Premium Geisha Coffee Beans: Panama Red Label Geisha Auction Batches Priced Higher Than Blue Mountain

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Panama La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha

La Esmeralda is Panama's most iconic estate, a legendary farm that has become synonymous with Geisha coffee and with Panama itself. If we could choose only one Panamanian coffee to drink in a lifetime, La Esmeralda would undoubtedly be the top choice.

La Esmeralda currently has three farms - Jaramillo, Canas Verdes and El Velo - along with a processing plant in Palmira.

The estate practises extremely detailed farm management, dividing each farm into multiple plots. The Jaramillo farm, for example, is divided into five plots, while Canas Verdes is divided into nine.

Geisha is a rare variety, the undisputed king of today's specialty coffee scene. It has repeatedly won championships in green bean competitions and has been chosen by barista competition contestants to achieve outstanding results.

Geisha's fame is directly tied to Panama's La Esmeralda estate. It was La Esmeralda that entered Geisha in the SCAA 2005 International Green Bean Competition, where it won first prize and became world-famous.

Each year La Esmeralda selects Geisha coffee from its 12 plots for a global online auction. Because the logo for the auction lots is red, the coffee is commonly known as "Red Label Geisha." Its public auction mechanism has repeatedly set records for the world's most expensive coffee beans.

La Esmeralda is located on the slopes of Baru Volcano, the highest peak in Boquete, western Panama. A mild climate, fertile volcanic soil, appropriate rainfall and diverse microclimates provide naturally perfect conditions for coffee cultivation.

To date La Esmeralda has won 13 championships in various coffee competitions. In online public auctions it has set the highest bid records three times: $21 in 2004, $50.25 in 2006 and $130 in 2007, all per pound. At the 2013 Best of Panama auction, its natural processed Geisha reached $350.25 per pound.

Knowledge Extension

Geisha has rich sweet flavours, an extremely clean taste and abundant aromas ranging from berries and citrus to mango, papaya and peach.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

When Red Label Geisha commands prices above even Blue Mountain, it is worth understanding what the other classic benchmark of the coffee world offers. Jamaica Blue Mountain is the best-known name in coffee, and for good reason: only coffee grown in specific parts of the Jamaican Blue Mountains and officially certified may be called "Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee." The Blue Mountains sit in eastern Jamaica, one of the highest ranges in the Caribbean; the highest peak reaches 2256 meters, and the range is shrouded in mist year-round, which is how it got its name. High altitude brings a large day-night temperature swing and a longer ripening period, the volcanic soil supplies rich nutrients, and even rainfall with a mild, stable climate lets the cherries accumulate sugars and flavour compounds slowly. The result is the fine texture and balance the coffee is famous for.

The supply is small: the entire Jamaica Blue Mountain area produces less than 2,500 tons a year, a tiny fraction of global coffee output, and the Japanese market has historically bought more than 70% of it, leaving even less for the rest of the world - which is why prices have stayed high. FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 is the top grade, from the long-established Clifton Mount estate, which began growing and processing coffee around 1750. Its growing and processing area averages 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters), where adequate altitude, mild afternoon cloud cover and shade, ample sunshine and mineral-rich soil give the trees ideal conditions and lengthen the ripening of the cherries. Traditional Blue Mountain is shipped in wooden barrels of 15, 45 and 70 kilograms, each one itself a mark of the genuine product.

Blue Mountain's greatest appeal is balance: it has almost no weak point. It is neither as sharply acidic as some African coffees nor as heavily bitter as a dark roast, and instead achieves an excellent equilibrium of acidity, sweetness, bitterness and aroma. A good Blue Mountain typically shows cream, caramel, chocolate, nuts, honey and a light fruit note; the entry is soft and round, the mid-palate sweet, and the finish clean and long, layered but never showy. Because of that near-perfect balance, baristas often call it the specialty coffee most likely to please the widest range of drinkers. FrontStreet Coffee roasts this lot to a medium-dark level to draw out that classic character, and it brews well as pour-over, moka pot or espresso, with a recommended 1:15 to 1:16 ratio and 85-88°C water for pour-over.