Geisha Coffee Beans: A Late-Blooming Variety with Exceptional Quality - Origin, Grading, and Hacienda La Esmeralda Example

Today, whether you're a coffee enthusiast or someone who occasionally tries something new, you're probably familiar with the term "Geisha." Even if you've never tasted Geisha coffee, you likely know it represents high-quality, rare, and expensive coffee. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will take you through the origins of this world-renowned variety.

Where does the Geisha variety come from?

To understand Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee needs to take you back to the last century. Around 1931, Geisha was first collected from the wild Kaffa forest in southern Ethiopia, with the goal of finding new disease-resistant varieties. It was named after the nearby Geisha Mountain. Later, it was transferred to agricultural research institutes in various countries including Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania for trial planting. By 1953, the Geisha variety arrived at CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) in Costa Rica, where it was recorded as T2722.

At that time, Geisha was planted on multiple farms across Central America. However, due to its fragile branches, susceptibility to disease, and low yield, it wasn't favored by most farmers and didn't see widespread cultivation. It wasn't until 2003 when the Peterson family at Hacienda La Esmeralda discovered it, and after winning the Best of Panama competition in 2004, the era of Panamanian Geisha began. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee believes that Hacienda La Esmeralda was both the discoverer of Geisha's potential and a crucial catalyst in its rise to fame. FrontStreet Coffee thinks much of Geisha's prestigious reputation today is owed to Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda.

How did Hacienda La Esmeralda discover Geisha?

In the 1960s, Rudolph A. Peterson, planning for his retirement, purchased Hacienda La Esmeralda in Boquete, Panama, primarily for dairy production. In 1973, Peterson's son returned to Boquete to help manage the farm, began focusing on coffee production, expanded the plantation area, and introduced more new varieties, including the Geisha variety.

In 1997, when third-generation owner Daniel began joining the estate management, specialty coffee was also on the rise. Daniel learned coffee cupping knowledge and conducted cupping sessions on the first harvest of Geisha beans in 2003, classifying Geisha coffee trees at different altitudes. When the coffee was harvested again the following year, the Peterson family submitted the Geisha coffee beans, which they discovered through cupping to have floral aromas and fruit acidity, to compete in that year's Best of Panama competition, ultimately winning the championship with excellent scores.

In 2005, Hacienda La Esmeralda entered Geisha in the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) competition, defeating many renowned contestants and earning the distinction of world-class specialty coffee. It went on to win world championships in 2006 and 2007, once again attracting attention from coffee enthusiasts worldwide. Since then, coffee-growing regions around the world have rushed to introduce Geisha, including our country's Yunnan province, which began planting this popular variety. Although Geisha is now produced worldwide, FrontStreet Coffee believes that as the discoverer of Geisha's flavor profile, Hacienda La Esmeralda not only maintains strict quality control over its coffee production but also uses natural processing methods to best present the classic "Geisha flavor."

Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda

After Geisha coffee won championship honors, the Peterson siblings implemented more systematic management of the Geisha coffee trees in their estate. Broadly speaking, the Geisha growing areas are divided into three main sections: Cañas Verdes, Jaramillo, and El Velo. To ensure traceability of each coffee batch, the Peterson family subdivided each main section into smaller plots, allowing buyers of Geisha coffee to access specific planting area information through batch records.

The Geisha variety was first discovered in the Jaramillo section. It was here that the Peterson siblings decided to increase the planting altitude for Geisha. As the discovery and cultivation site of Geisha, Jaramillo has become Hacienda La Esmeralda's most renowned section. With an average altitude of over 1650 meters, the cool, moist air on the mountain allows the Geisha coffee here to be rich in natural essences and exquisitely fragrant.

Jaramillo is named after the Jaramillo mountain range east of Boquete, with an annual rainfall of 4000ml, average daytime temperatures of 19-25°C, and average nighttime temperatures of 11-15°C. The entire region's air is humid and cold. Jaramillo is subdivided into 6 red label sections: Mario, Noria, Reina, Bosque, Buenos Aires, and the newly added Caballeriza from last year.

Canas Verdes Estate is typically transliterated as "Kannasiweidesi" in Chinese, while in Spanish it translates to "green reeds" or "green fields." Half of Canas Verdes was acquired along with Jaramillo in 1967. After Geisha rose to fame in 2004, the Peterson family gradually began purchasing surrounding small plots of land. Since the entire growing area is situated on the eastern slopes of Baru Volcano, there is a significant range in altitude, distributed from 1500 to 2050 meters. Canas Verdes has an annual rainfall of 3500ml, average daytime temperatures of 16-23°C, and average nighttime temperatures of 10-15°C. The highly complex terrain, volcanic soil, and distinct temperature differences between day and night endow Geisha with its aromatic characteristics.

Currently, the Geisha-growing areas in Canas Verdes include 11 small plots: Lino, Coronado, Fundador, León, Montaña, Trapiche, Jacinta, Cabaña, Tumaco, as well as Nido and Colga. FrontStreet Coffee's current red label batch comes from the Trapiche section, which exhibits excellent sweetness. The green beans were processed using natural methods, bringing rich aromas to the coffee, reminiscent of jasmine, cranberry, passion fruit, citrus, and cinnamon.

How to brew specialty Geisha coffee without waste?

Geisha coffee is world-renowned for its rich floral aromas and complex fruit notes. FrontStreet Coffee's roasters hope to preserve more of Geisha's quality acidity, therefore choosing medium-light roast (with slight adjustments for different batches). This roast level doesn't significantly change the high density of beans grown at high altitudes, so brewing requires a higher extraction rate to present fuller flavor layers. This requires using higher water temperature and slightly finer grind size to extract more aromatic compounds. Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee hopes for clearer flavor expression in Geisha coffee, so we use a slightly larger coffee-to-water ratio of 1:16.

To increase the extraction rate of Geisha coffee while avoiding over-extraction and highlighting the sweet and sour flavor layers, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas use the V60 dripper. The V60 dripper features flow ribs connecting the top and bottom and a large central hole that accelerates water flow, while the spiral-shaped air vents design extends the water flow path, increasing contact time between coffee grounds and hot water. Each water stream converges along the grooves toward the center point of the dripper, concentrating pressure on the coffee grounds and resulting in richer layered extraction.

Below, FrontStreet Coffee demonstrates the brewing steps for the Esmeralda Red Label Natural Geisha served in our store. You can refer to this and compare with your own brewing approach. The parameters for hand-pouring red label Geisha coffee are: Dripper: V60, Water temperature: 91-92°C, Coffee amount: 15g, Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:16, Grind size: Fine sugar (sieved through #20 sieve to 80%)

Three-stage extraction: First, pour 15 grams of coffee grounds into the dripper and zero the scale. For the first stage, inject 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, while starting the timer. Use a small water stream, pouring from the center point outward in circles, ensuring the entire coffee bed is moistened.

For the second stage, begin with a slightly larger water stream, injecting 120g of water. The goal is to raise the entire coffee bed. The water stream needs to be poured vertically and evenly. At this point, the timer scale should show 150g, with pouring completed around 55 seconds.

When the liquid level drops to about halfway, begin using a small water stream in small circles to inject the third stage of 90 grams. Try to control the water stream to not circle too widely, as this can easily scatter the coffee grounds and cause under-extraction. Finally, the total water injection should be 240 grams, with the drip completion time around 2 minutes and 10 seconds. After removing the dripper, shake the coffee liquid in the sharing pot evenly before tasting.

The hand-poured Esmeralda Red Label Geisha coffee has fresh jasmine, citrus, and tropical fruit acidity. The flavor layers change with temperature variations, the overall mouthfeel is smooth, and the tea-like aftertaste is pleasant.

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