Introduction to Famous Panamanian Geisha Estates: Flavor Characteristics of Elida Estate Geisha Coffee

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Whenever guests visit FrontStreet Coffee and specifically request "Geisha," FrontStreet Coffee lists several Geisha coffees from different origins for selection. This is because FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu includes Geisha beans from three countries: Panama, Ethiopia, and Guatemala. Among these, Panama's Geisha has the highest recognition and is FrontStreet Coffee's most popular Geisha origin. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will discuss a famous Geisha estate in Panama.

Panama Coffee Growing Regions

Panama's coffee cultivation is concentrated in the western highlands: Boquete, Volcan, and Renacimiento. Among these, the Boquete valley and the Volcan area surrounding the Baru volcano are the most renowned. Both regions are located in Chiriqui Province, perfectly situated in the center of the coffee belt, with fertile volcanic soil and ancient forests. The Boquete region is a town in Chiriqui Province, located on a plateau at an altitude of approximately 1,000-2,000 meters on the eastern side of Baru Volcano. It faces the warm, humid monsoon from the Caribbean Sea, with cold Atlantic currents behind it. The mountains are high and steep, with the "Baru Volcano National Park" serving as an ecological conservation area. The region boasts rich biodiversity with seven microclimates, and is perpetually shrouded in mist with abundant rainfall, creating excellent local growing conditions.

Boquete Region

Boquete is a town in Chiriqui Province, located near the border between Panama and Costa Rica, close to the famous Baru Volcano. With its beautiful scenery, rich and fertile soil, the climate and soil are perfect for producing high-quality coffee. The microclimate in the highlands of Boquete, Panama, is a unique resource for the region's specialty coffee. The east-to-west environmental pattern causes cold air currents to converge above 6,500 feet in the central mountains, creating multiple microclimates in the Boquete area. The temperature and rainfall are ideal for plant growth, so the coffee trees growing here, particularly Panama Boquete Geisha, thrive exceptionally well.

Plantations in the Boquete region of Panama primarily use three cultivation methods: sun-grown plantations, fully shade-grown plantations, and semi-shade-grown plantations. Plantations with more than 50 trees per hectare are considered fully shade-grown; those with 25-50 trees are semi-shade-grown, and those with fewer than 25 trees are called sun-grown plantations. So, what's the impact of shade versus no shade on coffee in two neighboring plantations with the same growing conditions? Shade-grown plantations can slow down the maturation time of coffee fruits, allowing more flavor compounds to develop within the coffee cherries. Therefore, shade cultivation itself increases costs and reduces yield, but the coffee flavor is superior to semi-shade-grown plantations under the same conditions. Currently, most plantations in Colombia maintain a symbiotic state between coffee trees and banana trees. As Arabica varieties have become increasingly dwarfed, the banana trees provide shade when they grow taller.

Most Panama estate Geisha coffee beans are hand-selected specialty Arabica beans, with each batch being traceable. You can trace which specific plot of an estate, or which cooperative or farmer the beans came from, pursuing the flavor of origin. Only by visiting coffee origins and stepping into coffee estates can you understand the essence of that coffee—how its charming flavors and ever-changing aromas come to be—whether from microclimate, variety, processing method, or the coffee farmer's secret techniques.

Geisha Variety

Geisha refers to a coffee variety, called "Geisha/Gesha" in English, which coincidentally shares the same name as the Japanese "Geisha," so some people also call the Geisha coffee variety "Geisha." The Geisha variety was discovered in 1931 in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia. Later, Geisha was sent to Kenya's Coffee Research Institute, introduced to Uganda and Tanzania in 1936, to Costa Rica in 1953, and to Panama in 1970.

Initially, not many people paid attention to Geisha until Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda separated it from other varieties in 2003 and became the champion of the BOP competition in 2004. Only then did the Panama Geisha coffee variety officially enter everyone's spotlight. Although the Geisha variety's flavor is exquisite, such elegant flavors originate from specific growing environments. The Geisha variety is quite particular about its growing conditions, requiring cultivation at high altitudes, in areas with cloud and mist shade or extensive shade tree coverage, and with fertile soil. Among these, Panama's Boquete region is the most representative, and the Geisha produced here is beloved by coffee enthusiasts worldwide. The famous Hacienda La Esmeralda is also located in this region.

Elida Estate

The farm's history can be traced back to 1918. This farm belongs to the Lamastus family, and the farm's name "Elida" was the name of the farm owner Robert Louis Lamastus's wife at that time. Elida Estate is located in the Boquete region, with the estate's altitude being almost the highest in all of Panama, and nearly half of its area is within a national protected park—making it a rare ultra-high-altitude estate in Central America! Elida Estate has a total area of 65 hectares, with more than half located within the Baru Volcano National Park. Of the estate, 30 hectares are planted with coffee trees, while the remaining 35 hectares are primary forest. The coffee cultivation altitude ranges from 1,670 to 1,850 meters, making it one of the two highest-altitude coffee estates in Panama (the other estate with similar altitude should be Carmen Estate, located in the Volcan Valley).

Baru is a rugged, young volcano with an altitude exceeding 3,400 meters and belongs to the active volcano category. Due to the significant temperature difference between morning and evening, coffee at Elida Estate requires 5 years of care after planting before the first harvest can be realized—a considerably long waiting period (usually only 3 years in most coffee-growing regions). Although plant growth is slower, it significantly benefits the development of coffee flavor. During the harvest period, due to temperature conditions, coffee ripening often exceeds a month. If hurricanes, heavy rain, or other irresistible factors occur shortly before ripening, even though it would cause significant losses, because the beans haven't reached the estate's harvest standards, they refuse to harvest early in their insistence on quality, leading to greatly reduced yields! The risks are actually much greater than those at lower-altitude estates.

Elida Estate primarily grows three varieties: Catuai, Typica, and Geisha. The estate's processing plant is located halfway up the mountain, allowing coffee to be transported to the factory for processing immediately after picking, ensuring the quality of the coffee cherries is not affected. Of course, Elida's environment is also suitable for growing other quality temperate crops, especially tree tomatoes and some uncommon high-altitude fruits. Interestingly, the flavors of these fruits can often be found in Elida's coffee as well.

In addition to its unique ultra-high altitude and microclimate, estate owner Mr. Wilford has put considerable effort into harvesting and processing. To achieve the highest standards, Elida Estate's coffee can only be hand-picked from the most ripe coffee fruits (Ripe on Pinton). The high maturity of the fruits naturally results in higher sugar content in the mucilage, which is the foundation for Elida's quality flavors.

In addition to being extremely strict about coffee cultivation and processing, estate owner Mr. Wilford is more rigorous than industry peers in the "purification" of green beans after processing. Taking Panama's Elida as an example, after green bean processing is complete, it requires more than 5 months of low-temperature resting to remove greenness, allowing the coffee's flavor to develop more balanced and fully. (Low-temperature resting is a green bean purification concept strongly promoted by coffee master George Howell since 2006. We've found that while green beans from subtropical regions need to be stored at low temperatures, different processing methods and altitudes all change the required time for low-temperature resting. For Panama's Elida, 5 months of low-temperature resting is optimal.)

FrontStreet Coffee's Elida Estate ASD Process Geisha Example

FrontStreet Coffee: Panama·Elida Estate

• Country: Panama
• Region: Boquete Region
• Estate: Elida Estate
• Altitude: 1,900 meters
• Variety: Geisha
• Processing Method: Anaerobic Fermentation Low-Temperature Slow Natural Process

Processing Method

This coffee's processing method is anaerobic fermentation with low-temperature slow natural process. The harvested coffee cherries are placed in sealed containers for 4-5 days of fermentation, then thick layers of coffee pulp are spread on drying beds to allow slow drying. The low-temperature slow natural processing method requires producers to invest more time and effort. Under the nurturing of time, slow drying allows coffee cherries to develop optimal water activity during this process. On one hand, this leads to better flavor development, and on the other hand, green beans can also maintain their quality longer during seasonal storage cycles. However, this method not only depends on favorable weather conditions but also extends the time required for each batch production, increasing the cost of green beans.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis

This coffee has medium-sized beans and density, and it absorbs considerable heat during the roasting process, with the Maillard reaction proceeding relatively quickly. Open the air damper when the beans begin to turn yellow to develop more fermentation aroma, enhancing its sweetness and balance. Enter the drum at 160°C, heat at 100%, air damper at 3. Return to temperature at 1'42''. When the drum temperature reaches 146°C, open the air damper to 4. At 146°C, the bean surface turns yellow, and grassy smell completely disappears. At 166°C, reduce heat to 80%, air damper unchanged. At 7'31'', ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and toast smell clearly transitions to coffee aroma—this can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8'28'', first crack begins, reduce heat to 50%, fully open air damper to 5. Develop for 1'45'' after first crack, then drop at 194.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Roast Color Values

Agtron bean color value 68.2 (left image), Agtron ground color value 75.7 (right image), Roast Delta value is 7.5

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Hollow Dripper

The hollow dripper's skeleton is distributed in a mesh-like pattern. During brewing, the coffee bed's exhaust is relatively smooth, extraction doesn't easily clog, and water flow is unobstructed. When brewing coffee, water can flow down from all sides, reducing the risk of over-extraction.

Parameters & Technique: 15g coffee; medium-fine grind (BG 6M: 80% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve); water temperature 90°C, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15; Bloom with 28g water for 30 seconds, small water flow center pour to 128g, when water level drops about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 229g, remove the dripper when water level drops about to expose the coffee bed (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time: 1'51''.

Flavor: Subtle fermentation aroma, with lemon, grapefruit, cream, and honey flavors upon entry, oolong tea sensation in the finish, with noticeable juiciness.

Ice Eye Dripper

The Ice Eye dripper's ribs are distributed vertically in a step-like pattern. The bottom of the dripper can present a state where the filter paper is suspended, while at the top, the dripper and filter paper are completely sealed.

This design has a benefit: because the top of the dripper and filter paper are completely sealed, if too much water flows in at once during brewing, or if the water temperature is too high and floods the flow channel, there's no space for exhaust. The water level drops slowly, creating a soaking effect similar to the KONO dripper, avoiding under-extraction.

Parameters & Technique: 15g coffee; medium-fine grind (BG 6M: 80% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve); water temperature 90°C, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15; Bloom with 31g water for 30 seconds, small water flow center pour to 124g, when water level drops about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 228g, remove the dripper when water level drops about to expose the coffee bed (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time: 1'45''.

Flavor: With fermentation aroma, having nectarine, strawberry, berries, cane sugar, and cream flavors upon entry.

Cake Dripper

The cake dripper has a flat bottom with three small holes underneath, using the creases of the filter paper to replace the dripper's flow channels, reducing the contact area between the dripper and filter paper. First, it allows water to drip down evenly and smoothly, making coffee extraction more successful; second, it can also slow down the cooling rate.

Parameters & Technique: 15g coffee; medium-fine grind (BG 6M: 80% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve); water temperature 90°C, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15; Bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds, small water flow center pour to 125g, when water level drops about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 227g, remove the dripper when water level drops about to expose the coffee bed (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time: 1'54''.

Flavor: With jasmine aroma, having plum, sweet orange, grapefruit, and cream flavors upon entry, oolong tea sensation, smooth mouthfeel.

Diamond Dripper

The diamond dripper's design adopts a diamond-cut surface pattern with a conical shape and large central hole. The diamond-like texture allows for more even flow rate; the large central hole design of the dripper can increase flow rate, compensating to some extent for uneven extraction. Using the diamond dripper also requires certain brewing skills and stability.

Parameters & Technique: 15g coffee; medium-fine grind (BG 6M: 80% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve); water temperature 90°C, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15; Bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds, small water flow center pour to 118g, when water level drops about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 228g, remove the dripper when water level drops about to expose the coffee bed (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time: 1'43''.

Flavor: Subtle fermentation aroma, with tropical fruits, lemon, grapefruit, almond, and honey flavors upon entry, black tea aftertaste.

The flow rates of the cake dripper and hollow dripper are relatively slow, and the extracted coffee flavors are generally more balanced. Coffee extracted with the cake dripper has a smoother mouthfeel; coffee extracted with the hollow dripper has a fuller body with noticeable juiciness; Elida Geisha extracted with the Ice Eye dripper has a more intense fermentation aroma, with flavors leaning more toward berries; while the diamond dripper has a relatively fast flow rate, and although the extracted coffee has a lighter body, the flavors are rich and well-layered.

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