Panama Deborah Estate Geisha: An Introduction to the Deborah Savić Collection

As times have evolved, both the quality of green coffee beans and roasting technology have developed rapidly. People's preferences for coffee flavors have progressed from seeking rich, full-bodied tastes to pursuing refined flavor profiles today. While top-tier coffee was once defined by Japanese preferences such as Blue Mountain and Mandheling—with their rich, full-bodied flavors favored by older generations of coffee enthusiasts—today's understanding of coffee leans toward clean, bright tastes with fruity acidity reminiscent of fruit juices. Among these, Panama Geisha coffee has captivated coffee enthusiasts time and again with its unique floral and fruit acidity notes and premium price.

Introducing Deborah: A Rising Star Among Panama Geisha Varieties

Geisha coffee has gained widespread fame, prompting many to travel to Panama to purchase land and cultivate their own Panama Geisha varieties. The top Geisha coffee estates in Panama are well-known, and you can find them on the FrontStreet Coffee menu, including Hacienda La Esmeralda, Finca Aurora, Finca Sophia, and Elida Estate, among others. Here, FrontStreet Coffee would like to introduce you to the rising star among Panama Geisha varieties—Deborah.

The Origins of Geisha Coffee

Like many coffee varieties, the Geisha coffee variety originates from the Kaffa forests of Ethiopia. Around 1931, a British representative traveled to Ethiopia for inspection and collected Geisha coffee seeds from near the Geisha Mountain area. Subsequently, Geisha was sent to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya and introduced to Uganda and Tanzania in 1936. After several transitions, the Geisha variety crossed the Atlantic to reach the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica, where it was cataloged as T2722.

Later, during the 1970s, Mr. Francisco Serracin, owner of Finca Don Pachi estate, introduced the Geisha variety from CATIE in Costa Rica for cultivation in Panama, subsequently sharing Geisha seeds with other local coffee estates in Panama.

The Discovery of Geisha's Unique Flavors

However, Geisha coffee's rise to fame would not have been possible without the diligent efforts of Daniel Peterson of Hacienda La Esmeralda. Contrary to the popularly circulated "windbreak" version online, the discovery of Geisha coffee's distinctive flavors originated from experimental cultivation at Hacienda La Esmeralda.

To improve their coffee quality, Hacienda La Esmeralda tasted, compared, and recorded the differences among hundreds of coffee varieties. After years of documentation, they discovered in 2003 that the Geisha variety possessed unique flavors. Unlike the typical "caramel, nuts, chocolate" flavor notes of Central American coffee beans, Geisha coffee's "floral, citrus, honey, berry" flavors impressed all who tasted them.

Two weeks before the 2004 Best of Panama (BOP) competition, Daniel was selecting competition batches of Geisha coffee beans at the cupping table. The recorded flavors of this Geisha batch included "jasmine, citrus, peach, blueberry, bergamot, sugarcane," among others. Due to these extraordinary flavors, the coffee beans stunned the competition and won the championship that year, propelling Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha to fame overnight.

Deborah Estate: A Unique Approach to Coffee Cultivation

In reality, Geisha coffee trees are quite delicate, with scarce yields and particularly fragile branches that break easily, requiring more intensive manual care. It is precisely this meticulous attention that produces the refined flavor profiles of Panama Geisha coffee, and Jamison Savage applies the same dedication to his Geisha cultivation.

Unlike many Panamanian coffee estates, Deborah Estate has gained recognition as a coffee producer who helps others win major competitions. Contestants in major coffee competitions consistently include Deborah Estate's coffee beans on their consideration lists. Although Deborah Estate itself may not have stood on the BOP winner's podium, it has repeatedly helped competition participants reach the podium.

Deborah Estate is located in the fertile volcanic region of Volcán, Panama, surrounded by the tropical rainforests deep within the Barú Volcano mountain range. With an altitude exceeding 1,900 meters, it is one of the highest-altitude coffee estates in Panama. Enhanced by the pristine forest environment, Deborah Estate experiences a day-night temperature difference of up to 10 degrees Celsius, with dense jungle and natural microclimates that impart intense and complex acidity flavors to the coffee.

Jamison Savage: From Banker to Coffee Visionary

The owner of Deborah Estate, Jamison Savage, originally an American citizen and former banker, married his current Panamanian wife and relocated to Panama. For more than a decade, he has been dedicated to establishing his ideal coffee estate in Panama.

Even though many people were skeptical of Savage's vision initially, he remained undeterred. Beginning in 2007, he started planning the infrastructure for the entire Deborah Estate. In 2010, he planted the first Geisha coffee trees at altitudes exceeding 1,900 meters. Small harvests were achieved in 2015, followed by official commercial harvests in 2016.

Extreme Altitude, Exceptional Quality

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned earlier, Deborah Estate is one of the highest-altitude coffee estates in Panama. At such elevations, the day-night temperature difference within the estate can reach up to 10 degrees Celsius. According to the experience of many local Panamanian coffee growers, such extreme conditions would make it difficult to cultivate quality coffee.

However, reality contradicted the experience of many coffee growers. The high altitude keeps the occurrence of coffee diseases to a minimum. Lower temperatures and significant temperature fluctuations reduce the likelihood of fungal infections, other coffee diseases, and pest infestations, allowing coffee trees to focus more energy on fruit development rather than wasting precious resources fighting diseases.

The Savage Series at FrontStreet Coffee

As one of the most demanding coffee varieties in terms of growing conditions, Geisha not only survives but thrives in Deborah Estate's challenging cultivation environment, presenting refined, complex, unique, and astonishing coffee flavors. With such a distinctive story and cultivation environment, FrontStreet Coffee certainly wouldn't miss such a Geisha coffee in its pursuit of refined coffee flavors. FrontStreet Coffee's bean shelf features a Savage Series coffee crafted by the owner of Deborah Estate himself.

Savage Coffee is a coffee project initiated by Jamison Savage in the Boquete region of Panama. The project members consist of small coffee estates and small-scale coffee growers from the Boquete and Volcán regions, with all coffee harvested from project members. To obtain the best-flavored coffee, this project only harvests fully mature red coffee cherries.

Jamison Savage, the manager of the Savage Coffee project, is deeply passionate about coffee. Beyond his expertise in coffee cultivation, he also has considerable knowledge of green coffee processing methods. To allow coffee enthusiasts worldwide to experience the most refined coffee flavors, Jamison has spent over a decade researching coffee processing and processing techniques at Deborah Estate.

The Savage Series Geisha coffee beans obtained by FrontStreet Coffee were also personally crafted by Jamison, incorporating over a decade of dedication and using anaerobic natural processing. Freshly selected Geisha coffee cherries are placed in a greenhouse to sun-dry until they reach a raisin-like consistency. These partially dehydrated Geisha red cherries are then placed in sealed containers, oxygen is removed for 36 hours of dry fermentation, and finally, the beans are depulped while retaining 100% of the fruit pulp for fermentation. This processing method imparts FrontStreet Coffee's Savage Series Geisha with sweeter flavors, highlighting fresh fruit and floral notes.

Brewing Recommendations

When roasting this Geisha coffee, FrontStreet Coffee considered the need to highlight the floral notes and fruit acidity characteristic of Panama Geisha, adopting a light roast profile. Since the solubility of coffee compounds in light-roasted beans is significantly lower than in dark-roasted beans, to fully extract the Geisha coffee's flavors, FrontStreet Coffee recommends the following brewing parameters:

Dripper: Hario V60
Water Temperature: 91°C
Coffee Amount: 15 grams
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:16
Grind Size: 80% retention through Chinese standard #20 sieve

First, pour 30 grams of hot water and let it bloom for 30 seconds. Then, starting from the center, pour with a fine water stream in slow circular motions until reaching 130 grams. When the water level in the dripper drops to just above the coffee bed, continue pouring in circular motions until reaching 240 grams. The total extraction time should be approximately 2 minutes.

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