Is Pour-Over Geisha Coffee Delicious? A Comparative Analysis of Flavor Profiles Between Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha and Geisha Village Geisha

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FrontStreet Coffee Introduces: Geisha

The Geisha variety was first discovered in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia in 1931, then brought to Kenya's Coffee Research Institute. It was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania in 1936, and to Costa Rica in 1953.

For a long time, not many people paid attention to Geisha. Until one day, Don Pachi initially brought it from the small town of GESHA in southwestern Ethiopia to Costa Rica, after which Geisha traveled along the southern route into Panama. Panama's Esmeralda Estate separated it from other varieties and won the national coffee championship, officially bringing Geisha into the spotlight.

As early as 1904, during the construction of the Panama Canal, large numbers of European engineers and senior managers were employed to work in the hot eastern Panama City. After the Panama Canal was completed in 1917, this group of highly educated professionals, especially people from Northern Europe, fell in love with Boquete in Panama. With its cool climate and spring-like weather year-round, many stayed here, bought farms, and spent their retirement enjoying the beautiful misty environment.

Currently, the most famous Geisha growing region is in Boquete, Panama, which is a small town located at the eastern foot of Baru Volcano. In the Boquete region, the most renowned Geisha coffee growing estates include the famous Hacienda La Esmeralda, Elida Estate, and Panama NPGE Estate.

Geisha was previously abandoned as a variety because it was planted at 1,200 meters altitude, had low yields, small bean sizes, and poor flavor.

Coffee Trees Under Shade

In 2004, Jeff, a green bean purchasing expert for Intelligentsia, served as a BOP judge. He recalled: Twenty-five Panama specialty beans entered the finals, but one of them puzzled the judges. It emitted citrus aromas, lime acidity, sugarcane sweetness, jasmine fragrance... filling the room. When sipped, it was like a hundred flowers blooming, with fireworks exploding in the mouth.

Even Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe couldn't have such intense orange and honey aromas—the champion bean was decided. Estate owner Price explained to everyone that this bean was the Geisha variety, and from then on, Geisha became famous.

Price Changes of Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha

2004: $21/pound; 2006: $50.25/pound; 2007: $130/pound; 2010: $170.2/pound. By 2017, at the Panama specialty coffee auction, a batch of natural-processed Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda reached a sky-high price of $601 per pound, meaning that one kilogram of green beans cost as much as 8,900 RMB.

This year, 2018, the Panama Coffee Competition champion was also a Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda, with a bidding price of $340 per pound.

At 1,700 meters altitude, the beans are hard and dense, with full bodies, medium size, thick and long shapes, and pointed ends.

Prestigious Specialty Coffee Competitions

Famous specialty coffee bean competitions include COE (Cup of Excellence) and BOP (Best of Panama), among others. Every year, renowned and emerging coffee estates carefully select their best coffee beans to participate. These "beauties" undergo cupping by experienced professionals in the specialty coffee field, who then score them on multiple dimensions including taste, aroma, body, cleanliness, aftertaste, and balance. The final weighted total determines the ranking from highest to lowest.

2018 Top Geisha—The Glory of Best of Panama (BOP)

At 7 AM on July 20th, all 49 batches of award-winning coffee beans from BOP were auctioned, taking approximately 6 hours and 30 minutes. Among them, the natural-processed Geisha numbered BOP-GN-1 fetched a high price of $803 per pound, breaking the highest transaction record (In 2017, BOP produced the super Geisha washed Sophia and the natural Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha with a bidding price as high as $601 per pound). It became the "top lot" of the auction.

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