Introduction to the History of Panama Boquete Hacienda La Esmeralda - Origin and Flavor Characteristics of Esmeralda Geisha Coffee Beans

The Origin and Development of Geisha Coffee

After Geisha coffee became famous, the entire country of Panama was permeated with a strong Geisha atmosphere, with Geisha coffee beans produced by Hacienda La Esmeralda being the most renowned. Geisha coffee is actually a coffee variety that originated from Ethiopia. Of course, the Geisha from Geisha Village in Ethiopia is entirely different from Panama Geisha coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned to everyone that coffee flavor is greatly related to environmental climate, but Geisha coffee is peculiar - the harsher the environment, the better the flavor. These conditions cannot be met in Ethiopia, which is why it was only discovered and became famous after arriving in Panama, closely related to Panama's climate.

How Geisha Coffee Came to Hacienda La Esmeralda

Geisha coffee went through decades of development before becoming famous. The Geisha variety was discovered in 1931 from the Geisha forest in Ethiopia, after which Geisha coffee beans were sent to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya. In 1936, it was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania, in 1953 to Costa Rica, and in 1970 to Panama. Initially, not many people paid attention to Geisha, until Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama separated it from other varieties in 2003, and it became the champion of the BOP competition in 2004. This is how Geisha coffee beans officially entered everyone's view. In the many years that followed, Hacienda La Esmeralda basically won the championship.

Panama's Unique Growing Environment

What kind of growing environment in Panama produces such delicious Geisha coffee?

The microclimates possessed by Panama's highlands are the most important resources that make Panama's unique coffee one-of-a-kind. The environment of the Republic of Panama from east to west allows cold air currents to flow through the central mountains and converge above 6,500 feet, thus creating various microclimates in the Boquete and Volcán-Candela regions, making them the main production areas of Panama's unique coffee. These unique coffees are cultivated in the nutrient-rich, balanced soil of the Baru Volcano region.

Panama is located in Central America, connecting North America and South America, bordering Costa Rica and Colombia. Panama's coffee journey can be said to have been born with a silver spoon. As everyone knows, the Panama Canal was built by the United States and was even independently controlled by the United States for a period of time after its completion. It was the construction of the Panama Canal that caused many American elites to move south at the end of the 20th century, partly for work requirements and partly to explore business opportunities. Many famous coffee estates in Panama were created by these elites. For example, the owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda was formerly a banker, and the owner of Hartmann Estate was formerly an engineer. These elites adhere to standardized and refined principles in coffee estate management, whether it's the allocation of coffee trees to plots by altitude to form coffee bean grades, or manual picking and refined processing processes, all of which are important factors in making Panamanian coffee famous worldwide.

The History of Hacienda La Esmeralda

Rudolph A. Peterson - First Generation Estate Owner

In 1964, Swedish-American financier Rudolph A. Peterson retired, moved to Panama, and bought Hacienda La Esmeralda in Boquete, focusing on dairy farming. He had previously served as the president of Bank of America and was a major figure in the financial circle at the time. Rudolph bought Hacienda La Esmeralda just for vacation and later retirement use, and probably didn't expect that this estate would become world-famous and even become a representative of Panama's specialty coffee estates. In 1973, his son Price Peterson earned a doctorate in neurochemistry in the United States but returned to Boquete to help his father run the farm. After Price took over, he divided the market into three major brands based on altitude and microclimate, cupping results, and planted varieties (Esmeralda Special, Diamond Mountain grows, Palmyra). In 2012, Geisha was added, becoming the fourth brand.

Currently, Hacienda La Esmeralda mainly has three estates growing Geisha varieties: El Velo, Caas Verdes, and Jaramillo. In 1996, they acquired Jaramillo, which had a superior geographical environment and good original coffee varieties. El Velo was acquired by Hacienda La Esmeralda in 2012. FrontStreet Coffee believes that Hacienda La Esmeralda's decision to acquire estates with good products and high altitudes was unique at the time, which also enabled Hacienda La Esmeralda to occupy a certain position in the coffee industry. Starting from winning the BOP competition in Panama in 2004, it has been astonishing. Later, after expert appraisal, it was discovered that this coffee bean was the Geisha variety from Ethiopia. After that, the Peterson family put most of their energy into developing infrastructure to support excellent batch separation and refined processing.

FrontStreet Coffee understands that although Hacienda La Esmeralda initially discovered coffee beans with flavor performance, in order to be precise, they cupped coffee beans from different areas in the estate and determined planting plots based on altitude. This is why we now have Red Label, Green Label, and Blue Label Geisha grades, all classified according to altitude.

Geisha Coffee Varieties at Hacienda La Esmeralda

FrontStreet Coffee · Emerald Red Label Geisha Coffee

The Geisha specially selected by Hacienda La Esmeralda is what we often call FrontStreet Coffee's Red Label Geisha. Selected Geisha beans grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, with cupping scores above 90 points, produced in the Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes regions.

The independent auction held by Hacienda La Esmeralda itself - the Geisha batches taken out for auction from the divided plots are the auction Red Labels. However, there are also non-auction Red Labels on the market now, which are actually Geisha beans selected from the same plots that were not auctioned and then circulated in the market. The variety and quality are consistent, but there are differences in selling prices.

This grade of Geisha uses natural or washed processing methods, with flavors of special, bright floral aromas and citrus aromas.

FrontStreet Coffee · Emerald Green Label Geisha Coffee

Private Collection is FrontStreet Coffee's Green Label Geisha, not an independent competition batch, but Geisha varieties planted with excellent quality that do not participate in auctions. Selected from micro-batch mixed beans grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, produced in different plots such as Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes, without detailed specification of plots, which is why sometimes the flavor similarity between Green Label and Red Label is very high, but the next production might have differences.

Although the Green Label is not as high-grade as the Red Label, it still carries the classic flavors of Geisha - floral, fruity, citrus acidity, and thick, juicy texture. FrontStreet Coffee's Green Label Geisha also has both washed and natural processing.

Brewing Parameters for FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha

Considering that this FrontStreet Coffee Geisha coffee bean is lightly roasted, and the solubility of coffee substances in light-roasted beans is lower than in dark-roasted ones, FrontStreet Coffee uses higher water temperature for brewing to ensure full extraction of Geisha flavors, while also choosing a finer grind size.

Because Geisha beans are relatively hard and tend to sink and clog the bottom water outlet, the grind size will use a fineness with an 80% pass rate through a Chinese standard #20 sieve (approximately the size of fine sugar). For the amount of powder, FrontStreet Coffee still chooses 15g, paired with Hario's V60 small filter cup, and the recommended brew ratio is adjusted to 1:15. On one hand, using an extra portion of water helps maintain the coffee extraction rate, and on the other hand, it adjusts the coffee concentration to 1.15%, which is the best concentration for experiencing coffee flavors. In terms of water temperature, maintain 91 degrees Celsius.

Using segmented extraction, bloom with 2 times the coffee powder amount of water, that is, 30 grams of water for 30 seconds. The reason for needing the blooming process is to allow the coffee powder to release internal carbon dioxide gas, thus making the later extraction more stable. With small water flow in circles, pour to 125 grams for segmentation, then continue pouring to 225 grams and stop. Wait until the water in the filter cup has finished dripping before removing the filter cup. Start timing from the beginning of pouring, with an extraction time of 2'00". Next, pick up the entire cup of coffee and shake it evenly, then pour it into a cup for tasting.

FrontStreet Coffee Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha Coffee Bean Flavor Description: Bright rose and citrus aromas, brown rice, berries, apricots, complex fruits, honey, with a thick juice sensation, rich flavor layers, and obvious sweetness.

FrontStreet Coffee Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha Coffee Bean Flavor Description: Rich jasmine floral aroma, high sweetness, citrus, berries, juice sensation, cream, green tea, orange peel, cantaloupe, with overall rich flavor layers and a lasting aftertaste of floral and citrus notes.

Of course, there are many estates growing Geisha coffee now, and Geisha coffee is also very famous, such as: FrontStreet Coffee Panama Deborah Coffee; also, if you want to experience Geisha coffee flavor but don't want to spend so much money, you can also try Geisha blend beans, which can also give you Geisha coffee flavor, such as: FrontStreet Coffee Panama Butterfly Coffee, FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica Milasou Coffee, FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Flower Seeing Coffee - these FrontStreet Coffee Geisha blend beans are specialty coffees with very high cost-performance ratio!

Contact Information

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