Hacienda La Esmeralda New Blue Label Geisha Renamed as Las Rocas Volcanic Rock Coffee Beans: Flavor Profile and Price Introduction

FrontStreet Coffee Panama Volcanic Rock Geisha Coffee Beans

Origin: Boquete, Panama, Hacienda La Esmeralda

Altitude: 1500m

Variety: Geisha

Processing: Washed

Harvest Season: 2021

Panama Volcanic Rock Las Rocas Geisha coffee beans is a brand that emerged in 2021. These coffee beans come from the renowned Hacienda La Esmeralda, so the quality of these Geisha beans is unquestionable. Esmeralda estate has two other Geisha series: Red Label (Esmeralda Special Selection) and Green Label (Private Reserve). The Blue Label (Geisha 1500) was canceled this year, which shows that this Las Rocas Geisha is replacing the Blue Label Geisha to become the new blue label brand of Esmeralda estate.

This Geisha is grown at 1500m on mountainous terrain. Thanks to Esmeralda estate's strict cultivation management, the quality of these coffee beans is excellent. FrontStreet Coffee observed that the green beans were full and large.

Las Rocas Geisha coffee beans use washed processing, which further highlights the clean taste of Geisha coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using pour-over brewing for this coffee

Dose: 15g

Grind size: 80% passing through No. 20 standard sieve

Ratio: 1:16

Water temperature: 91C

Filter: V60

For the first pour, inject 30ml of water and bloom for 30 seconds. For the second pour, evenly inject 120ml of water in a circular motion. Wait for the water level to drop and form a concave shape, then inject 90ml of water. End the extraction when all the coffee liquid has dripped through, with a total time of 2 minutes.

Flavor notes: Ginger flower, citrus, honey, pomelo

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Las Rocas is the label FrontStreet Coffee points to when someone wants Panama Geisha without auction pricing. For a lower-priced entry that still carries the classic Panama profile, FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete Geisha delivers tangerine and honey, an oolong-tea body, and fine fruit sweet-and-sour in clearly separated layers.

For the full estate expression, FrontStreet Coffee's Esmeralda Red Label Geisha (Esmeralda Special) is grown at 1,600-1,800 m, with every lot required to cup at 90 points or higher and carrying its own lot number, since each lot comes from a single small plot. The Green Label (Private Collection) blends batches from several plots into the estate's signature high-altitude Geisha character and is the better-value way in.

Geisha is a medium-light roast floral-fruity coffee with a hard, dense bean that tends to sink and clog the drain hole. FrontStreet Coffee suggests a grind size of 78% pass-through on the China standard #20 sieve -- roughly fine caster sugar -- and 91C water. Brew it in a small Hario V60 at a 1:16 ratio with 15 g of coffee, poured in three stages: bloom to 30 g for 30 seconds, pour in a small circle to 125 g, wait for the bed to drain halfway, then pour to 225 g. Total extraction runs about 2:10-2:20.

Geisha also works as an SOE. FrontStreet Coffee's Grana Estate Geisha, a medium roast from Ethiopia, keeps the floral-fruit character with dried-fruit sweetness and bright lemon acidity; pulled as espresso it turns into dried apricot, caramel, and nuts. FrontStreet's suggested recipe is 20 g of coffee, a 1:2 coffee-to-liquid ratio, a 25-second shot, and 40 g of espresso.