Understanding Geisha Coffee Beans in 5 Minutes: One of the World's Top Ten Most Expensive Coffees

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Geisha coffee beans, once named by Forbes as one of the "world's ten most expensive coffees," have now become the flagship option at major coffee shops. According to FrontStreet Coffee, the pronunciation of Geisha is similar to the Japanese word "geiko" (geisha), which is how it got this nickname.

In the industry, Panamanian Geisha coffee beans enjoy widespread fame, with the entire country immersed in a rich Geisha culture. Among these, the Geisha coffee beans produced by Hacienda La Esmeralda are the most renowned. Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha coffee beans have a strict grading system, with commonly heard varieties like Blue Label Geisha, Green Label Geisha, and Red Label Geisha. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will explain the differences between them.

Hacienda La Esmeralda

As is well known, the Panama Canal was built by the United States and remained under American control for some time after its completion. The construction of the Panama Canal led many American elites to move south in the late 20th century, partly for work requirements and partly to explore business opportunities.

Hacienda La Esmeralda is a witness to that era. In 1964, American banker Rudolph Peterson retired and moved to Panama, purchasing the Palmira farm in Boquete, which initially focused on dairy farming. Later, his son Price resigned from his medical practice to help his father manage the farm. In 1987, they introduced Caturra and Catuai coffee varieties and renamed it Hacienda La Esmeralda. In 1994, they established a washed processing plant, gaining their own coffee processing facility. In 1996, they acquired the nearby Jaramillo farm, which had superior geographical conditions and excellent existing coffee varieties, incorporating it into Hacienda La Esmeralda.

When Jaramillo farm was acquired, it had long been abandoned by the previous owner, with coffee trees growing wild. In 1997, Price's younger son Daniel returned to the farm after graduating from university to help his father manage the estate. He discovered tall, sparsely growing coffee trees at lower elevations in Jaramillo that were completely different from what he usually cultivated. When he consulted Mr. Don Pachi, he was told that these tall coffee trees were called Geisha, one of the varieties he had brought back from the Costa Rican Coffee Research Institute 30 years earlier while working at the Panama Department of Agriculture. The original purpose was to resist leaf rust disease. However, due to its low fruit-bearing rate, farmers were unwilling to plant it, and most other farms had cut down these trees.

Daniel decided these coffee trees were special and didn't cut them down. Instead, he transplanted them to higher elevations in Jaramillo. Later, as the specialty coffee movement emerged around the millennium, Daniel learned to cup coffee beans. In 2003, during the first Geisha harvest, Daniel cupped Geisha from different elevations and separated them accordingly. It wasn't until 2004 that Daniel tasted coffee from the Mario lot with distinct floral and fruity acidity. He ran to discuss this with his father, who after tasting said it wasn't coffee but more like fruit tea, wondering what had gone wrong. Fortunately, Daniel gave the coffee to several coffee experts to taste. One SCAA expert suggested Daniel send the coffee to compete in BOP. The result was that in 2004, Hacienda La Esmeralda won the championship with Geisha.

Currently, Hacienda La Esmeralda mainly has three farms growing Geisha varieties: El Velo, Cañas Verdes, and Jaramillo. In 1996, they acquired the nearby Jaramillo farm with its superior geographical conditions and excellent existing coffee varieties. El Velo was acquired by Hacienda La Esmeralda in 2012. FrontStreet Coffee believes that Hacienda La Esmeralda's strategy of acquiring high-altitude farms with excellent production was unique at the time, which has enabled Hacienda La Esmeralda to occupy a significant position in the coffee industry.

Although Hacienda La Esmeralda initially discovered coffee beans with flavor expression, for precision, they cupped coffee beans from different areas of the farm and determined planting plots based on altitude.

Starting from winning the Panama green bean competition BOP in 2004, they achieved remarkable success. Later expert identification revealed that this coffee variety was the Geisha variety from Ethiopia, numbered T2722. Afterward, the Peterson family focused most of their energy on developing infrastructure to support excellent batch separation and refined processing.

Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha Variety Plot Division

High-quality Panamanian Geisha coffee beans are mainly produced from the two farm plots: Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes.

Jaramillo has an annual rainfall of 4000ml, with average daytime temperatures between 19-25°C and nighttime temperatures between 11-15°C. The average altitude is 1600-1700m. The Jaramillo plot is subdivided into 5 small plots: Mario, Noria, Reina, Bosque, and Buenos Aires.

Cañas Verdes has an annual rainfall of 3500ml, with average daytime temperatures between 16-23°C and nighttime temperatures between 10-15°C. The average altitude is 1600-1800m. Cañas Verdes includes 9 small plots: Lino, Coronado, Fundador, León, Montaña, Trapiche, Chinta, Cabaña, and Tumaco.

El Velo is the most recently acquired plot by Hacienda La Esmeralda, with an average altitude of 1700-1900m. In addition to Geisha and Catuai, this plot also has a small number of other exotic varieties, such as Laurina, Pacamara, Mocha, and SL28. El Velo is divided into 7 small plots: Guabo, Portón, Durazno, Mural, Higo, Buena Vista, and Guila.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's latest understanding, in 2022, Hacienda La Esmeralda acquired another higher-altitude farm (plot), named Spring Valley.

Geisha Red Label, Green Label, and Blue Label

Hacienda La Esmeralda's marketing strategy differs from other farms. Based on cupping performance, planted varieties, and planting plots, they are divided into five major brands. The Geisha varieties have three brands: Esmeralda Special, Private Collection, and Geisha 1500. The Catuai varieties have two brands: Diamond Mountain and Palmyra.

During the period from 2019-2022, third-generation owners Daniel and Rachel decided to elevate Hacienda La Esmeralda's positioning and decided to modify the Geisha brands, including canceling the Blue Label batches and making the auction batches from the Red Label independent as "Esmeralda Auction."

Esmeralda Auction

Esmeralda Auction is a brand that Hacienda La Esmeralda separated from the Red Label in 2022. These batches can only be obtained through auction. As early as 2021, FrontStreet Coffee learned from a conversation with farm owner Rachel that the current Esmeralda Special (Red Label) included both auction and non-auction batches, which made management confusing. She indicated that the auction batches would be separated in the future. Sure enough, Esmeralda Auction was launched in 2022. On August 17, 2022 (Beijing time), the ES-W-3-1 batch was sold at $2,755/kg, setting the highest price in Hacienda La Esmeralda's history.

Esmeralda Special

The Geisha produced by Esmeralda Special is what we commonly call the Red Label. It selects Geisha coffee beans planted at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, with cupping scores above 90 points, from independent plots in the Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes farms.

Geisha coffee beans of this grade use natural or washed processing methods, with special and bright floral aromas and citrus fragrance. FrontStreet Coffee believes that naturally processed coffee beans have better flavor performance, so FrontStreet Coffee sells the Red Label from the Mario plot of Jaramillo farm, which uses slow natural processing. The Mario plot is precisely where the 2004 BOP championship-winning Geisha originated.

Private Collection

Private Collection, commonly known as Green Label, selects micro-batch blends from different plots such as Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes, planted at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters.

The difference from the Red Label is that it doesn't specify detailed plot information, so sometimes the flavor similarity between Green Label and Red Label can be very high, but the next batch might have differences. Although the Green Label doesn't match the Red Label's grade level, it still carries the classic Geisha flavors: floral, fruity, citrus acidity, and thick, juicy mouthfeel. In recent years, Green Label Geisha is only available in washed processing.

It is well known that higher altitudes bring richer aromatic changes to coffee. Geisha coffee also has a peculiar characteristic - it performs best when grown in extreme environments. Those familiar with this variety's history know that Geisha was discovered in windbreaks precisely because of its unusual flavor. This characteristic is reflected in FrontStreet Coffee's selection cupping. FrontStreet Coffee uses different grind sizes for different beans to ensure all tested samples achieve a 70% pass rate through standard sieves. For Green Label and Red Label to achieve this pass rate, we need to adjust the grinder to a finer setting than other lower-altitude beans. The same applies to some other high-altitude beans.

Geisha 1500

This is what we often call the Blue Label. Blue Label is Geisha coffee from around 1500 meters altitude and is different from Red Label and Green Label. Therefore, the selling price is also much cheaper. However, the Blue Label Geisha produced by Hacienda La Esmeralda still has very distinct citrus, jasmine, and honey flavor characteristics, making the Blue Label the most cost-effective series in Geisha. It is precisely for this reason that Hacienda La Esmeralda decided to cancel the Blue Label batches to elevate the Esmeralda brand positioning.

Among these Esmeralda levels, because Red Label and Green Label are beans from the same altitude, with the only difference being that Red Label specifies plots while Green Label is mixed harvest, yet the price difference is significant, FrontStreet Coffee's view is that Green Label offers better value.

Under normal circumstances, FrontStreet Coffee rarely proactively recommends Geisha coffee beans unless customers request them. FrontStreet Coffee doesn't do this because they think Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha is poor - on the contrary, it's precisely because Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha is excellent, with quality ranking among the world's best Geisha. FrontStreet Coffee considers that not all customers have a certain understanding of Geisha flavors. Some customers at FrontStreet Coffee are even drinking pour-over coffee for the first time. If they start with the best variety, other coffees will seem ordinary. FrontStreet Coffee more often suggests gradual tasting, which helps form a certain coffee flavor cognition and slowly discover the richness of the coffee world.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Suggestions

When roasting these three different grades of Panamanian Geisha coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's main approach is to highlight Geisha's rich floral aroma and bright, varied fruit acidity characteristics, using light roast techniques. However, considering the different growing environments of each grade, FrontStreet Coffee makes corresponding adjustments in roasting details.

Red Label Geisha

Enter the drum at 150°C, heat at 120, damper opened to 3; Return temperature at 1'36", when drum temperature reaches 140°C, open damper to 4, heat unchanged; When drum temperature reaches 147.6°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering dehydration stage. When drum temperature reaches 150°C, adjust heat to 100, damper unchanged;

At 7'38", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8'10", first crack begins, open damper to 4. Develop for 1'28 after first crack, discharge at 189.5°C.

Green Label Geisha

Enter the drum at 160°C, heat at 110, damper opened to 3; Return temperature at 1'28", when drum temperature reaches 140°C, open damper to 3.5, heat unchanged; When drum temperature reaches 153.3°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering dehydration stage. When drum temperature reaches 161°C, adjust heat to 90, damper unchanged;

At 6'54", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 7'50", first crack begins, open damper to 4. Develop for 1'20 after first crack, discharge at 192.5°C.

Blue Label Geisha

Enter the drum at 180°C, heat at 130, damper opened to 3; Return temperature at 1'32", when drum temperature reaches 104°C, open damper to 4, heat unchanged; When drum temperature reaches 151.6°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering dehydration stage. At 7'56", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast smell clearly turns to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8'30", first crack begins, open damper to 5. Develop for 1'28 after first crack, discharge at 190°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Suggestions

FrontStreet Coffee suggests using the following brewing parameters: Hario V60 dripper, 90°C water temperature, 15g coffee dose, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, and medium-fine grind (80% pass rate through Chinese standard #20 sieve).

FrontStreet Coffee considers that these Geisha coffee beans are all light roasted. Light roasted beans have lower solubility than dark roasted ones, so to ensure full extraction of Geisha flavors, FrontStreet Coffee uses higher water temperature for brewing and also chooses a finer grind size.

Brewing Technique

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, also called three-stage brewing. Use 30g of water for bloom for 30 seconds. When pouring water in a small circular motion to 125g, segment the brew. Continue pouring to 225g when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed, then stop pouring. When the water level is about to expose the coffee bed again (counting from bloom start), remove the dripper. Total extraction time is 2'00".

Flavor Descriptions

Red Label: Bright rose and citrus aromas, brown rice, berries, apricot, complex fruits, honey, with a thick juice-like mouthfeel, rich flavor layers, and noticeable sweetness.

Green Label: Rich jasmine floral aroma, high sweetness, citrus, berries, juice-like mouthfeel, cream, green tea, orange peel, cantaloupe, with overall rich flavor layers and lasting floral and citrus aftertaste.

Blue Label Washed: Floral aroma, with soft lemon and grapefruit acidity at entry, honey sweetness in the middle section, oolong tea feel and brown sugar sweetness in the finish, with a relatively clean and bright mouthfeel.

Blue Label Natural: Fermented wine aroma, fruity sweetness, melon, tropical fruits, with layered complexity.

Important Notice :

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