How Many Pour-Over Methods Are There for Colombia La Esperanza Blue Mountain Washed Geisha Coffee?

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This is a veteran specialty coffee estate from Colombia that has persisted in cultivating specialty coffee even as the country rapidly expanded its coffee industry and significantly improved the quality of commercial bean production. After the rise of Geisha coffee, they introduced the Geisha variety from Panama's La Esmeralda estate, earning recognition from numerous coffee experts.

Blue Mountains Estate Story Information

Among the countless Geishas in the world, the Cerro Azul from La Esperanza estate stands as the uncrowned king.

In Spanish, "Cerro" means mountain and "Azul" means blue, hence this bean is also known as Blue Mountains. Like its namesake "Blue Mountain," Cerro Azul's intense yet gentle floral and fruit aromas are incomparable to traditional Blue Mountain. Its flavor combines the refreshing aroma of washed processing with the sweet richness of natural processing; perhaps for this reason, Hong Kong's Cupping Room has consistently chosen this bean as their specialty for world competitions in recent years.

Its producing estate, La Esperanza, is also acclaimed in the industry as a model for coffee growing regions. Beyond continuously refining and innovating their processing methods, the Herrera brothers have achieved a perfect integration of science and technology with estate management and field cultivation: the estate not only possesses its own weather station and other hardware but also employs hundreds of agricultural experts, resulting in extremely high-quality green beans with dazzling varieties and processing methods.

This Geisha coffee bean comes from the Cerro Azul estate in Trujillo, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, which is a sub-estate belonging to La Esperanza estate. Interestingly, Colombia's Geisha cultivation has some connection to Panama's La Esmeralda estate. As early as 2007, La Esperanza first purchased the Cañada estate near La Esmeralda to learn how to cultivate Geisha, and after mastering the techniques, they transplanted Geisha plants back to the Cerro Azul estate, situated at elevations of 1,700-1,950 meters with large day-night temperature variations and rich microclimates. This means that today's Geisha beans from Cerro Azul estate are all "descendants" transplanted from the Cañada estate near La Esmeralda.

Coffee Bean Variety Introduction

Geisha coffee beans, also known as Geisha coffee or Geisha beans, all refer to the same coffee variety. The name originates from Geisha Mountain in Ethiopia, pronounced similarly to the famous Japanese Geisha, hence the name.

Geisha coffee beans have an extraordinary legend... this variety actually originates from southwestern Ethiopia. In 1963, Don Pachi Serracin introduced Geisha coffee trees from Costa Rica to Panama. Due to low yields directly affecting harvest quantities, coffee farmers had little interest in cultivation. It wasn't until Daniel Peterson, owner of Panama La Esmeralda, accidentally discovered that the coffee beans produced by these Geisha trees—originally planted as windbreaks at the highest point of his coffee estate—possessed the distinctive citrus and floral aromas characteristic of African beans. After separating these beans and entering them in the 2004 Panama Cupping Competition where they instantly gained fame, Geisha beans became unstoppable. They have won the Panama Cupping Competition championship for many consecutive years. In the eyes of specialty coffee enthusiasts worldwide today, Geisha coffee beans are undoubtedly the supreme treasure.

Processing Method Introduction

Compared to Panamanian washed Geisha coffee, this batch of Geisha from the Cerro Azul processing plant first undergoes waterless pulp removal, followed by 19-24 hours of water fermentation, then thorough washing, and finally a controlled drying process using desiccants to remove moisture.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Suggestions/Analysis

Geisha, as the most outstanding variety among numerous coffee cultivars, is deeply loved by coffee enthusiasts. Among them, washed processed Geisha best highlights the inherent flavor characteristics of the variety. Geisha's special qualities lie in its very distinct and clear floral and citrus notes, extremely high clarity, soft and elegant acidity, lingering cotton-like sweetness, and premium black tea mouthfeel.

To fully reveal these characteristics, careful attention must be paid to roasting. Geisha is typically grown at high altitudes above 1,500 meters, resulting in beans with high hardness and density. Its form is plump, medium-sized, with thick and elongated bodies that taper at both ends.

So how can we express Geisha's unique flavors through roasting?

The roasting approach considers the bean's high hardness and density, so high heat is used initially for dehydration, quickly establishing a temperature difference between the bean surface and core. To enhance floral aromas, the Maillard reaction time needs to be relatively short, so after yellowing, the heat is adjusted to medium-high to quickly bring the beans into first crack, shortening the time from yellowing to first crack also increases clarity. If temperature rises too quickly after first crack, it intensifies caramelization, diminishing floral and fruit aromas, so a significant heat reduction is applied before entering first crack to slow the temperature rise, with the air valve fully opened at the start of first crack. The beans are dropped when the first crack becomes dense, allowing the core to develop while preserving maximum aroma and sugars.

Cupping Flavor Description

Flavor description: Perhaps due to short cultivation time and insufficient tree age, this Geisha's personality is not sufficiently strong. Its flavor still carries distinct characteristics of other common Colombian varieties. The aroma contains notes of plum and sweet cream, with careful detection revealing orchid and toffee aromas. During drinking, the distinct layered experience completely differs from the smelled aromas—behind the astringency of small green plums come flavors of star anise, malt, and brown sugar. When the temperature drops to 60°C, magnolia fragrance and bitter almond notes gradually emerge, with noticeable improvements in sweetness and viscosity. The overall aftertaste is quite pleasant.

Brewing Analysis

Today, FrontStreet Coffee introduces a commonly used pour-over method for Geisha coffee: three-stage method

Three-Stage Pour-Over Method

• Segmented extraction, dividing one portion of water into three injections
• Suitable for light roast, medium-light roast, and medium roast coffee beans
• Uses Kalita wave filter (cake cup)
• Increase bloom time or water interruption次数 to enhance coffee richness

Three-Stage Segmented Extraction Method

Advantages: More layered than single-pour, clearly distinguishing front, middle, and back-end flavors. The method involves increasing water volume after each bloom, typically pouring when the coffee liquid drops to the powder layer surface, using small, medium, and large water flows for three-stage extraction.

Disadvantages: Higher requirements for water flow rate and volume.

FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Pour-Over Parameter Recommendations

The wave filter (cake cup) uses immersion extraction, increasing the contact surface area between coffee grounds and water, which can improve texture compared to V60 brewing, resulting in a more viscous mouthfeel.

15g of beans, water temperature 91-92°C, grind BG 5R (Chinese standard 20-mesh sieve pass rate 64%), water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15-16

Method: 27g water for bloom, bloom time 30s. Pour hot water from the gooseneck kettle in clockwise circles centered on the filter basket, starting timing when brewing begins. Pour to 27g, then stop pouring and wait 30 seconds before the first pour.

For the first pour, maintain circular motion, slightly slower speed, increasing speed when reaching the outer circle. Stop pouring around 1:15 seconds. When the liquid level drops by 1/3, pour again. The second pour concentrates on the center, avoiding the area where coffee grounds meet the filter paper to prevent channeling effects. End extraction around 2:05 seconds. The tail section can be omitted (the longer the time, the more astringency and rough texture will increase).

Segments: 30-125-230g

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