Panama Geisha Coffee Bean Grading System: What Do Red, Green, and Blue Label Geishas Mean?

The Story of Gesha Coffee

When it comes to Gesha, many people might immediately think of the Gesha coffee from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda. Gesha originated in Ethiopia but gained fame at Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama. However, FrontStreet Coffee would like to inform you: the Gesha coffee from Ethiopia and the Gesha coffee from Hacienda La Esmeralda are different varieties with distinct flavor profiles, with Hacienda La Esmeralda's Gesha coffee having slightly superior flavors.

Panamanian Coffee

Why are Panamanian coffee beans so renowned? We all know that coffee is an agricultural crop, naturally closely related to climate and environment. Panama's climate has contributed to its famous coffee. Bordering Costa Rica and Colombia, Panama's east-to-west geography allows cold air currents to flow through the central mountain range and converge at elevations above 1,900 meters. This creates a very unique microclimate in the Boquete and Piedra de Candela regions, with temperatures and rainfall perfectly suited for plant growth. This microclimate region is the main production area for Panamanian coffee.

In addition to the climate, the surrounding land in this region is nutrient-rich, and the fertile soil provides perfect growing conditions for coffee, shaping numerous unique, high-quality coffees.

Hacienda La Esmeralda

When discussing Gesha coffee, we must mention Hacienda La Esmeralda. 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 manage the farm. In 1987, they introduced Caturra and Catuai coffee varieties, and in 1994, they established a washed processing plant, giving them their own coffee processing facility.

Currently, Hacienda La Esmeralda has three main estates growing Gesha varieties: El Velo, Cañas Verdes, and Jaramillo. In 1996, they acquired nearby Jaramillo, which had superior geographical conditions and coffee varieties with excellent flavors. El Velo was acquired by Hacienda La Esmeralda in 2012. FrontStreet Coffee believes that Hacienda La Esmeralda's strategy of acquiring high-altitude estates with excellent quality was a unique decision at the time, which has enabled Hacienda La Esmeralda to occupy a significant position in the coffee industry.

Beginning with their championship win at the 2004 Best of Panama (BOP) competition, they achieved remarkable success. Later, expert identification revealed that this coffee bean was the Gesha variety from Ethiopia. Afterward, the Peterson family focused most of their energy on developing infrastructure to support excellent batch separation and fine processing.

Hacienda La Esmeralda's Red, Green, and Blue Label Grading Standards

Although Gesha was discovered and made famous by Hacienda La Esmeralda, and now coffee-producing countries worldwide are researching and growing Gesha coffee, Hacienda La Esmeralda maintains strict classification for the coffee beans produced on their estate. What do the commonly heard red, green, and blue labels mean? And what are they based on?

Coffee beans can be graded by size, cupping results, defect ratio, altitude, and so on. So how does Hacienda La Esmeralda grade their Gesha coffee beans? FrontStreet Coffee has learned that Hacienda La Esmeralda primarily grades their Gesha beans based on planting altitude, supplemented by actual cupping results, creating "Red, Green, and Blue Label" grades.

Premium - Red Label [Auction Batches]

The specially selected Gesha from Hacienda La Esmeralda is what we commonly hear as the red label. Selected from coffee grown at altitudes of 1,600-1,800 meters, with cupping scores above 90 points, from the Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes regions. These are also the highest quality Gesha beans - auction batch Gesha coffee beans that can be traced back to which specific plot they came from. Red label Gesha coffee beans come exclusively from one plot and are never mixed with Gesha from other plots. This grade of Gesha uses natural or washed processing methods, with flavors featuring special, bright floral aromas and citrus notes.

Green Label [Reserve Batches]

Green label is grown at altitudes of 1,500-1,800 meters, representing micro-batch blends from three different estates: Jaramillo, Quiel, and Cañas Verdes. Green label coffee beans are blends from all plots within Hacienda La Esmeralda. Although green label doesn't reach the red label's grade level and isn't the highest-tier auction bean, it still carries Gesha's classic flavors - floral, fruity, citrus acidity, and a thick, juicy mouthfeel. Green label Gesha is also available in both washed and natural processing. Because its altitude is the same as red label, just harvested as a blend, FrontStreet Coffee's view is that it represents the best value grade at Hacienda La Esmeralda. Green label Gesha typically uses washed processing, and this grade of Gesha beans still maintains the classic Gesha coffee flavors - floral, fruity, citrus acidity, and a thick, juicy mouthfeel.

Blue Label [Select Batches]

Blue label represents Gesha grown at altitudes of 1,500 meters and below, harvested as blends. It's a blend from three different estates: Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, and El Velo, including Gesha from plantations near Hacienda La Esmeralda. The Gesha 1500 brand we commonly see is actually blue label Gesha. Currently, blue label Gesha is available in both washed and natural processing, with natural processed batches being introduced in small quantities in late 2019.

In 2021, news came that Hacienda La Esmeralda would discontinue the blue label brand. In the same year, a Gesha coffee bean named "Volcanic Rock" from the same region appeared. After FrontStreet Coffee's verification, the Volcanic Rock Gesha is processed by Hacienda La Esmeralda, and its flavor profile is highly similar to previous years' blue label Gesha.

From this, we can see that the biggest difference between red, green, and blue labels is altitude. FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned that higher altitude coffee beans have better flavors, so the quality of red and green labels is better than blue label. FrontStreet Coffee believes that all three types of Gesha coffee are excellent coffees, and personal preferences vary - some people prefer fuller-bodied flavors, while others prefer brighter ones. Therefore, the choice of which Gesha coffee to select depends on personal preference.

FrontStreet Coffee's Gesha Brewing Recommendations

For coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee always recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans to better express the rich flavors of the coffee. Therefore, all coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee are roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer receives the freshest coffee when their order arrives. The coffee's resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it's at its peak flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee's barista considers that Gesha beans are lightly roasted, and light-roasted beans have lower solubility than dark-roasted ones. Therefore, to ensure full extraction of Gesha coffee flavors, they use higher water temperature for brewing while also choosing a finer grind size.

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using these 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's Brewing Technique

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, also known as three-stage brewing. They bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds, then continue pouring in a circular motion with a small water flow to 125g, creating a segment. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, they continue pouring to 225g and stop. After the water finishes dripping from the dripper, remove it. Timing starts from the beginning of pouring, with an extraction time of 2'00". Next, pick up the entire cup of coffee, shake it well, and then pour it into cups for tasting.

[Red Label Brewing Flavors]: Bright rose and citrus aromas, brown rice, berries, apricots, complex fruits, honey, with a thick juice-like mouthfeel, rich flavor layers, and noticeable sweetness.

[Green Label Brewing Flavors]: Rich jasmine flower aroma on entry, high sweetness, citrus, berries, juice-like mouthfeel, cream, green tea, orange peel, cantaloupe, overall rich flavor layers with a floral and citrus finish.

[Blue Label Brewing Flavors]: Gentle lemon and grapefruit acidity on entry, which as it cools slightly reveals oolong tea, honey, and sugarcane sweetness in the aftertaste, with a relatively clean and bright mouthfeel.

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