Ninety Plus Coffee Introduction and Ninety Plus Coffee Grading

What is NINETY PLUS (90+)?

Ninety Plus is an internationally renowned coffee production and sales company, known worldwide for supplying rare and unique green coffee. In addition to working directly with coffee farmers, it owns a 134-hectare coffee estate in Panama. Since its official establishment in 2007, its customers have spread across more than 40 countries.

Joseph Brodsky officially founded Ninety Plus in 2007. From the following year onward, traces of Ninety Plus award-winning coffees have appeared in competitions of all sizes around the world. At the 2013 WBC World Barista Championship, three of the six finalists — competitors from Italy, South Korea, and Canada — used Ninety Plus green beans. Exquisite green bean cultivation and processing, outstanding coffee varieties, and a unique grading system have made Ninety Plus a top-tier and distinctive name in the green bean market.

In 2004, the rise of Panama's Geisha variety sparked a worldwide craze for seeking out excellent varieties. Joseph Brodsky, like other green bean professionals, researchers, and enthusiasts, ventured deep into remote mountainous areas of Ethiopia, searching for Geisha tree varieties in the wild original forests of coffee's birthplace.

Although he ultimately could not find what he hoped for, he believed that among forests with so many native species there must still exist many excellent, unknown native varieties. They might simply remain undiscovered because of their remote locations or a lack of meticulous processing and cultivation. So the following year, Joseph Brodsky immediately invested significant effort in Ethiopia, seeking valuable coffee varieties and cooperating with local estates to improve and refine the green bean processing. He established the Profile Processing green bean system, allowing each bean to fully express its complete flavor profile.

In 2009, Joseph Brodsky began planting Ethiopian native Geisha varieties in Panama. He purchased land and created the "Ninety Plus Geisha Estate," while also building the Ninety Plus Sensory Room. In recent years he developed the Solkiln™ special processing method. Continuously innovating in every aspect of green bean processing, Ninety Plus leads the specialty coffee market.

Excellent Coffee Varieties of Ninety Plus

Joseph Brodsky's coffee career in 2004 began with seeking the finest Geisha tree varieties. He selected excellent-flavored native varieties (Heirlooms) in Ethiopia and planted Ethiopian native Geisha (Heirlooms Geisha), Ethiopian native varieties (Ethiopia Heirlooms), and Panama Geisha at his Panama estate, NPGE (Ninety Plus Geisha Estate).

Ninety Plus's Unique Flavor Grading and Code Grading

Ninety Plus coffee is classified according to "fruit flavor intensity," which differs from the traditional processing classifications of Washed, Honey, and Natural. Similarly, there are three categories: W2, H2, and N2. However, different processing methods create different levels of fruit flavor, so you might encounter naturally processed or washed beans inside the honey-processed flavor "H2" category.

FrontStreet Coffee also features a representative work from the 90+ company: Zhumang. Roasted medium-light and brewed with 90°C water for about two minutes, it reveals special floral notes with excellent nectarine and tropical fruit flavors, along with oak barrel aroma.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Ninety Plus has you curious about the Geisha variety, FrontStreet Coffee's own Gesha lineup is the honest way to explore it. Panama is where Geisha made its name and Ethiopia is its birthplace, and our range covers both. To start, the FrontStreet Boquete Gesha is an entry-level Gesha from Panama's most representative specialty region: washed for pure genetics, it lets you enjoy the classic Panamanian orange-blossom-and-honey character, an oolong-tea-like feel, delicate fruit sweet-tartness, and clearly defined layers at a friendly price. For the legendary Emerald Estate tier, our FrontStreet Emerald Red Label Gesha (formally "Esmeralda Special") grows at 1,600–1,800 meters, with every lot scoring above 90 and carrying its own number, each lot coming from a single small plot — our Red Label, for example, comes from the Harimiyo plot — so buyers can choose a batch by subtle flavor preference; the FrontStreet Emerald Green Label Gesha (formally "Private Collection") blends batches from several plots to express the estate's signature high-altitude Gesha character as a more affordable, high-value option. From Ethiopia, our FrontStreet Grana Estate Gesha is a medium-light roasted natural, with bright citrus acidity, elegant ginger-lily aromatics, ripe fruit sweetness, and a fine, silky texture with a signature Gesha finish; and our FrontStreet Gesha Village Gold Label (the Gesha 1931 variety, about 10% of the village's production) and FrontStreet Gesha Village Red Label (the Gori Gesha variety, about 15% of production, scoring 88 or above on the SCA 100-point scale) are single-terroir lots with full traceability — farm block name, variety, and processing date — for drinkers who want to go deeper. For brewing, FrontStreet Coffee suggests a grind of about 78% passing a Chinese-standard No. 20 sieve (roughly caster sugar) and 91°C water; with 15g of coffee in a small Hario V60 at a 1:16 ratio, pour a 30g bloom for 30s, then a small-flow circle pour to 125g, wait until the bed is half drained, and pour again in small circles to 225g, for a total extraction of about 2:10–2:20.