What Grade is Panama BOP Hacienda La Esmeralda's "Black Label" Geisha Coffee?

The Reigning Champion of Specialty Coffee: Geisha

When it comes to the current "superstar" of the specialty coffee world, the answer must undoubtedly be the ever-popular Geisha. Since Hacienda La Esmeralda successfully "made famous" Geisha in 2004, they have lived up to expectations by implementing strict refined cultivation and management for this delicious variety, and introduced a specialized grading system that completely elevated Geisha coffee beans to the premium segment.

The Mysterious Black Label Geisha

If you're a Geisha enthusiast, you're undoubtedly familiar with terms like "Red Label," "Green Label," and "Best of Panama" from Hacienda La Esmeralda's grading system. But have you noticed that starting from some point last year, a new grade suddenly appeared on the market—the "Black Label"? Compared to other labeled Geishas launched by Hacienda La Esmeralda in the past, it's not only expensive but also extremely rare in appearance, with very little information available online. Even its products and pricing are exceptionally mysterious. So what exactly is its origin?

A Quick Review of La Esmeralda's Grading System

Before diving deep into this "Black Label," FrontStreet Coffee will first briefly review Hacienda La Esmeralda's various grades.

In the past, Hacienda La Esmeralda divided its Geisha beans into three grades from high to low: Red Label, Green Label, and Blue Label. After the Blue Label, which had the lowest price, was discontinued, the Geisha product line of this renowned Panamanian estate has maintained two main grades in recent years: Red Label and Green Label, as well as the expensive auction lots.

As consumers, we mostly determine the grade level through the color of the product label: when the label has a red background with a coffee flower printed on it, it's Esmeralda Special (what we call Red Label); if the coffee flower in the label has a green background, it indicates Private Collection (Green Label); and Esmeralda Auction, which requires bidding, typically uses a gray background.

The Premium Red Label Geisha

For many years, the Red Label has always represented the highest quality of Hacienda La Esmeralda. Its definition is high-quality Geisha that must be grown at an altitude above 1600 meters, with cupping scores no less than 91 points, and comes with detailed traceability information. Fans know that all Esmeralda Red Labels come with a batch number used to track information about its growing plot, altitude, latitude and longitude, tree age, harvest date, processing method, cupping flavors, and more.

(Natural processed Red Label Geisha acquired by FrontStreet Coffee in 2022)

The more affordable Green Label, on the other hand, consists of mixed harvest batches of Geisha, with altitude requirements between 1600-1800 meters, and only offers two traditional processing methods: natural and washed. If you're interested in more details about different sub-estates and each small plot, you can review previously shared articles. FrontStreet Coffee won't elaborate on them here.

The Emergence of Black Label Geisha

Regarding the newly launched "Black Label," FrontStreet Coffee found that when checking Hacienda La Esmeralda's official website, it's not yet listed among the fixed Geisha product series. The estate owner hasn't promoted it much either, so there's rarely detailed background information about it online.

Through the limited information disclosed officially and combined with shares from various buyers, FrontStreet Coffee learned that this latest Geisha grade from Hacienda La Esmeralda is called "Esmeralda Nano," also known as "Nano Lot." It was launched by the Peterson family last year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Geisha's debut. Currently, there's no direct Chinese translation for it. Since the Peterson siblings designed the label color for this grade as a black coffee flower (or with a black background), Chinese buyers have followed the previous naming convention and called it "Black Label."

Simply put, the "Black Label" can be understood as micro-lots selected from Red Label Geisha. It must meet at least one of the following characteristics: either it comes from small plots in special locations, or it's processed using experimental processing methods.

Exclusive Origins of Black Label Geisha

Currently, the newly released Black Label Geisha mostly comes from new plots at higher altitudes with extremely limited production. For example, in the popular sub-estate Cañas Verdes, two small plots of Geisha coffee have been made into Black Label for sale: one is Nido, grown at 2050 meters, and the other is Gigante, above 1900 meters. Additionally, two small plots in Velo de Novia have been included in the Black Label batches: Pinto at an impressive altitude of 2200 meters and Valle at 2000 meters.

Moreover, each individual Black Label batch typically yields only a few kilograms or a dozen kilograms. It's said that some batches don't even reach 1000 grams, taking scarcity to the extreme. Therefore, the price is significantly higher than regular Red Label, which is why FrontStreet Coffee hasn't had the opportunity to taste it yet.

Experimental Processing Methods

Finally, regarding the launch of experimental processing batches, this likely stems from Hacienda La Esmeralda's investment in renovating temperature-controlled rooms and microbiology laboratories in the past one or two years. They hope to conduct more detailed experiments to compare with traditional processing methods and better understand the impact of different environmental and biological factors on coffee quality.

For example, low-temperature fermentation rack-dried washed processing involves more refined and complicated steps than traditional washed processing. After harvesting, mature coffee cherries are first washed to completely remove the outer skin and pulp, then placed in a sealed steel container in a temperature-controlled refrigeration room for three days of fermentation. After fermentation ends, the parchment beans are taken out and spread on raised beds to dry for 18 days, allowing the Geisha to develop more intense floral and fruity aromas.

- END -

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473