The Difference Between Coffee Green Bean Competitions BOP and COE - Does BOP Champion Panama Geisha Coffee Taste Good?

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BOP

As the world's first green bean competition, the emergence of BOP can be seen as Panama's specialty coffee industry's strategic move in the coffee market at that time. Through this successful strategy, Panama created a blue ocean focused on quality over quantity. Every year, auction beans from here fetch prices of hundreds of dollars. FrontStreet Coffee believes that BOP has played a very important role in promoting quality cultivation of Panama's coffee.

In 1995, seven coffee-producing families in Panama jointly established the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP). In 1996, they founded the first Panama green bean competition - Best of Panama (BOP).

Starting in 2004, SCAP organized the first Best of Panama (BOP) auction, with only 11 lots of beans, averaging $2.89 per pound. By 2012, this figure reached $24.83, greatly encouraging and promoting the development of specialty coffee. The renowned Hacienda La Esmeralda, Don Pachi Estate, Carmen Estate, and Elida Estate were all founding estates.

In 1964, American banker Rudolph Peterson retired, moved to Panama, and purchased Hacienda La Esmeralda in Boquete, initially focusing on dairy production. Later, his son Price resigned from his medical position to help his father manage the farm. In 1987, they introduced Caturra and Catuai coffee bean varieties, and in 1994 established a washing station, giving them their own coffee processing facility.

Currently, Hacienda La Esmeralda has three main estates growing Geisha varieties: El Velo, Cañas Verdes, and Jaramillo. In 1996, they acquired the nearby Jaramillo estate, which had superior geographical conditions and good flavor profiles from existing 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 high-quality products at high altitudes was unique at the time, allowing the estate to occupy a significant position in the coffee industry.

The Jaramillo estate is where Geisha varieties are cultivated. Due to its low yield, the previous owner used it primarily as a windbreak tree until it was acquired and its exceptional flavor was discovered. FrontStreet Coffee feels this is precisely the charm of Geisha coffee - the more adverse the growing environment, the better the flavor expression.

Although Hacienda La Esmeralda initially discovered coffee beans with flavor characteristics, for precision, they cupped coffee beans from different areas of the estate, determining planting plots based on altitude. This led to the Red Label, Green Label, and Blue Label Geisha grades we know today, all classified by altitude. FrontStreet Coffee will explain this content in detail below.

Beginning with winning the Panama green bean competition BOP in 2004, they continued to achieve remarkable results. Later, expert identification revealed that this coffee bean was the Geisha variety from Ethiopia. Since then, the Peterson family has focused most of their energy on developing infrastructure to support excellent batch separation and refined processing.

FrontStreet Coffee - Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha Red Label

Region: Panama, Boquete

Estate: Hacienda La Esmeralda, El Velo

Altitude: 1600-1800m

Variety: Geisha

Processing: Natural

The Red Label, or Esmeralda Special, is an independent auction organized by Hacienda La Esmeralda itself, exclusively featuring Geisha varieties. Batches are named by production area, with each area further subdivided into smaller lots for auction. Only Geisha lots that Hacienda La Esmeralda puts forward for independent auction can use the Esmeralda Special name. Since 2013, Esmeralda Special has had nine batches.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Records

Roaster: Yangjia 800N (roasting amount: 300g)

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

At 7'38", bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, 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.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Guide

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over

Filter: V60

Water temperature: 88-90°C

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: BG 6R (China standard #20 sieve pass rate 76%), medium-fine grind

Brewing technique: Segmented extraction. Bloom with 32g of water for 30 seconds. When small circular pour reaches 125g, segment the pour. Continue pouring to 228g when water level is about to expose the coffee bed. Remove filter cup when water level is about to expose the coffee bed (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time: 1'52".

Flavor: Aroma of white ginger flower and citrus. Taste of ripe fruits, black tea, citrus, with sweet and sour fruit tea flavors. Aftertaste has berry sweetness with relatively persistent aftertaste.

COE

C.O.E. refers to Cup of Excellence, an international coffee cupping competition. C.O.E. evaluation is the most credible among top-tier coffee competitions. Outstanding candidates who emerge from rigorous competition represent the highest quality coffee from that country for that year. They must maintain high scores consistently throughout each cupping to rank among the top, and only then can they receive the C.O.E. award designation. Coffee beans from winning estates are auctioned through unified specific online auctions, allowing buyers worldwide to bid in an open and transparent manner. This approach rapidly spreads the reputation of excellent award-winning farms while ensuring competition batches receive better prices.

The competition is generally held annually, with specialty coffee growers submitting their best coffee beans to domestic or international judges from the association. Participating coffees must undergo strict competition rules, with final winning estates typically passing through six rounds of screening. Usually, from 500 farms, fewer than 30 remain in the final selection. Therefore, Cauca Cup of Excellence and COE are two different concepts of competition.

First held in Brazil in 1999 by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE), it is currently the world's most renowned and authoritative specialty coffee competition, and also the most credible among top-tier coffee evaluation competitions.

Every coffee that wins in C.O.E. must have its own unique characteristics. To emerge victorious among numerous farms, it must undergo rigorous challenges and be of superior quality among many farms. Competition beans themselves have very few defects and insect damage, with high consistency in bean size and similar color. Even after roasting, expansion degree and coffee coloring are consistent. The flavor reflects growing environment, soil, terrain, and even green bean processing methods, creating unique flavors. Although coffee beans produced on the same farm have relatively small differences in various conditions, competition beans are definitely the best beans selected from the farm.

With C.O.E. competition experience, it's easier to establish information and contact with foreign buyers in production, transportation, and marketing. It can help foreign buyers resolve concerns. For small-yield farms of about 30-40 bags, it's easier to trade directly with more foreign small-scale coffee buyers without going through intermediaries or large coffee traders, benefiting both parties. Besides eliminating profits for intermediaries or large coffee traders, it mainly saves freight and tariffs between countries, which is the driving force for coffee producers' efforts.

Award-winning estates receive C.O.E. recognition for their quality improvement efforts. Not only do they receive major awards, but farmers' efforts also receive deserved prices and returns. Participating in C.O.E. competitions not only encourages farmers to dedicate themselves to improving quality and enhancing coffee bean levels but also helps create a specialty coffee market.

At FrontStreet Coffee, you can also find beans that have won in COE cupping competitions! For example, the Pache and Pacamara from Guatemala's Little Blueberry Estate, as well as beans from Brazil's Shenmu Estate. In the first Ethiopian COE competition in 2020, FrontStreet Coffee also participated in the bidding for one of the lots.

FrontStreet Coffee - Ethiopia COE #22

Region: Sidamo, West Arsi

Variety: Typica

Processing: Natural processing

Award: 22nd place in 2020 Ethiopia COE

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Records

FrontStreet Coffee's barista uses Yangjia 800N semi-direct flame, roasting amount: 480g. Enter drum at 170°C, heat power at 130, damper setting at 3. Return temperature at 1'32", when drum temperature reaches 100.2°C, heat power unchanged. At 3 minutes, adjust damper to 4, at 4 minutes increase heat power to 140.

When drum temperature reaches 150.5°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering dehydration stage. At 8'36", bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'10", first crack begins, develop for 1 minute 30 seconds after first crack, discharge at 192.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Report

FrontStreet Coffee conducts cupping within 8-24 hours after roasting sample coffee beans. The cupping uses 200ml ceramic bowls, water temperature at 94°C. Cupping grind size has 70%-75% pass rate through #20 standard sieve (0.85mm). Ratio: 11g coffee powder to 200ml hot water, i.e., 1:18.18, so extracted concentration falls within the 1.15%-1.35% golden cup range. Steeping time is 4 minutes.

Dry aroma: Citrus

Wet aroma: Citrus, camellia

Flavor: Citrus, lychee, honey, cream, wine aroma, mango, strawberry

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Guide

Filter: V60 #01

Water temperature: 90-91°C

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: Medium-fine grind (China standard #20 sieve pass rate 80%)

FrontStreet Coffee brewing technique: Three-stage extraction. Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. When small circular pour reaches 125g, segment the pour. Continue pouring to 225g when water level is about to expose the coffee bed. Remove filter cup when water level is about to expose the coffee bed (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time: 2'00".

Brewing flavor: Sweet and sour notes of strawberry and lychee, fermented wine aroma, creamy smoothness, honey-like aftertaste.

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473