How Does Panama BOP Champion Elida Estate Geisha Taste? How Many Plots Does Lamastus Elida Have?

As expected, at this year's Panama BOP Geisha auction, Elida Estate's natural Geisha set a new auction record with a staggering price of $10,013, becoming this year's top lot. This is far from Elida's first victory — its collection of major awards is countless. So today FrontStreet Coffee would like to share what this repeatedly championship-winning Elida Estate is all about.

Elida Estate is the first-ever double champion of Geisha in BOP history, and the second estate with the most BOP championship wins in Panama (the first being Hacienda La Esmeralda). In 2018, Elida Estate officially became a century-old, century-renowned estate, since its establishment dates back to 1918, shortly after the Panama Canal opened.

In 1918, Robert Lamastus of Kentucky, USA, founded Elida Estate near the Baru Volcano in Boquete, Panama. The estate's name is something often emphasized when introducing Elida: Mr. Robert named it after his wife.

After establishing the estate, Mr. Robert focused on producing and cultivating high-quality coffee. His passion for coffee seemed imprinted in his blood, passed down through the generations. Today, Elida Estate has been handed to the fourth generation of the Lamastus family, each generation expressing their passion for coffee in different ways. In recent years, the family acquired a new high-altitude property — Trompo Estate, which has become their fifth estate.

Although the Lamastus family owns five estates in Panama, only three currently produce coffee, and each of the three is an extremely renowned Panamanian coffee estate: besides our protagonist Elida Estate, there are Don Pini Estate and Luito Estate. Because the three sit in very different regions, their coffee-growing terroirs vary considerably — and it is precisely those differences that give each estate's coffee its unique character.

Focusing back on Elida Estate itself, Elida is the largest and highest-altitude farm of the three, covering an impressive 65 hectares. Although its total area is vast, the usable area for coffee is not so extensive: more than half of Elida Estate falls within Baru Volcano National Park, where all trees are strictly protected from felling as preserved natural environment.

As a result, only 30 of the estate's 65 hectares can be used for coffee. Even so, the excellent growing environment — microclimate, volcanic soil, pristine ecosystem — and high altitude lay a solid foundation for the exceptional taste of Elida coffee. None of this would be possible, of course, without the Lamastus family's meticulous care and strict standards at every stage of harvesting and processing. That is what leaves such a lasting impression and unforgettable aftertaste.

Over the years, Elida Estate has mainly cultivated three varieties: the old Typica, the newer Catuai, and the current king of coffee, Geisha. Elida was among those impressed by the Geisha that Hacienda La Esmeralda presented brilliantly at the BOP in 2004. Consequently, third-generation estate owner Wilford Lamastus, like other estate owners, began the journey of Geisha cultivation. In the following year, 2005, both Elida Estate and Don Pini Estate started growing Geisha.

It is worth noting that Elida Estate pays careful attention to how varieties are distributed. Catuai is planted below 1,650 meters, while Geisha is cultivated at higher elevations. As planting altitude rises the temperature becomes more challenging; although this lengthens Geisha's growth cycle, the beans accumulate more flavorful compounds as a result.

Because the estate sits on steep slopes of varying elevation and covers a large area, Elida has also divided its land into seven lots. From bottom to top they are: Plano Lot, Falda Lot, Aguacate, Aguacatillo, Vuelta (the lot where this year's champion Geisha was produced), Loma Centro, and Torre Lot (the most award-winning lot). Differences in altitude and climate between lots give the coffee from each one distinct characteristics.

Because third-generation owner Wilford Lamastus pursues still higher coffee quality, he spares no expense in investing manpower and time to achieve it. When the cherries ripen to a burgundy color, workers mobilize quickly to harvest them and immediately transport the beans to the processing plant. Since the plant sits at the base of the estate, less than half a day passes from picking to processing. This prevents the cherries from fermenting prematurely during extended transport — in short, it reduces the unstable factors that could affect quality.

As for Elida Estate's processing methods, in addition to traditional natural, washed and honey processing, they have also explored anaerobic methods. As owner Wilford Lamastus said in an interview, as long as a processing method does not mask Geisha's inherent flavors, it is worth trying. That is why we often see actively anaerobically processed Elida coffee in major competitions.

Returning to the point: although Elida Estate uses conventional processing methods, it has made certain adjustments within those steps — take its natural process. Traditional natural processing dries the cherries to a specific moisture range in the sun and then hulls them. Elida, however, also stacks the cherries to a certain thickness before beginning the natural drying. The advantage is that it extends drying time, allowing the beans themselves to undergo more fermentation and develop richer flavor compounds.

Because FrontStreet Coffee also wanted to taste the deliciousness of a championship estate, we acquired a natural-process Elida Estate Geisha. This Geisha comes from the Falda Lot of Elida Estate at an altitude of 1,750 meters. Because the English name "Falda" sounds very close to the Chinese word "fada," meaning prosperous, the Falda Lot earned the nickname "Fada Lot," or Prosperous Lot. This Geisha is medium in size and density, so it absorbs more heat during roasting and the Maillard reaction tends to run faster. FrontStreet Coffee therefore roasts it at a slower pace, allowing it to develop its rich floral and fruity notes perfectly.

FrontStreet Coffee: Panama · Elida Estate Geisha
Country: Panama
Region: Boquete
Altitude: 1,750 meters
Variety: Geisha
Processing Method: Natural Process
Grade: SHB

Flavor: Pomegranate, honey peach, white floral notes, grape, black tea

After resting the roasted beans for 8 hours, FrontStreet Coffee immediately conducted a cupping. This Elida Geisha showed rich white floral notes and exceptionally high overall sweetness, with aromas of pomegranate and peach. It also possesses a rounded grape acidity, a silky texture and a distinctly tea-like aftertaste. Then, as the temperature drops, the honey peach sweetness turns into apricot with increasingly rich juiciness — incredibly pleasant.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For Geisha that carries a champion's pedigree in a more accessible form, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama lineup is the place to look. FrontStreet Esmeralda Red Label Geisha is officially "Esmeralda Special": grown between 1,600 and 1,800 meters, cupped above 90 points for every lot, and drawn from a single small plot — the Red Label FrontStreet stocks comes from the Jaramillo plot. FrontStreet Esmeralda Green Label Geisha is officially "Private Collection"; rather than stressing detailed plot information like the Red Label, it blends lots from several plots to express the estate's signature high-altitude Geisha flavor, at a more accessible price and with excellent value.

Beginners wanting to sample the much-discussed "Geisha flavor" can start with FrontStreet Panama Boquete Geisha, an entry-level Geisha that delivers the classic Panama profile at a friendly price: mandarin-orange sweetness, an oolong-tea body, fine fruit acidity and clearly defined layers.

Ethiopia, coffee's birthplace, also has estates known for the Geisha variety. Geisha Village operates a strict grading system akin to Panama's and grows three Geisha varieties: Gori Gesha, Geisha 1931 and Illubabor Forest. Its tiers run from Gold Label RARITIES and Red Label GROWERS RESERVE to Green Label SINGLE-TERROIR and the Chaka CHAKA lot. The Gold Label belongs to the Geisha 1931 variety and accounts for about 10% of the village's output; it is the village's top coffee outside the auction and is frequently chosen by competing baristas. FrontStreet's Gold Label lot uses a refined natural process and cups with remarkable complexity — distinctive in dry aroma, flavor and finish alike. The Red Label belongs to the Gori Gesha variety and makes up about 15% of production; it scores 88 points or above on the SCA 100-point scale and, as the estate's single-terroir series, carries fully traceable information for every lot, including farm block name, variety and processing date.

For a lighter, juicier Ethiopian Geisha, FrontStreet Grana Estate Gesha is an excellent entry point. The estate sits in Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe region at the meeting point of the Kochore and Grana Abaya areas; the processing station was established in 2014 and is managed by Israel Degefa, with coffee planted across as much as 700 hectares, much of it uncultivated land with fertile soil and abundant shade. Hand-picked ripe cherries are dried on raised beds for 14 to 20 days depending on the weather. A medium-light roast gives bright citrus acidity, elegant ginger-lily aromatics, full ripe-fruit sweetness and a delicate, silky body with the refined finish typical of the Geisha family.

FrontStreet Coffee brews Geisha with a grind passing about 78% through a No. 20 sieve — roughly fine-sugar size — and 91°C water, using 15g in a small Hario V60 at a 1:16 ratio. The three-stage pour runs 30g for a 30-second bloom, then small circles to 125g, then to 225g once the bed has drained halfway, for a total extraction of about 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds. Geisha also shines as an SOE: FrontStreet Grana Estate Geisha SOE is a medium roast dosed at 20g and extracted at a 1:2 ratio for 40g in 25 seconds; as an Americano at 1:5 it shows orange, nuts and blueberry, and with milk it turns creamy and cookie-like. If you want a Geisha-style experience at a lower price, FrontStreet Strawberry Candy blends a Costa Rican honey-process coffee with Panama Geisha, so the cup carries both delicate floral notes and sweet fruit — suited to pour-over, the moka pot, an espresso machine and cold brew alike, where it opens onto grape juice, rose, sweet orange and fruit-wine flavors.