Which Coffee Bean Variety is Most Expensive - Panama Esmeralda Red Label Geisha Witnessing the Birth of a New Coffee King

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Esmeralda Estate Red Label Geisha

The Geisha variety originates from Geisha Mountain in Ethiopia, with extremely limited production and was initially not valued. Due to its tall and hardy nature, it was only planted in surrounding areas as a "windbreak." Moreover, its strong disease resistance often made it suitable for crossbreeding to enhance the disease resistance of other varieties.

Gold will always shine, but before that, you are nothing but dross.

According to Ethiopia's "Coffee Archives," Geisha's journey to fame involved patient perseverance: coffee seeds were taken from Geisha Mountain in 1931, transplanted to Kenya in 1932, moved to Tanzania in 1936, transferred to Costa Rica in 1953, and finally relocated to Panama in the 1960s where it remained relatively obscure. The document ends here, with no further official records from Ethiopian authorities about Geisha.

Red Label - Auction Batches

Red Label represents the auction batches, potentially the world's most premium Geisha coffee, available exclusively through annual global auction events. Grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, these beans consistently score above 90 points in cupping. Primarily sourced from Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes estates, these Geisha beans are harvested from the highest reaches of the Boquete mountain region, possessing distinctive, bright floral aromas and citrus fragrances.

Esmeralda SPECIAL is an independent auction organized by Esmeralda Estate itself, where all auction beans are Geisha, categorized by production area names, with each area further subdivided into smaller batches for auction. Only Geisha batches that the estate presents for independent auction may use the Esmeralda Special (i.e., "Red Label") designation.

The Prestige of Red Label Auction Batches

Let me explain just how prestigious these Red Label auction batches truly are.

Simply put, these batches of Geisha coffee can only be acquired through annual global auction events, with the top winner being called the "King of the Auction." In 2018, the King of the Auction sold for $340 per pound.

What does this mean? Let's do some calculations: $340 per pound = approximately 2,347.19 RMB per pound = about 5.17 RMB per gram (at current exchange rates), and this is just the price for green beans. Adding costs for transportation, storage, labor, roasting, losses, and middlemen's profit margins, purchasing a 100g bag of the King of the Auction would amount to several thousand RMB per bag.

Knowledge Point: Blue Label represents the selected batches, considered the lowest grade among the three labels, grown at 1500 meters altitude. These are blends from three different estates: Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, and El Velo. The flavor profile tends toward fruity acidity and floral aromas, with a sweeter taste and relatively lighter body, and only undergoes washed processing.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mission

In summary: FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee research institute dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with enthusiasts. We share without reservation, hoping to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month, we host three low-discount coffee events because FrontStreet Coffee wants to enable more friends to enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible prices. This has been our mission for the past six years!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473