Black Coffee: Is It Better Acidic or Not? La Esmeralda Geisha Green Label's Sweet, Floral Tea-like Experience

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Panama La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha

Many people drink coffee every day. Ask them "How is this coffee?" and most will reply that it's "fragrant" or "refreshing."

But someone who understands coffee would say: "This coffee has a caramel aroma, full and lively acidity, a quick transition to sweetness, and a long aftertaste." That isn't because their sense of smell is naturally keener—it's because they've studied coffee systematically. Coffee cherries are a fruit, so coffee must have acidity. That acidity is fruit acid, an essential element of coffee. Without acidity, coffee can be said to have no soul.

Good fruit acidity is completely different from the sharp, astringent sensation of spoiled acidity.

"Acidity" takes different forms: stimulating acidity; gentle, fruity, fragrant acidity; and acidity similar to fermented fruit.

Imagine eating a green-skinned orange (unripe) or pure lemon juice—that's stimulating acidity.

Imagine eating a yellow-skinned orange or an apple (ripe)—that's the kind of acidity that makes you salivate, a lively, gentle and fragrant acidity.

Imagine eating a spoiled orange (over-fermented)—not extremely sour, but enough to make you feel nauseous.

True fruit acidity (not spoiled) returns to sweetness. We call this natural reaction of salivating and returning sweetness "sweet-sour resonance." Coffee beans with delicate acidity and distinct, refined floral and fruit flavors are usually lightly roasted, since delicate aromas are easily destroyed by prolonged high heat. This is why every coffee's individual character requires careful handling.

FrontStreet Coffee would like to introduce a coffee with rounded, soft acidity, full of floral and fruit aromas: Panama La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha.

After years of experimentation, La Esmeralda found that only Geisha beans harvested from trees growing above 1,400 meters can display the special flavors Geisha should have. The main grading system is therefore based primarily on planting altitude, supplemented by actual cupping results, dividing Geisha beans into "Red, Green and Blue Label" grades.

Because Green Label Geisha does not compete in the BOP (Best of Panama) competition, it isn't as expensive as Red Label Geisha. For La Esmeralda, though, the Green Label is like the wine world's second wine: just as the top-tier Lafite estate has its Carruades de Lafite, much cheaper than the Grand Vin yet possessing the same top-tier quality.

La Esmeralda · Green Label Geisha

Country: Panama

Region: Boquete

Estate: La Esmeralda

Altitude: 1600-1800 meters

Processing: Washed

Variety: Geisha

Knowledge Extension

Hawaii's Kona coffee is a rare variety that can be grown only on volcanic slopes. It has a rich, mellow flavor with a mixed aroma of wine, fruit and spice—extremely distinctive in character.

In Brief

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research establishment, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation, hoping to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month we hold three coffee events at substantial discounts, because FrontStreet Coffee wants more people to enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible prices—this has been our mission for the past six years.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The FrontStreet Emerald Green Label Geisha is exactly the coffee this article describes: a blend of lots from several plots rather than a single micro-lot, so it expresses Hacienda La Esmeralda's signature high-altitude Geisha character at a much friendlier price than the Red Label—the estate's "second wine," so to speak. For single-plot batches cupped at 90 points and above, step up to the FrontStreet Emerald Red Label Geisha.

If you want the classic Geisha experience at entry level, the FrontStreet Boquete Geisha is an affordable Panama Geisha with the familiar citrus-and-honey sweetness, oolong-tea sensation and fine fruit acidity. To explore the variety's birthplace, the FrontStreet Geisha Village Gold Label (the Geisha 1931 variety, about 10% of the village's output) and the FrontStreet Geisha Village Red Label (the Gori Gesha variety, about 15%) come from the Geisha Village estate in Ethiopia, a rare large estate beside the original Geisha forest, and cup at 88 points or above thanks to strict quality control. The FrontStreet Grana Gesha, suited to a light-medium roast, brings bright citrus acidity, elegant ginger-lily blossom and ripe-fruit sweetness. Because Geisha is a dense, floral-and-fruit style that can sink and clog the dripper, FrontStreet suggests grinding to a coarser size and brewing at around 91°C.