What Grade are Finca Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha Coffee Beans - Are They Expensive? Geisha Coffee Flavor Characteristics and Taste Profile

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The World's Most Expensive Coffee

When asking some coffee novices what the most expensive coffee in the world is, the answers are often Blue Mountain coffee or Kopi Luwak. Here, FrontStreet Coffee wants to show everyone what prices Geisha coffee can reach.

Yes, you read that correctly. This is Geisha coffee from the Geisha Estate under Ninety Plus company (known to everyone as 90+), belonging to batch #2703A. Just 60 grams of green beans cost $1200, and this price doesn't even include shipping fees. Surprising, isn't it? So, what grade would you say Geisha coffee is?

What is Geisha?

When speaking of Geisha, most people's first reaction is Panama Geisha. But far away on the other side of the Atlantic, in the birthplace of coffee - Africa's Geisha. Here, FrontStreet Coffee will take everyone to understand Geisha coffee.

The Spread History of Geisha

The Geisha variety was discovered in 1931 in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia and later sent to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya. In 1936, Geisha was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania. In 1953, it appeared in Costa Rica. In 1963, Don Pachi Serracin introduced Geisha coffee trees from Costa Rica to Panama. Due to low yields directly affecting harvest amounts, coffee farmers had little willingness to plant it, and it was consistently used as a windbreak tree. After nearly half a century of obscurity, today's Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda (Esmeralda Estate) separated it from other varieties, allowing the Geisha variety to shine in the 2003 BOP competition (Best of Panama) and ultimately win the championship in the 2004 BOP competition, bringing this variety into everyone's view.

This Geisha is Not That Geisha

Many people, when first encountering Geisha coffee, have many questions in their minds. What's the difference between Panama's Geisha and Ethiopia's Geisha? Aren't they both the Geisha variety?

Here, FrontStreet Coffee wants to knock on your little head and solemnly explain: they're really different. Not only are the origins different, but even the coffee bean varieties are different.

Ethiopian Geisha

Geisha Village Estate

When talking about Ethiopian Geisha, Geisha here refers to the Geisha Village Estate. In 2007, documentary director Adam Overton came up with the idea of establishing a coffee estate and brand after filming an Ethiopian coffee documentary. In 2009, BOP judge Willem Boot's idea of finding Geisha's birthplace provided Adam with an opportunity. In 2011, he went to Geisha Village and found native Geisha varieties in the surrounding forests, planted them in Geisha Village, and established the Geisha Village Coffee Estate.

Varieties

Although we call it Geisha, Ethiopian Geisha really has no relationship with Panama's Geisha coffee. The main varieties of Ethiopian Geisha coffee beans are: Gori Gesha (GG), Geisha 1931 (G31), Illubabor Forest 1974 (IF)

Gori Gesha: Size is very close to native Heirloom, but some flat bean appearances are very similar to the Geisha 1931 that everyone knows. The aroma of green beans is full of tropical fruit-like tones. Named after Gori Geisha Forest, the origin of Geisha coffee, Gori Gesha represents the genetic diversity within the forest.

Geisha 1931: Geisha 1931 can be said to be a relatively common Geisha bean appearance. Size is similar to Typica, but the flavor profile is very different from Typica. It possesses combinations of different forest varieties and is very similar to Panama Geisha. Selected through observation of its plant morphology, bean appearance, screen size, and cupping results. Geisha 1931 was selected from multiple Geisha varieties as the one closest to Panama Geisha. Variety selection depends on the coffee plant's morphology, coffee bean appearance, and cupping results. It was named Geisha 1931 precisely because 1931 was the year people discovered the Geisha variety in Ethiopia.

IF: Discovered during a 1974 expedition to the Illubabor Forest, later developed by the Ethiopian Research Center into a variety with resistance.

Grading System for Geisha Village Geisha Coffee Beans

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Willem Boot also brought Panama's business model to Geisha Village Estate, creating the current grading system for Geisha coffee within the estate. This is what appears on FrontStreet Coffee's menu as Geisha Village auction, gold label, red label, green label, and Chaka Geisha coffee beans.

• Auction Batch: Accounts for only 3.7% of Geisha Village's annual production, the estate's top-tier batch after rigorous screening, available only through global auction at Geisha Village Coffee Estate.
• Gold Label Batch: Gold label accounts for only 5% of Geisha Village's annual production and can almost be said to be the same level as the auction batch. The Geisha Village gold label that FrontStreet Coffee acquired comes from batch OMA 059.
• Red Label Batch: Batches with complete traceability, having typical Geisha Village flavor, with flavor intensity and complexity slightly weaker than gold label batches, making it a single-origin batch with very high cost-performance ratio.
• Green Label Batch: The official name is SINGLE-TERROIR (single terroir/plot). This coffee bean comes from a single farm in Geisha Village. Complete traceability information for each batch number in the Single-Terroir series can be found, including farm name, coffee variety, and processing date.
• Chaka Batch: This is a Geisha coffee bean blend produced by Geisha Village, including three varieties: Gori Gesha, Geisha 1931, and Illubabor (Ethiopian native disease-resistant variety).

Panamanian Geisha

The fact that the Geisha variety became world-famous is largely thanks to the talent scout that is Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda.

Hacienda La Esmeralda

In 1964, American banker Rudolph Peterson retired, moved to Panama, and bought Hacienda La Esmeralda in Boquete, initially focusing on dairy. Later, his son Price resigned from his position as a doctor to help his father run the farm, and in 1987 introduced Caturra and Catuai coffee bean varieties. In 1994, a washed processing plant was established, giving them their own coffee processing facility.

Geisha Variety Plot Division at Hacienda La Esmeralda

Hacienda La Esmeralda has extremely fine divisions for the plots where Geisha is grown, mainly with three plots: Jaramillo, Canas Verdes, and El Velo. Each plot is further divided into smaller plots.

• Jaramillo: Annual rainfall is 4000ml, average daytime temperature is 19-25°C, average nighttime temperature is 11-15°C, average altitude is 1600-1700m. The Jaramillo plot is subdivided into 5 small plots: Mario, Noria, Reina, Bosque, and Buenos Aires.
• Canas Verdes: Annual rainfall is 3500ml, average daytime temperature is 16-23°C, average nighttime temperature is 10-15°C, average altitude is 1600-1800m. Canas includes a total of 9 small plots: Lino, Coronado, Fundador, León, Montaña, Trapiche, Chinta, Cabaña, and Tumaco.
• El Velo: El Velo is the newest plot acquired by Hacienda La Esmeralda, with an average altitude of 1700-1900m. In addition to planting Geisha and Catuai, this plot also has small amounts of other exotic varieties such as Laurina, Pacamara, Mocha, and SL28. El Velo is divided into 7 small plots: Guabo, Portón, Durazno, Higuerón, Higo, Buena Vista, and Águila.

Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha Coffee Grading System

After years of experimentation, Hacienda La Esmeralda discovered that only Geisha grown at altitudes above 1400 meters can display its delicate flavors. Therefore, Hacienda La Esmeralda primarily uses planting altitude as the main criterion, with actual cupping results as secondary, to divide the Geisha coffee grown in the estate into three grades.

Esmeralda Special

Esmeralda Special is what we often call the red label. Red label Geisha is grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, scores above 90 points in cupping, and mainly comes from the two regions of Jaramillo and Canas Verdes. Red label batches can have either washed or natural processing methods. Red label batches are only available through global auction.

FrontStreet Coffee - Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha Natural

Country: Panama
Region: Boquete
Estate: Hacienda La Esmeralda
Altitude: 1600-1800 meters
Processing: Natural processing
Variety: Geisha

Private Collection

Private Collection is the green label. Green label batches don't participate in auctions but still have excellent quality. Green label Geisha is grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, mainly mixed from batches of different plots like Jaramillo, Canas Verdes, etc.

Because it adopts a model of mixing different plots, sometimes there are cases where the flavor similarity between green label and red label is very high.

Although the green label is not as high-grade as the red label, it still carries the classic flavors of Geisha - floral aroma, fruit aroma, citrus acidity, and thick, juicy texture. Green label Geisha batches also have both washed and natural processing methods.

FrontStreet Coffee - Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha Washed

Country: Panama
Region: Boquete
Estate: Hacienda La Esmeralda
Altitude: 1600-1800 meters
Processing: Washed processing
Variety: Geisha

Geisha 1500

Geisha 1500 is the blue label. Grown at altitudes of 1400-1500 meters, the blue label mixes Geisha coffee beans from three different plots: Jaramillo, Canas Verdes, and El Velo.

In previous years, blue label Geisha only had washed processing, but this year the blue label batch has added natural processing methods. The coffee introduced by FrontStreet Coffee here is the natural processed blue label Geisha from this year's new harvest season.

FrontStreet Coffee - Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda Blue Label Geisha Washed

Country: Panama
Region: Boquete
Estate: Hacienda La Esmeralda
Altitude: 1400-1500 meters
Processing: Washed processing
Variety: Geisha

What Grade is Geisha Coffee? Why is it Expensive?

Reading this, are you all very tempted? Actually, everyone doesn't need to be scared off by the price of Ninety Plus Geisha coffee mentioned earlier. If you want to drink Geisha variety Geisha coffee, the cost-performance ratio of Hacienda La Esmeralda's products is actually quite high. But when searching for red label Geisha on a certain orange app, many friends are also deterred.

There are four main reasons why Panamanian Geisha coffee beans are expensive:

• It has been selected as the best coffee by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA). SCA is an international coffee enthusiast organization that covers different areas of the specialty coffee industry: growers/farmers, producers, roasters, manufacturers, importers/exporters, and retailers.
• It is relatively rare. Panama only has a few Geisha producers. Because the growing conditions in Panama cannot be found outside Panama, Panamanian Geisha coffee cannot be replicated in other regions or countries. Additionally, with the threats of climate change and leaf rust disease, Geisha's survival has become even more difficult.
• Demand is increasing while supply is decreasing. Especially in Asian regions (such as China), the demand for Geisha coffee has increased particularly dramatically, which has also driven its continuous price increases.
• The auction method has also effectively increased the price of coffee. Due to limited supply, only the highest bidder gets it.

Here, FrontStreet Coffee must say that FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda green label Geisha coffee has full guarantees in both brand and quality. What's more important is that the cost-performance ratio is extremely high - each pack is 100 grams, priced at only 168 yuan. Calculating based on 15 grams of coffee beans per cup, one pack can make 6 cups of coffee, with each cup costing only about 28 yuan. Compared to cafes selling at over 100 yuan per cup, this can be called a conscientious recommendation.

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-through rate on China standard #20 sieve).

FrontStreet Coffee considered that these Geisha beans are all lightly roasted. Light roast coffee beans have a lower dissolution rate of coffee substances than dark roasts. Therefore, to ensure full extraction of Geisha flavors, higher water temperature is used for brewing, while also choosing a finer grind size.

Brewing Technique

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, also called three-stage brewing. Use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then continue pouring with small circular motions to 125g for segmentation. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper (timing starts from the bloom). Extraction time is 2'00".

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