What are the world's most expensive Geisha coffee estates? How much is FrontStreet Coffee's most expensive Geisha?

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What are the most expensive Geisha coffee estates in the world? How much is FrontStreet Coffee's most expensive Geisha coffee?

FrontStreet Coffee Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha Coffee Beans Blue Label Geisha Washed Process Freshly Baked Authentic 100g 120 yuan/100g

FrontStreet Coffee Panama 2017 Season Janson Estate Janson Natural BOP Geisha Volcan 100g Freshly Baked 138 yuan/100g

FrontStreet Coffee 2018 Panama Hartmann Estate Red Wine Processing Catuai Order Fresh Baked Black Coffee 85 yuan/100g

FrontStreet Coffee 2018 New Season Elida Estate Natural Typica Fresh Baked Premium Black Coffee 108 yuan/100g

1. Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha

Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda was originally a coffee estate family that had been operating for 40 years but remained unknown. However, starting from 2004, it became as energetic as if it had consumed an energy drink. With its uniquely aromatic raw bean variety—Geisha—it continuously achieved astonishing results in international coffee competitions. It won first place in the "Best of Panama" competition for four consecutive years, first place in the "Specialty Coffee Association of America Cupping (SCAA Cupping)" competition, and first place in the "Rainforest Alliance Cupping" competition three times. Because the Geisha tree variety is taller than ordinary coffee trees, it was originally planted in a small area within the estate and used as a windbreak. The owner's son, in order to participate in the annual Best of Panama competition, searched through all coffee tree varieties in the estate for testing, which gave Geisha the opportunity to take the stage; afterward, it also participated in various world coffee competitions, winning a total of eleven championships.

From the Boquete production area near Baru Volcano in western Panama, Central America, the Geisha coffee beans produced by Hacienda La Esmeralda at an altitude of 1400-1800 meters officially gained international prominence since winning the "Best of Panama Coffee Cupping Competition" championship in 2004. It repeatedly dominated the authoritative "SCAA Roasters Guild Cupping Pavilion Competition" under the Specialty Coffee Association of America, with auction prices continuously reaching new highs, becoming the most attention-grabbing star estate in recent years, and leading a global trend of major production regions scrambling to plant the Geisha variety!

At first sniff, it emits a subtly sweet aroma of white sugarcane, accompanied by fruit notes of sweet peach and citrus; upon entry, you can feel the lemon-like micro-acidity dancing on the tip of your tongue, followed by the subtle sweetness that fills the taste buds on the tongue's surface due to rich gelatinous substances, and the full, thick, mellow sensation on the upper palate and upper throat.

As the temperature decreases, the aroma of ripe kiwi fruit gradually emerges along with the sweet fragrance of ginger juice. The lively and fresh elements in the coffee even more diversely display in the mouth fruit acids like lemon, citrus, and strawberry, vying for expression like bamboo shoots after spring rain. At this time, what remains in the throat is no longer that vigorous and powerful mellow taste, but instead replaced by the warm sweetness like chocolate.

FrontStreet Coffee Red Label 75 yuan per cup, Janson, Blue Label 60 yuan per cup

2. Panama Carmen Estate Geisha

Carmen Estate covers about 12.5 hectares and is a micro-sized estate in Panama (even more micro than the Aurora Estate of 31 hectares mentioned in the previous issue). According to the owner's account, 8.5 hectares are planted with common varieties from Typica, Red Catuai, to Pacamara—everything available. After 2008, a small number of areas began planting Geisha variety coffee, which currently accounts for nearly half of the quantity; the estate's altitude ranges from approximately 1500 meters to 1675 meters. Besides coffee cultivation areas, there are also 3.5 hectares of native forest and various fruit trees, including high-altitude cypress, pine, and eucalyptus trees, making it a typical self-sufficient estate example. Carmen Estate's most widely known achievement is winning the championship honor in the 2011 Best of Panama competition, not only defeating the most indicative and consecutive championship-winning Hacienda La Esmeralda at that time, but the bid price also broke that year's highest record, reaching $70.25 per pound. In the following years, its excellent achievements are too numerous to count, with consecutive years of qualifying for the final competition batches of Best of Panama.

Including 5th place in the 2012 Washed Geisha category, 10th place in the 2013 Washed Geisha category, 12th place in the 2014 Washed Geisha category, and 14th place in the 2015 Washed Geisha category.

3. Panama Janson Estate Geisha

Geisha coffee is also hailed as the "Champagne of the coffee world." Janson Geisha's clean taste is neither bitter nor astringent, with refreshing micro-acidic fruit notes and rich, varied aromas—you finish it before you know it, truly an instant-kill type of beverage. 🥇 The estate owner Carl Janson's Janson Estate was nominated for the Best of Panama Coffee Award presented by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP). OKLao Specialty Coffee obtained the Taiwan general agency for Janson Estate. Over 50% of the estate is planted with Geisha coffee, and it is the second largest producer of Geisha in Panama. The harvested fruits are mainly ox-blood red coffee cherries, dedicated to restoring a farm model that allows coffee to grow in an excellent environment: the farm's inherent advantages include rich volcanic ash soil and altitude of 1700-1750 meters, all suitable for coffee bean growth.

Janson Farm (Panama Janson Coffee Farm) not only grows coffee beans but is also an organic ecological farm. The park area mainly focuses on cattle, horses, and livestock. Coffee cherries are organically processed and used as farm fertilizer, emphasizing soil and water conservation, recycling mountain spring water, and conducting afforestation work annually. There's also a 7000-foot-long airplane runway that can accommodate small private planes.

When acidity is enhanced, it actually creates a sweet sensation of salivation in us, and the sweet moisture in your mouth will emerge. Another special characteristic of Geisha coffee is its tea-like flavor. Due to the variety's characteristics, when lightly roasted, you'll feel it's not like coffee because it's acidic but has a tea fragrance. Some well-processed Geishas, especially honey-processed or natural sun-dried ones, will even have honey fragrance and floral notes, like drinking fruit and flower tea. Now this area mainly focuses on coffee, with high-altitude avocados interplanted among them. The estate fertilizes about 4 times a year. The first time is after coffee fruit harvesting, mainly with nitrogen and phosphorus, supplemented with other trace elements. Other applications occur in July and September using appropriate organic fertilizers. The final application is selected three weeks before the harvesting period, spraying foliar fertilizer imported from Canada for final nutritional supplementation. During the entire coffee harvesting season, no fertilizers are applied.

Flavor notes: Earl Grey tea aroma, rich and clean bright jasmine fragrance and citrus fruit acidity, extremely smooth mouthfeel, multi-layered charm that lingers for a long time. The estate's sun-drying field also blends harmoniously with nature, and the surrounding scenery is exceptionally beautiful. What we discovered is better, and it carries the guiding principle of coexistence between taste, humanity, and ecology.

4. Panama Hartmann Estate

Coffee from Panama's Volcan production area has gained prominence in the specialty market in recent years. It's grown at estates operated by the renowned Hartmann family. The estate maintains the appearance of tropical primary forest, with coffee growing under the shade of rainforest trees. Nutrient-rich volcanic soil and unique microclimates provide perfect environmental conditions for growing unique specialty coffees.

Hartmann Estate is a coffee estate jointly operated by the Hartmann family. The founder was Alois Strasil Hartmann, who came to Panama's Boquete area around 1918 to start his cultivation business. Currently, Hartmann Estate has two coffee farms: Ojo de Agua and Palo Verde, about two miles apart from each other. Ojo de Agua's coffee is all grown under shade trees. Many areas within the estate are primary forest and also serve as one of the buffer zones for the famous La Amistad Forest Reserve that spans Costa Rica and Panama.

The average altitude ranges from 1220 to 1828 meters. The dirt roads within the estate lead to various native wildlife habitats, making it perfect for bird watching, hiking, and exploration. Palo Verde farm is what we commonly know as Hartmann Estate. Coffee grown here also grows under rainforest shade trees, with an average altitude of 1250 meters and an annual average temperature between 12.7 and 26.6 degrees Celsius. Annual rainfall is 4500 centimeters. There are crisscrossing dirt roads within the estate, as well as a small museum collecting insect specimens and local handicrafts.

Flavor description: Nut, walnut, and almond aroma, light fruit acidity, clean and fresh acid quality, caramel and dark chocolate aftertaste, smooth mouthfeel.

5. Elida Estate

Elida Estate is at a very high altitude, with some areas even located within the Panama National Park Reserve. The scenery along the way is beautiful, the air is excellent, the mountain terrain is rugged, and walking through it feels like a forest bath. Elida Estate's administrative district is Boquete town. After arriving in Boquete, follow along the river toward the mountain area. The estate owner Wilford will arrange for friends to first visit the nursery garden near his hometown, while introducing Elida's three main varieties: Catuai, Geisha, and Criollo.

Elida's processing station is located midway between the nursery and the higher parts of the estate. You could also say it's within the estate but on the outer edge, because it must consider that trucks can reach it for transportation. When we arrived, a batch of natural beans was undergoing same-day processing. Beside it was a simple processing station and storage area for parchment beans. Above the processing station is the path to the coffee garden, with an altitude exceeding 1,800 meters. However, the concept of low-temperature resting was jointly experimented by several international friends from the roasters' alliance (referring to Japan's JRN). We found that raw beans from subtropical regions certainly need to be kept at low temperatures, but different processing methods and altitudes will also change the low-temperature resting time. For Panama's Elida, more than 5 months of low-temperature resting allows flavors to develop more balanced and full-bodied.

Dry aroma: Honey, hazelnut, berries, chocolate, cherry

Wet aroma: Floral notes, toffee, berry fragrance, cherry

Slurping: Honey, caramel, blackcurrant, varied flavors, honey-sweet, toffee, delicate oily sensation, apple, sweet lime, aftertaste with dark berries and honey and other fruit sweet and sour flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 91-92 degrees

Grind size: Fuji grind level 4

Brewing method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g coffee, first pour 25g water, 25s bloom, second pour to 120g water then stop, wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before pouring again, slowly pour until reaching 225g water, extraction time around 2:00

Analysis: Using three-stage brewing to clearly define the front, middle, and back flavor profiles of the coffee. Because V60 has many ribs and faster drainage speed, stopping the water flow can extend the extraction time.

Important Notice :

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