old and new coffee flavor worlds. Blue Mountain reached the pinnacle of traditional coffee with its balance, while Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha has won the BOP championship for many years. Coincidentally, both regions made changes in coffee bean processing details this year—Blue Mountain introduced natural processing for the first time, while Hacienda La Esmeralda brought the natural processing method previously only available in Green and Red Labels down to the Blue Label level. This adjustment gives us the opportunity to compare high-quality beans with both washed and natural processing from the same micro-region.

When purchasing coffee beans, many people pay attention to the processing method used. Some say they prefer the cleanliness of washed processing, while others like the complexity of natural processing, and some enjoy the special aromas of anaerobic processing. Can processing methods really be so magical as to change the flavor of a coffee bean?

In 2020, Blue Mountain, the former coffee hegemon, introduced natural processing for the first time, and the new season's Hacienda La Esmeralda Blue Label Geisha also launched naturally processed coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee is using these two coffees as examples to comprehensively compare the effects of processing methods on coffee.

The Coffee Beans in Comparison

First, there are two beans participating in this comparison. One is Blue Mountain No.1 from Clifton Farm in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region. Clifton Estate is not only the oldest cultivation site for Blue Mountain coffee in Jamaica but also the only coffee estate certified by the Rainforest Alliance. The coffee trading company under Clifton accounts for 55% of Jamaica's total green bean exports, making it Jamaica's most historic and powerful coffee company. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain No.1 beans are selected from this estate. Stony Estate works more with Japanese companies and has lower recognition in China, with only 80 years of estate history. Golden Cup Estate has an even shorter development history of only 20 years, but it actually merged two century-old estates and operates with more advanced management techniques. RWS Coffee Estate merged three century-old estates, with RWS referring to its Resource, Sherwood Forest, and Whitfield Hall estates, also aiming for Blue Mountain coffee development.

The other comes from Panama's legend—Hacienda La Esmeralda—which also launched a natural processed version in its new season Blue Label. Blue Label Geisha is considered Hacienda La Esmeralda's "affordable" grade, allowing people to taste Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha at an accessible price. Before 2020, Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha only offered natural processing in Red and Green Labels, and the newly added Blue Label natural version this year is undoubtedly a benefit for consumers.

Natural Processing Method

Natural processing is the oldest and most original method for coffee beans. Over a thousand years ago, Arabs used this method to process coffee. It involves placing harvested coffee cherries directly on patios for sun exposure, drying them in direct sunlight (about 27-30 days) until moisture content drops from 60% to about 12%. This processing method is conceptually simple and inexpensive but involves many variables and risks. For a long time, it was used to process beans of lower quality.

Of course, this is an ancient method, and modern times require new natural processing methods—refined natural processing. Modern estates in Blue Mountain and Boquete regions use refined natural processing. First, strict red cherry selection is done after harvesting, removing overripe, underripe, and damaged beans. The selected coffee fruits are then spread on raised beds for drying. During the drying process, staff turn the beans to ensure even drying. Drying is completed when moisture content reaches about 12%, then hulling and polishing are done before storage for export.

Washed Processing Method

Washed processing is a technology invented by the Dutch in the 18th century. It uses a depulper to separate most of the fruit flesh from the coffee beans, then guides the parchment beans to a clean water tank for soaking and fermentation to completely remove residual fruit flesh. Through water processing, underripe and defective beans are selected out due to buoyancy, then depulping is done, also called pulping, which removes the fruit skin from coffee cherries through machines, leaving coffee beans with mucilage for fermentation in tanks for 1-2 days to decompose the mucilage attached to the beans. Then clean water is used to wash the coffee beans thoroughly, and the parchment beans are dried until moisture content reaches 12% for storage, with the parchment removed before export.

If you find the text above too dry, you can listen to FrontStreet Coffee's simple summary: In natural and washed processing methods, the essential similarity is drying, while the difference is that natural processing involves drying the entire coffee fruit, while washed processing removes the fruit skin, pulp, and mucosa, retaining the original coffee bean (seed) for drying. The drying process is also a fermentation process. In natural processing, the entire coffee fruit participates in fermentation, while in washed processing, mucosa and original beans participate in fermentation in tanks, with minimal fermentation during subsequent drying. Therefore, washed processed beans offer very stable flavor control (fewer natural variables), and thus, beans processed by these two methods each have their own merits.

Roasting Profiles

For these two natural versions, FrontStreet Coffee used the same roasting profiles as their washed counterparts to enable comparison, with slight adjustments based on flavor feedback.

Blue Mountain No.1 coffee uses medium roast to highlight Blue Mountain's balanced and rich flavor.

Heat at 165°C into the drum, heat power 130, damper at 3; return point at 1'32", when drum temperature reaches 95.8°C, keep heat power unchanged; at 3 minutes, adjust damper to 4, at 4 minutes increase heat power to 140. At 6'30'', bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering dehydration stage. At 8'36", bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast aroma clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the first crack sound. First crack starts at 10'06", develop for 3 minutes after first crack, drop beans at 198.5°C.

Blue Label Geisha uses medium-light roast to highlight floral and fruit aromas and Geisha's unique pleasant acidity.

Heat at 180°C into the drum, heat power 130, damper at 3; return point at 1'32", when drum temperature reaches 104°C, open damper to 4, keep heat power unchanged; when drum temperature reaches 151.6°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering dehydration stage. At 7'56", bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast aroma clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the first crack sound. First crack starts at 8'30", open damper to 5, develop for 1'28 after first crack, drop beans at 190°C.

Physical Characteristics of Natural vs Washed Beans

First, observing Blue Mountain green beans, whether natural or washed, the beans are very full, with even size, slightly upturned at both ends, oval in shape. From the side view, the bean body is flat and thin, indicating pure Typica bloodline.

Observing Blue Label Geisha green beans, Geisha coffee beans are slender, pointed at both ends, and elongated, making them very easy to recognize.

Comparing natural and washed processed green coffee beans, you'll clearly notice that naturally processed green beans appear yellowish, while washed processed green beans appear dark green with incomplete silver skin attached.

Observing the roasted beans, the biggest difference between natural and washed beans is that natural beans' silver skin comes off very cleanly, while washed beans retain light yellow silver skin at the center line. The reason is that during roasting, the silver skin at the center line is the most difficult to remove. Natural beans' outer silver skin connects as a whole piece, making it easier to remove the center line silver skin together, while washed beans' silver skin attaches to the bean body in fragments, and the silver skin in the center line crack cannot easily peel off.

Cupping Analysis

FrontStreet Coffee immediately conducted horizontal comparison of natural Blue Mountain and natural Blue Label with their washed counterparts, obtaining the following sensory flavor profiles:

In summary, using different processing methods on the same bean variety results in distinct flavor trends. Natural processed beans tend to be sweeter with fermented notes, richer fruit flavors, and more complex layers. Washed processed beans have milder, cleaner flavors. With light roasting, washed processing also highlights the bean's acidity and subtle aromas.

Simply put, the washed method removes the influence of fruit pulp during fermentation and drying, allowing the main flavors to present clearly. Natural processing allows the fruit pulp to continuously penetrate the bean during drying,无形中增加了咖啡豆的一些香气, adding some aroma to the coffee beans. It achieves richer aroma variations on top of washed processing, but to some extent, the main flavors are masked by these additional aromas. Neither washed nor natural is inherently better—if you want to find the original flavor of the bean, choose washed. If you want more aromatic experiences, then choose natural.

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