What's the Best Tasting Coffee? Premium Coffee Bean Recommendations: What Grade is Gesha Coffee?

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Introduction to Geisha Coffee

Today, FrontStreet Coffee will help you understand the leading variety among the many in the specialty coffee circle, a regular in various coffee competitions, and often dominating competitors' coffee beans single-handedly. It is Geisha. So what magic does Geisha coffee possess that makes people dream about it and willing to spend a fortune just to taste a cup? Let's start with Hacienda La Esmeralda, the standout behind Geisha's success.

Origins and Development of Geisha Coffee

Geisha coffee originated in Ethiopia, but it was Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama, Central and South America, that truly popularized it. The owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda was an American banker who retired in 1964, moved to Panama, and purchased Hacienda La Esmeralda in Boquete, Panama. Initially focused on livestock farming, his son later resigned from his medical position and introduced coffee tree varieties such as Caturra and Catuai, also building a dedicated coffee processing plant.

Later, after cupping all coffee varieties in the estate, they discovered that an unknown variety growing at the highest point of the estate possessed wonderful flavors with citrus, floral, and fruity acidity that were unlike anything they had experienced before. So they began large-scale cultivation at higher altitudes, and in 2004, they skyrocketed to win that year's most authoritative local green coffee competition—Best of Panama (BOP) championship, and continued to win for several consecutive years. Since then, they have focused their main efforts on planting and processing Geisha coffee beans, and based on this, they have divided by altitude and plot, launching an exclusive Geisha grading system, which gives us the familiar Red Label Geisha, Green Label Geisha, and others today.

Geisha Coffee Grading System

Early on, after purchasing the environmentally superior Jaramillo estate, Hacienda La Esmeralda discovered through cupping that Geisha had a unique flavor, so they began cupping other areas of the estate, dividing planting plots by altitude, which gave us the now-familiar Red Label, Green Label, and Blue Label. If Geisha is categorized by brand under Hacienda La Esmeralda's marketing strategy, there is Esmeralda Special—Red Label, Private Collection—Green Label, and Geisha 1500—Blue Label.

Among these, Esmeralda Special Red Label includes both auction and non-auction batches. The Red Label of the Esmeralda Special series has one characteristic: all coffee beans in each batch come from the same plot. For example, the Red Label Geisha coffee purchased by FrontStreet Coffee comes from the Jaramillo plot, which can provide buyers with detailed coffee information.

FrontStreet Coffee's Selection of Geisha

Of course, FrontStreet Coffee believes that Geisha's popularity is not just due to its stunning flavors. The Geisha variety exhibits another distinctive deliciousness in different growing regions, which is why FrontStreet Coffee always reserves several Panama Geisha coffees for its fans, sometimes acquiring outstanding annual batches to share with friends at the store, such as the Guaguacó Estate Geisha coffee that won the 2022 26th Best of Panama Natural Process Championship. Its acidity is particularly "dominant," highlighting malt fermentation texture on top of the original intense floral and fruity aromas of Geisha.

The Geisha produced by Esmeralda Special is selected from high-quality Geisha coffee from three sub-estates, requiring planting altitude between 1600-1800 meters and cupping scores above 90 points. We sometimes see auction Red Label Geisha batches, which are actually selected from divided plots by Hacienda La Esmeralda to participate in their internal independent auctions. Non-auction Red Label actually comes from the same plot, priced much lower than auction Red Label, but crucially comes with detailed traceability information and classic Geisha flavors, making it more cost-effective.

FrontStreet Coffee Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha Coffee Beans

Region: Boquete Region
Estate: Hacienda La Esmeralda Cañas Verdes
Altitude: 1700+ meters
Variety: Geisha
Processing: Natural Process
Flavor: Lemon, Honey, Berries, Orange Peel, Mango, Cream, Citrus

Green Label Geisha consists of batches that do not independently participate in competitions, planted at altitudes between 1600-1800 meters, also selected from micro-batches grown in Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes. Green Label does not specify specific plot names. Hacienda La Esmeralda mixes and sells coffee beans from this range, so it's normal for flavors similar to Red Label Geisha to appear.

FrontStreet Coffee Hacienda La Esmeralda Green Label Geisha Coffee Beans

Region: Boquete Region
Estate: Hacienda La Esmeralda
Altitude: 1500-1600 meters
Variety: Geisha
Processing: Washed Process
Flavor: Jasmine, Ginger Flower, Sweet Orange, Lemon, Honey

There is also the Blue Label Geisha, selected from Geisha coffee grown at altitudes of 1400-1500 meters, harvested from all three sub-estates of Hacienda La Esmeralda. Blue Label Geisha only uses washed processing. As Daniel and his sister Rachel wanted to elevate Hacienda La Esmeralda's positioning, they cancelled Blue Label Geisha batches from 2019-2022, selling Geisha coffee from this area to a brand company, which launched "Las Rocas," also known as Volcanic Rock Geisha coffee beans—what we know as Blue Label.

As consumers, we typically judge grade levels by the color of product labels: when a label features a large red coffee flower, it's Esmeralda Special (what we call Red Label); if the coffee flower on the label has a green background, it indicates Private Collection (Green Label); Esmeralda Auction, which requires bidding, uses a gray background.

Understanding Red Label Geisha

For many years, Red Label has always represented the highest quality of Hacienda La Esmeralda, defined as high-quality Geisha grown at altitudes above 1600 meters, with cupping scores no lower than 91 points, and with detailed traceability information. Fans know that all Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Labels come with a batch number used to track planting plot, altitude, latitude and longitude, tree age, harvest date, processing method, cupping flavors, and other information.

Brewing Geisha Coffee with Moka Pot

Can Geisha coffee be brewed with a Moka pot? The answer is of course yes! If you want to taste the fresh tones of Geisha coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using pour-over or drip bag brewing methods to experience the flavor changes from hot to cold. But if you want to taste the smooth texture of Geisha blended with milk, we recommend using a coffee machine or Moka pot to make latte. Without further ado, let's use a package of freshly roasted Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label coffee beans and start immediately!

Step one: First, weigh the corresponding Geisha coffee beans according to the size of your Moka pot and grind them to the consistency of coarse sugar. Since FrontStreet Coffee uses a 1-2 person Moka pot, we need about 20g of coffee powder.

Then, fill the lower chamber with cool water (hot water will burn your hands), place the filter basket in the lower chamber, wrap your hand around the filter basket to form a circle, fill the filter basket with coffee powder until it forms a small mound in the middle, fill the gaps around the edges with powder, then directly attach the upper chamber and tighten.

Then place it on an electric ceramic stove (gas stove works too) to heat. When you hear a "whooshing" sound, it means the coffee liquid is starting to gush up. At this point, turn off the heat and wait for the coffee liquid to gush up.

Freshly brewed Moka pot coffee has a fresh aroma and a layer of golden crema on the surface. If you want to make an iced latte, simply add ice cubes and fresh milk, then pour in the concentrated coffee liquid, and a Moka pot Geisha latte is ready.

If you want to make a hot latte, you should add milk as quickly as possible, because most of the crema dissipates quickly, and it needs to be blended with milk before it cools. Here, FrontStreet Coffee will use a French press to froth 200ml of warm fresh milk, then blend them evenly and create latte art, and a Moka pot Geisha latte is ready.

Overall, latte art has slightly higher requirements for milk foam than for espresso. Coffee liquid with crema makes the surface more stable, allowing for more complex patterns, while without crema, the surface is less stable, making patterns like etching more difficult to achieve.

Precautions When Using Moka Pot

Although the Moka pot has a simple structure and is convenient to operate, there are still some issues to pay attention to during use. The water reservoir base of the Moka pot comes with a pressure relief valve with indicator markings. When adding water, the water level must not exceed the pressure relief valve, otherwise it may lose its pressure relief effect and increase the risk of explosion. The flow rate of the coffee liquid also provides us with feedback information. If the liquid sprays out directly, it means the water temperature is too high, while if the coffee liquid flows very slowly, it means the water temperature is too low, and you need to increase the heat while always paying attention to heat control.

Additionally, since all coffee grounds can only be extracted once, and it's difficult to gauge the exact amount of coffee liquid when using a Moka pot, the actual extraction amount mainly relies on experience to judge. Therefore, during the operation process, FrontStreet Coffee recommends that everyone must be serious and focused, otherwise it's easy to over-extract the coffee, making it bitter.

Important Notice :

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