An Introduction to Ninety Plus Geisha Estate Eleta in Panama's Volcán Region

The Rise of Geisha Coffee in Panama

In 2005, Hacienda La Esmeralda entered their Geisha variety in the Best of Panama (BOP) competition and auction. The exceptionally high scores brought this coffee bean to fame, breaking the then-record for coffee bean auction prices at over $20 per pound. Since then, Panamanian coffee has gradually gained recognition in the global coffee market, becoming an international specialty coffee star-producing country known for producing Geisha coffee of exceptional quality. This has also attracted many people to establish their own coffee estates in Panama, including Joseph Brodsky, founder of the Ninety Plus company.

The Volcán Growing Region

Today, Panama mainly has three major coffee growing regions: Boquete, Volcán, and Renacimiento, all located in the Chiriquí Province. These regions are surrounded by three volcanoes: Volcán Barú, El Valle, and La Yeguada. Among these, the most famous is the Boquete region, as the renowned Hacienda La Esmeralda estate is located there.

Although the Volcán region is not as well-known as the Boquete region, in recent years, coffee from the Volcán region has gradually emerged in the specialty coffee market. The Volcán region is located on the eastern side of Volcán Barú, unlike the Boquete region which is also located on Volcán Barú. The northern part of the Volcán region is blocked by mountains, making it difficult for Atlantic moisture to reach, making this region relatively dry. Additionally, with abundant sunshine, coffee is grown at altitudes between 1,200-1,800 meters, combined with fertile volcanic soil, giving coffee from this region rich dried fruit sweetness and aroma. Currently, there are many outstanding coffee estates in the Volcán region, such as Ninety Plus Estates, Hartmann Estate, and Janson Estate.

Ninety Plus Company

Ninety Plus is the name of an American green coffee company. However, when "Ninety Plus" appears in coffee cupping, it represents a score of 90 points or above - only coffee beans with exceptionally high quality and flavor can achieve scores above 90 points. Therefore, many people believe that Ninety Plus only produces beans scoring above 90 points. Indeed, the beans produced by Ninety Plus are outstanding, which is attributed to their own production system called Profile Processing.

Ninety Plus Profile Processing

This is the Profile Processing system established by Ninety Plus founder Joseph Brodsky when the company was founded in 2006. Conventional green coffee merchants first conduct cupping and tasting when purchasing coffee beans, then purchase coffee beans that taste good - essentially buying high-quality green beans produced by others and reselling them. Ninety Plus is different - they don't directly purchase but instead handle the selection and processing of green beans themselves, relying on their own techniques to produce high-quality coffee beans.

Initially, Ninety Plus was not a large company and lacked sufficient funds to engage in cultivation, so they began with coffee processing. They first purchased coffee cherries from surrounding farmers and brought them back to the processing plant for meticulous processing, thus producing two coffee beans: Aricha and Beloya. These two beans possessed extremely rich fruit flavors and caused a huge response when introduced to the market, making Ninety Plus famous overnight. Later, with more income, they began to get involved in the green bean production stage, starting to select promising farmers, providing different levels of suggestions and techniques to farmers and processing plants to better support themselves, and strictly selecting beans from each processing batch. This ensured that Ninety Plus' bean quality could be maintained at a high level.

Ninety Plus Estates

By 2009, with years of accumulated technology and experience, Ninety Plus established the Ninety Plus Geisha Estate in the Volcán region of Panama. Since they had not found a variety comparable to Geisha in Ethiopia earlier, they decided to plant Geisha varieties and apply their techniques to Geisha. By 2014, this estate began producing coffee beans, thus giving rise to the Ninety Plus series. Currently, FrontStreet Coffee offers two coffee beans from this estate's Ninety Plus series: Juliette Geisha and Eleta Geisha. Although both belong to the Ninety Plus processing method, and while Ninety Plus has not disclosed the specific processing details, FrontStreet Coffee speculates after cupping that it is an anaerobic natural processing method.

Later in 2019, Ninety Plus acquired another plot and established another new Ninety Plus estate. Due to its location near Volcán Barú, it was named Ninety Plus Barú Estates.

FrontStreet Coffee Panama Ninety Plus Geisha Eleta Coffee Beans

Region: Volcán Region

Estate/Processing Plant: Ninety Plus Geisha Estate

Altitude: 1,400-1,800 meters

Variety: Geisha

Processing Method: Ninety Plus Processing

Flavor: Bergamot, Sweet Orange, Pineapple, Longan, Preserved Fruit, Apple

FrontStreet Coffee's Ninety Plus Geisha Eleta uses medium roast. FrontStreet Coffee uses V60 with a 1:15 ratio and 92°C water temperature for brewing. You can smell the aroma of longan and preserved fruit. Upon tasting, you'll experience flavors of bergamot and sweet orange. As the temperature slightly cools, notes of pineapple and longan emerge, with an apple-like sweetness, rich and varied mouthfeel, and an endless aftertaste.

Important Notice :

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