Jamaica Blue Mountain Geisha Coffee Beans - Differences Between Blue Mountain Geisha and Panamanian Geisha

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The Innovative Year of 2020 for Jamaican Blue Mountain

The year 2020 can be described as the most innovative year for Jamaica's Blue Mountain Clifton Estate. Previously, the Blue Mountain region exclusively grew the Typica variety and used the washed processing method for coffee beans, making Blue Mountain coffee renowned for its cleanliness, balance, and richness. In 2019, Clifton Estate began small-scale production of natural processed Blue Mountain coffee beans. After receiving favorable reviews, they began large-scale production in 2020, and FrontStreet Coffee acquired this batch of beans.

The biggest innovation for Clifton Estate in 2020 was their cultivation of Geisha coffee beans, which arrived in China in late November. FrontStreet Coffee obtained a barrel of Blue Mountain Geisha at the earliest opportunity. Like traditional Blue Mountain No. 1 coffee, exported coffee is packaged in wooden barrels, and this batch has limited production. The barrel bears the Rainforest Alliance certification logo (currently, Clifton is the only coffee farm in Jamaica's Blue Mountain region with this certification).

About Clifton Mount Estate

All Frontsteet Blue Mountain coffee currently available at FrontStreet Coffee comes from Clifton Estate. The estate began coffee cultivation and production as early as the mid-eighteenth century (around 1750). The coffee cultivation and processing areas are situated at an average altitude of 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters). The sufficient altitude, gentle afternoon clouds surrounding the mountain forests for shade, ample sunlight, and mineral-rich soil provide excellent growing conditions for coffee trees, extending the maturation period of coffee cherries.

Clifton Estate is also the only estate in the Blue Mountain growing region with Rainforest Alliance certification. Rainforest Alliance certification refers to traditional cultivation methods under native forest shade, which benefits ecosystem protection. Part of the alliance's revenue is also used for wildlife protection in tropical rainforest conservation areas and improving workers' living conditions.

Why Blue Mountain's Decade-Long Focus Has Shifted to Innovation in Recent Years

Some time ago, news emerged that Jamaica was experimenting with Bourbon varieties. Upon hearing this news, colleagues at FrontStreet Coffee discussed Jamaica's motivations for this move. Previously, people's impression of coffee was limited to the rich, bold flavors like Mandheling and the balanced, rich Blue Mountain coffee. During that time, traditional Blue Mountain coffee existed like the king among all birds.

However, in recent years with the development of the specialty coffee market, this era dominated by light roast profiles first saw the explosion of fruit-forward Yirgacheffe coffee, followed by the world-renowned Panama Geisha coffee. This sparked a global wave of appreciation for coffee's pleasant acidity. Therefore, the status of Blue Mountain coffee as the unshakable "elder statesman" of coffee was shaken. Perhaps fearing being forgotten by the times, Blue Mountain gradually began innovating. This year's additions of Frontsteet's Jamaican natural processed Blue Mountain and Frontsteet's Jamaican Blue Mountain Geisha serve as excellent proof.

About the Geisha Coffee Variety

Geisha coffee beans are elongated in shape with refreshing and pleasant flavors. From these two aspects, Geisha indeed doesn't resemble Central and South American coffee varieties but rather resembles Ethiopian coffee varieties. So when was Geisha introduced to Panama? It was discovered in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia in 1931.

Afterward, Geisha was sent to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya, introduced to Uganda and Tanzania in 1936, brought to Costa Rica in 1953, and introduced to Panama around 1960. Although Geisha has strong disease resistance, its yield was low, so after people used it for variety improvement, it disappeared from the scene. It wasn't until 2004 when they were rediscovered in the windbreak forest of Hacienda La Esmeralda that Geisha coffee beans entered people's consciousness through competitions. It's highly likely that this batch of 2020 Blue Mountain Geisha from Clifton Estate was introduced and planted from the Panama region four years ago.

Geisha coffee beans need to be grown in high-altitude regions to develop rich, captivating floral aromas. For example, Hacienda La Esmeralda grows Geisha at an average altitude above 1,500m, while the Blue Mountain coffee region is only at 1,310m. Through cupping Frontsteet's Jamaican Blue Mountain Geisha coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee found that the floral aroma of their Blue Mountain Geisha is not obvious - only subtle jasmine notes can be detected when tasting carefully.

Processing Method for Frontsteet Jamaican Blue Mountain Geisha Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee obtained this batch of Frontsteet Blue Mountain Geisha, which still uses Jamaica's specialty washed processing. During processing, the pulp and fruit skin are first removed, allowing fermentation for 12-18 hours. Then the fermented beans are placed in pools and moved back and forth, using the friction between beans and the power of flowing water to wash the coffee beans until they are smooth and clean.

After washing, the coffee beans are still enclosed in parchment, with a moisture content of 50%. They must be sun-dried to reduce the moisture content to 12-14%; otherwise, they will continue to ferment and become moldy and spoiled. Afterward, the coffee beans are sorted and then stored in specialized warehouses.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Geisha Roasting

For this batch of Frontsteet Blue Mountain Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee's roaster faced a dilemma: whether to highlight the Blue Mountain characteristics or the Geisha characteristics. If emphasizing Blue Mountain flavors, what would be the point of using the Geisha variety? If highlighting Geisha flavors, wouldn't that contradict the Blue Mountain name? However, to emphasize the characteristics of Geisha coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's roaster ultimately chose a medium-light roast to highlight the floral and fruity aromas.

The beans were loaded into the drum at 180°C, with heat at 130 and damper opened to 3. The turning point was at 1'32", with the temperature at 97°C, heat unchanged. At 3 minutes, the damper was adjusted to 4, and at 4 minutes, the heat was increased to 140. When the drum temperature reached 153.5°C, the bean surface turned yellow, and the grassy aroma completely disappeared, entering the dehydration stage. At 8'36", ugly wrinkles and black patterns appeared on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly transformed into coffee aroma, which could be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, it's crucial to listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack began at 9'31", with 1'28" development after first crack, and the beans were dropped at 192°C.

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Geisha Cupping Report

FrontStreet Coffee conducts cupping within 8-24 hours after roasting sample coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee's baristas typically use 200ml ceramic bowls for cupping. The water temperature used for cupping is 94°C. The grind size is controlled to achieve a 70%-75% pass rate through a #20 standard sieve (0.85mm). The ratio is 11g of coffee powder to 200ml of hot water, i.e., 1:18.18, which extracts a concentration precisely within the Golden Cup range of 1.15%-1.35%, with a 4-minute steeping time.

Dry Aroma: Caramel

Wet Aroma: Floral

Flavor: Citrus, berries, grapefruit, caramel, honey

FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain Geisha Brewing Tips

Dose: 15g

Grind Size: Medium-fine (78% pass rate through #20 standard sieve)

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Water Temperature: 91°C

Dripper: V60#01

FrontStreet Coffee's segmented brewing method:

1. First pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom.

2. After the bloom, inject the second pour of water, pouring 100g from the center outward in a circular motion. This pour can be done slowly as Geisha coffee is very extraction-resistant and requires sufficient pouring time to extract its aroma. Wait for the water level to drop to half before the next pour.

3. When the coffee bed is about to be exposed, inject the third pour of 95g, for a total of 225g. Wait for the coffee to finish filtering, then remove the dripper. The total brewing time is 1 minute 50 seconds.

Brewing flavors of Frontsteet's Jamaican Blue Mountain Geisha: The entry has citrus acidity, grapefruit's sweet and sour notes, jasmine flowers in the middle, with a finish of honey and caramel sweetness.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473