How to Brew Panama Coffee? What Parameters for Pour-Over Emerald Special Geisha Coffee?

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow the WeChat official account: FrontStreet Coffee

When it comes to Geisha coffee, many people might immediately think of Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha coffee. Of course, Geisha coffee didn't initially receive much attention because of its low yield, tall plants, and difficult harvesting—far less popular than varieties like Caturra and Catuai. In Panama, it was mostly used as a windbreak tree for other varieties. It wasn't until Panama Geisha Hacienda La Esmeralda separated it from other varieties in 2003, and it became the BOP competition champion in 2004, that the Geisha variety truly entered everyone's spotlight. Therefore, the flavor of Panama Geisha Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha coffee is indeed slightly superior to that from Geisha Village, and because of this, Panama Geisha Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha coffee leaves such a lasting impression.

Naturally, because of such wonderful flavors, Geisha coffee is also very expensive—drinking a cup can leave your wallet hurting for a long time. However, once you finish it, you'll find it's well worth it. The reason Geisha variety coffee beans have such delicate and elegant flavors is rooted in their specific growing environment. The Geisha variety is very "picky" about its growing conditions—requiring high altitudes, cloud cover or extensive shade tree coverage, and fertile soil—to develop its rich and captivating floral aromas, delicate and elegant fruit acidity, and tea-like aftertaste.

Geisha gives many people the impression of being a luxury item in the coffee world. In reality, the name Geisha comes from the translation of "Geisha," belonging to a coffee variety, similar in classification to Typica and Bourbon. In reality, we rarely hear product names directly called "Typica coffee beans" or "Bourbon coffee beans"—these are usually quietly written in the variety section. However, Geisha appears frequently in product names.

Clearly, Geisha coffee originates from Ethiopia, so why is Geisha coffee grown in Panama better in flavor than from other regions? Although coffee varieties determine the basic flavor profile of a coffee,毕竟是农作物, they are all influenced by factors like climate, soil, altitude, and environment. It's like apples of the same variety—apples grown in Northeast China and those grown in Xinjiang have distinctly different tastes. The same applies to Geisha coffee beans. The various factors in Panama allow Geisha coffee beans to develop delicate and elegant fruit acidity as well as distinct floral aromas. It's precisely these flavors that have made Panama's Geisha coffee popular worldwide.

Now that we know about Panama Geisha Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha coffee, actually estates in other countries are also growing Geisha coffee, and some countries have been growing it even longer than Panama. FrontStreet Coffee recently launched three new Geisha coffees, respectively from Ethiopia, Colombia, and Costa Rica. Below, FrontStreet Coffee will introduce how these three Geisha coffees differ from Panama's Geisha coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee · Costa Rica Region · Geisha Coffee Beans

From the aforementioned Geisha variety spread route, Costa Rica started growing Geisha earlier than Panama. Costa Rica's coffee growing terrain provides fertile volcanic ash, mild and suitable temperatures, and stable, abundant rainfall—all important factors for producing excellent coffee in Costa Rica. Since Panama Geisha became famous overnight, many coffee estates in Costa Rica also began growing Geisha coffee beans, especially in the Tarrazú region.

The rich microclimate in the Tarrazú region creates a day-night temperature difference of 26 degrees Celsius. This large diurnal temperature variation allows coffee cherries to better accumulate nutrients and develop more delicate flavors. Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee found that Costa Rican Geisha coffee beans have a flavor profile similar to Panama's, with floral aromas, clean lemon acidity, and a juice-like mouthfeel, with an overall relatively full body.

Through cupping, we learned that Costa Rican Geisha coffee beans have a relatively full body overall, so FrontStreet Coffee recommends brewing at 91°C with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio. The recommended coffee bean grind size is medium-fine (Chinese standard 80% pass-through rate on a #20 sieve).

FrontStreet Coffee · Ethiopia Region · Geisha Coffee Beans

Ethiopia's most representative Geisha coffee comes from Geisha Village Estate, one of the few estates primarily focused on growing the Geisha variety. Since the Geisha variety grown in Geisha Village belongs to wild Geisha varieties, it shares similarities in plant characteristics and flavor with the Panama Geisha we're familiar with, but overall, it's still quite different from Panama's Geisha coffee flavor.

To distinguish between the two Geishas, Geisha Village named Ethiopia's Geisha variety "Gori Geisha" (because this variety was discovered in the Gori Geisha forest). Through cupping Geisha Village's Geisha coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee found that the coffee flavor primarily features yellow stone fruit (yellow peach) notes, with medium-high sweetness, and better-performing batches even exhibit toffee-like flavors.

Through cupping, we learned that Ethiopian Geisha coffee beans have excellent sweetness, so FrontStreet Coffee suggests brewing at 91°C to extract more sweetness. The recommended coffee bean grind size is medium-fine (Chinese standard 80% pass-through rate on a #20 sieve), with a recommended brewing ratio of 1:15.

FrontStreet Coffee · Colombia Region · Geisha Coffee Beans

Colombia only started importing Geisha coffee beans from Panama in recent years. Most of Colombia's coffee growing areas are located in mountainous regions with rich microclimates, mild temperatures, and abundant water resources, providing excellent growing conditions for coffee. Through cupping Colombian Geisha coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee found floral aromas, soft orange/tangerine acidity, honey sweetness, and tea-like aftertaste.

Through cupping, we learned that Colombian coffee beans are overall relatively soft and balanced, so we recommend brewing at 90°C with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio. The recommended coffee bean grind size is medium-fine (Chinese standard 80% pass-through rate on a #20 sieve).

FrontStreet Coffee · Panama Geisha Hacienda La Esmeralda Introduction

Geisha coffee beans have been on an amazing journey since winning the Panama BOP competition in 2004. Later, expert identification revealed that these coffee beans were the Geisha variety from Ethiopia. Afterward, the Peterson family focused most of their energy on developing infrastructure to support excellent batch separation and fine processing.

In 1964, American banker Rudolph Peterson retired, moved to Panama, and purchased Hacienda La Esmeralda in Boquete, initially focusing on dairy farming. Later, his son Price resigned from his medical practice to help his father run the farm. In 1987, they introduced Caturra and Catuai coffee bean varieties, and in 1994, established a washing station,从此拥有了自己的咖啡加工厂. Currently, Hacienda La Esmeralda has three main estates growing the Geisha variety: El Velo, Cañas Verdes, and Jaramillo. In 1996, they acquired nearby Jaramillo, which had superior geographical conditions and good-tasting existing coffee varieties. El Velo was acquired by Hacienda La Esmeralda in 2012.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that Hacienda La Esmeralda's strategy of acquiring estates with good production quality and high altitudes was a unique decision at the time, which allowed Hacienda La Esmeralda to occupy a certain position in the coffee industry. Among these, the Jaramillo estate is the one that grows Geisha varieties. Due to its low yield, the previous owner only used it as a windbreak tree. It wasn't until after acquisition that its extraordinary flavor was discovered. This is precisely the charm of Geisha coffee—the more extreme the growing environment, the better the flavor performance.

Although Hacienda La Esmeralda initially discovered coffee beans with good flavor expression, for precision, they cupped coffee beans from different areas of the estate and determined planting plots based on altitude. This is why we now have the Geisha grades of Red Label, Green Label, and Blue Label—all graded according to altitude.

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

Red Label: Esmeralda Special

The Geisha produced by Esmeralda Special is what we commonly hear as the Red Label. Selected from Geisha beans grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, with cupping scores above 90 points, from the Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes regions.

Hacienda La Esmeralda holds its own independent auctions, and only the Geisha batches taken from designated plots for auction are the auction Red Labels. However, there are also non-auction Red Labels on the market now—these are actually Geisha beans selected from the same plots but not participating in auctions, then circulated in the market. The variety and quality are consistent, only showing differences in selling price. This grade of Geisha uses natural or washed processing methods, with flavors featuring special, bright floral aromas and citrus notes.

Green Label: Private Collection

Private Collection, commonly known as Green Label, consists of non-independent competition batches—Geisha varieties grown in areas not participating in auctions but still with excellent quality. Selected from micro-batch coffee beans grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, from different plots like Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, etc. Although the Green Label doesn't reach the Red Label grade, it still carries the classic Geisha flavors—floral, fruit, citrus acidity, with a thick, juicy mouthfeel. In recent years, Green Label Geisha is only available in washed processing.

Everyone knows that the higher the altitude, the better the coffee flavor will be. Geisha coffee also has a strange characteristic—the more extreme the growing environment, the better the flavor performance. Those familiar with this variety's history know that Geisha was discovered in windbreak forests precisely because of its unique 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-through rate on standard sieves. To achieve this rate for Green and Red Labels, we need to set the grinder to a finer setting than for other lower-altitude beans, and this is also true for some other high-altitude beans.

Blue Label Geisha is selected from altitudes of 1400-1500 meters, a blend from three different plots: Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, and El Velo. The flavor has subtle floral notes, fruit acidity, and sweetness, with a less full body.

Six months ago, when Hacienda La Esmeralda didn't release news about Blue Label batches, speculation arose that Hacienda La Esmeralda would no longer launch the Blue Label series, and that Geisha coffee beans would only have the Red Label (Esmeralda Special) and Green Label (Private Collection) series. If following the pattern of previous years, about a month after launching the first batch of Red Labels, Blue Labels would appear, but this year there was no trace of Blue Labels for a long time. Many concluded that Hacienda La Esmeralda had cancelled the Blue Label series. In fact, the speculation wasn't wrong—the Blue Label series was indeed cancelled, but the Las Rocas volcanic rock series was coming. FrontStreet Coffee has confirmed that the Las Rocas volcanic rock series Geisha coffee beans come from Hacienda La Esmeralda. Combined with the cancellation of the Blue Label series, it's basically certain that this year's new Las Rocas is "Hacienda La Esmeralda's new Blue Label."

So How Should You Brew Geisha Coffee?

Since Geisha coffee flavors include floral, fruity, honey sweetness, with a clean and bright mouthfeel, Geisha coffee beans are generally roasted to a medium-light degree. When brewing, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas use a finer grind to increase the contact area between coffee particles and water, and use higher water temperature to accelerate the dissolution rate of coffee substances.

FrontStreet Coffee considers that these Geisha beans are all lightly roasted. Light-roasted beans have lower substance dissolution rates than dark-roasted ones, so to ensure full extraction of Geisha flavors, higher water temperatures are used for brewing, along with a finer grind size.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans for brewing to fully experience the rich flavors of coffee. Coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that coffee bean freshness has a great impact on flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer who orders receives the freshest coffee. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at peak flavor.

Dripper: Hario V60, Water Temperature: 90°C, Coffee Amount: 15g, Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15, Grind Size: Medium-fine (Chinese standard 80% pass-through rate on #20 sieve)

Use segmented extraction. Bloom with twice the amount of water as coffee grounds—that is, bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds. When reaching 125g with small circular pouring, pause, then continue pouring to 225g and stop. (Timing starts from bloom) Total extraction time is 2'00".

Pour-over Flavor

[Red Label]

Bright rose and citrus aromas, brown rice, berries, apricots, complex fruits, honey, with a thick juice sensation, rich flavor layers, and noticeable sweetness.

[Green Label]

Rich jasmine floral aroma, high sweetness, citrus, berries, juice sensation, cream, green tea, orange peel, cantaloupe, with overall rich flavor layers, and persistent floral and citrus aftertaste.

[Blue Label]

Entry has soft lemon and grapefruit acidity. As it cools slightly, oolong tea, honey, and sugarcane aftertaste emerge, with a relatively clean and bright mouthfeel.

Coffee brewing may seem simple, but FrontStreet Coffee wants to tell everyone that coffee brewing is actually a personal creation process that requires skill and practice to brew delicious coffee! If you don't control the time, water temperature, or grind size properly, the resulting coffee flavor might be different! Of course, once you're familiar with it, you can also brew according to your own preferences!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473