What is the Disappearing Gesha 1500? How Many Grading Classifications Does Hacienda La Esmeralda Have?

Geisha's remarkable popularity stems not only from its excellent genetics but also from the unique vision of Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama, which discovered the potential of the Geisha variety and brought it to fame through participation in the Best of Panama (BOP) competition. Since then, Geisha produced by Hacienda La Esmeralda has consistently captured the attention of coffee enthusiasts. You might often hear about "Red Label," "Green Label," or "Geisha 1500," but in recent years, "Geisha 1500" has rarely been mentioned. So what exactly is this disappeared "Geisha 1500"?

Hacienda La Esmeralda's Estates

Hacienda La Esmeralda owns four coffee plantations, among which Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, and El Velo all cultivate Geisha varieties. Each plantation is further divided into different small plots. There is also Palmira farm, which has the lowest elevation and primarily grows Catuai. The entire plantation area spans about 30 hectares and serves as Hacienda La Esmeralda's internal office area as well as the processing plant for all green coffee beans.

For the coffee they cultivate, Hacienda La Esmeralda uses an exclusive and relatively mature grading system and launches brands. Currently, FrontStreet Coffee sells Red Label Geisha, Green Label Geisha, and Diamond Mountain.

Red Label Geisha

Red Label Geisha (Esmeralda Special), also known as Esmeralda Special Selection, is a carefully selected Geisha variety by Hacienda La Esmeralda that must score above 91 points in cupping. Red Label Geisha mainly comes from plots at elevations of 1600-1800 meters in the Cañas Verdes and Jaramillo estates. Since each estate is independently divided into several different small plots, and Geisha grown in different plots has subtle flavor differences, each batch of Red Label Geisha comes from a single independent plot with very detailed traceability information.

Additionally, Hacienda La Esmeralda's auction batches (Esmeralda Auction) are carefully selected from the Red Label batches and made available for global buyers to bid on through auctions. This year, Hacienda La Esmeralda also launched the "Black Label" batch, which consists of experimental batches, special processing methods, or Geisha grown in extremely high-altitude plots selected from the Red Label. The price is relatively higher than the Red Label, and the standard color is black.

Green Label Geisha

Green Label Geisha (Private Collection), also known as Private Collection, also comes from three of Esmeralda's sub-estates and is grown at the same elevation of 1600-1800 meters. However, Green Label Geisha is a mixed harvest from plots across the three estates and can only be traced back to the estates, not to specific small plots like the Red Label.

The Disappeared "Geisha 1500"

Besides the Red Label and Green Label, there was once "Geisha 1500," which had a blue label and was commonly known as Blue Label Geisha. It was relatively inexpensive and the most cost-effective Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda. Blue Label Geisha was produced from Geisha grown at around 1500 meters elevation in the three main sub-estates, hence the name Geisha 1500. However, in 2021, Hacienda La Esmeralda stopped producing Blue Label Geisha, so it has been mentioned less and less frequently since then.

Other Varietals and Collections

Under Hacienda La Esmeralda, the El Velo sub-estate, considering commercial viability, cultivates many different coffee varieties in addition to Geisha, including SL34, Pacamara, Laurina, and others. For this reason, Hacienda La Esmeralda also launched the Varietals Collection brand.

Additionally, there is another traditional brand called Diamond Mountain, which mainly comes from Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes, two of Hacienda La Esmeralda's four sub-estates. It consists of Catuai varieties grown at elevations of 1400-1600 meters.

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