Panama Boquete Geisha Coffee Bean Flavor Description - Geisha Coffee Bean Variety Origin Story

When it comes to Panama Geisha coffee beans, does La Esmeralda Estate immediately come to mind? Haha, yes. La Esmeralda Estate deserves much credit for the current status and achievements of Panama Geisha coffee beans. Today, FrontStreet Coffee is here to share with everyone about La Esmeralda Estate's Geisha coffee beans!

The flavor profile of Panama Geisha coffee beans is characterized by delicate floral aromas, citrus, and honey notes.

FrontStreet Coffee's Introduction to Panama Coffee Beans

Panama is located in Central America, connecting North and South America, bordering Costa Rica and Colombia. Panama's coffee journey can be described as being born with a silver spoon.

As we all know, the Panama Canal was built by the United States and was even exclusively controlled by the US for a period after its completion. It was precisely the construction of the Panama Canal that brought many American elites southward in the late 20th century—partly for work requirements and partly to explore business opportunities.

Panama Geisha coffee beans are world-renowned, and the entire coffee cultivation in Panama revolves around the Chiriqui volcanic region. Among these, the most beautiful is the Boquete growing region, where unique volcanic fertile soil, abundant water, regular rainfall, dense vegetation, and cloud cover nourish the coffee trees, consequently producing high-quality coffee beans with rich flavors.

Many different microclimates also contribute to producing coffee beans with diverse flavor characteristics. La Esmeralda Estate is also located within this region. The neighboring Volcán region has recently become another emerging area for cultivating high-quality Geisha coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee: Panama Boquete Growing Region

Boquete is a town in the Chiriqui province, situated near the border between Panama and Costa Rica, close to the famous Barú Volcano. With beautiful scenery and rich, fertile soil, the climate and terrain are perfectly suited for producing premium coffee. The cool, foggy, mountainous geographical environment creates unique microclimates. The cool climate and frequent fog help slow down the maturation process of coffee cherries, achieving effects similar to high altitude. FrontStreet Coffee has cupped coffee beans from this region, finding flavors ranging from cocoa to fruity notes with subtle acidity.

The microclimates of the Boquete highlands are a crucial and unique resource for specialty coffee in the Boquete region. The east-to-west environment of Panama allows cold air currents to converge above 1600m through the central mountain range, creating multiple microclimates in the Boquete area. This makes the temperature and rainfall extremely suitable for plant growth, resulting in excellent growing conditions for coffee trees in this region.

Don Benjie Estate

Dr. Renán Esquivel, a famous Panamanian pediatrician, is not only a physician but also a nature enthusiast. In 1980, he purchased the Bajo Mono farm, which was his first farm acquisition. Dr. Renán Esquivel planted various trees, plants, and coffee varieties on the farm, which have been preserved to this day. The Bajo Mono farm coffee plantation covers 33 hectares, situated in the Chiriqui highlands, located in the canyon north of Boquete town, on the slopes of Barú Volcano, at an altitude of 1400-1550m.

Bajo Mono is one of the best regions for producing premium Panama coffee because the area possesses volcanic soil, clear spring water fountains, and the famous climate phenomenon known locally as "Bajareque." When moisture from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans meets and winds rise, thin mist emerges among the mountains, and rainbows are often visible. All these elements form a unique microclimate, providing better growing conditions and quality for the coffee trees in the region.

The current owner of the farm is Stefan Arwed Müller, who has been managing the Bajo Mono coffee farm since 2011, dedicated to further improving coffee bean quality and protecting the ecological environment of the plantation area. The coffee beans produced are named Cafe Don Benjie.

FrontStreet Coffee: Introduction to La Esmeralda Estate - A Representative Estate of Panama's Boquete Region

In 1964, American banker Rudolph Peterson retired, moved to Panama, and purchased La Esmeralda Estate in Boquete, initially focusing on dairy operations. Later, his son Price resigned from his medical position to help his father manage the farm. In 1987, they introduced Caturra and Catuai coffee varieties, and in 1994, established a washed processing plant, gaining their own coffee processing facility. In 1996, they acquired the nearby Jaramillo estate, which had superior geographical conditions and coffee varieties with excellent flavor, incorporating it into La Esmeralda Estate.

Jaramillo caught the attention of the Peterson father and son precisely because of its originally planted coffee beans, which carried pleasant citrus and floral fruit aromas, different from the traditional flavors of Panamanian coffee. After cupping coffee beans from different areas of the estate, they discovered that the unknown coffee trees growing at the highest point of the estate were responsible. Due to their low yield, the previous owner had only used them as windbreaks. The Petersons discovered these trees and decided to separately cultivate and develop the coffee trees from this area.

After winning first place in the 2004 Best of Panama (BOP) green coffee competition, they achieved astonishing success. Later, expert identification revealed that these coffee beans were the Geisha variety from Ethiopia. Subsequently, the Peterson family focused most of their energy on developing infrastructure to support outstanding batch separation and refined processing.

Currently, La Esmeralda Estate has three main estates cultivating Geisha varieties: El Velo, Cañas Verdes, and Jaramillo. In 1996, they acquired the nearby Jaramillo estate, which had superior geographical conditions and excellent coffee variety flavors. El Velo was acquired by La Esmeralda Estate in 2012. FrontStreet Coffee believes that La Esmeralda Estate's strategy of acquiring estates with high-quality production at high altitudes was a unique decision at that time, which enabled La Esmeralda Estate to occupy a significant position in the coffee industry.

Although La Esmeralda Estate initially discovered coffee beans with excellent flavor characteristics, for precision, they cupped coffee beans from different areas of the estate and determined planting plots based on altitude. This is why we now have the Geisha grades of Red Label, Green Label, and Blue Label, all classified according to altitude. FrontStreet Coffee will provide detailed explanations of this content below.

FrontStreet Coffee: Introduction to Geisha Coffee Bean Growing Plots at La Esmeralda Estate

La Esmeralda Estate has extremely refined divisions for its Geisha growing plots, with three main areas: Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, and El Velo. Each plot is further subdivided into smaller plots.

Jaramillo has an annual rainfall of 4000ml, with average daytime temperatures between 19-25°C and nighttime temperatures between 11-15°C, at an average altitude of 1600-1700m. The Jaramillo plot is subdivided into 5 smaller plots: Mario, Noria, Reina, Bosque, and Buenos Aires.

Cañas Verdes has an annual rainfall of 3500ml, with average daytime temperatures between 16-23°C and nighttime temperatures between 10-15°C, at an average altitude of 1600-1800m. Cañas Verdes includes 9 smaller plots: Lino, Coronado, Fundador, Leon, Montaña, Trapiche, Chinta, Cabaña, and Tumaco.

El Velo is the most recently acquired plot by La Esmeralda Estate, with an average altitude of 1700-1900m. In addition to Geisha and Catuai, this plot also has small quantities of other exotic varieties such as Laurina, Pacamara, Mocha, and SL28. El Velo is divided into 7 smaller plots: Guabo, Portón, Durazno, Higuerón, Higo, Buena Vista, and Águila.

FrontStreet Coffee: Introduction to La Esmeralda Estate's Red Label and Green Label Coffee Beans

Red Label Geisha Coffee Beans

What we commonly call "Red Label." Red Label batches of Geisha are grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, with cupping scores above 90 points, primarily from the Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes regions. Red Label batches may be processed using either washed or natural methods. Red Label batches can only be obtained through global auctions. They are selected from Geisha beans grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, with cupping scores above 90 points, from the Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes regions.

The independent auction organized by La Esmeralda Estate features Geisha batches from designated plots put up for auction—these are the auction Red Labels. Customers often ask whether the auction Red Label or the regular Red Label tastes better. In fact, the non-auction Red Label and the auction Red Label come from the same plot, with the only difference being whether they participated in the auction. FrontStreet Coffee believes it's not necessary to insist on drinking auction-level coffee—first, the price is indeed quite high, and second, if you just want to try it, the regular Red Label is also an excellent choice.

This grade of Geisha uses natural or washed processing methods, with flavors featuring special, bright floral aromas and citrus notes.

FrontStreet Coffee: Panama La Esmeralda Estate Red Label Geisha Coffee Beans

Region: Boquete
Estate: La Esmeralda Estate - Mario Plot
Altitude: 1600-1800m
Variety: Geisha
Processing: Natural

Green Label Geisha Coffee Beans

Commonly known as "Green Label." Green Label batches do not participate in auctions but still maintain excellent quality. Green Label Geisha batches are grown at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters, primarily as mixed batches from different plots including Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, and others.

Due to the model of mixing different plots, sometimes there can be high similarity between Green Label and Red Label flavors. Although the Green Label is not as high-grade as the Red Label, it still carries the classic Geisha flavors—floral, fruity, citrus acidity, and thick, juicy texture. Green Label Geisha batches also have both washed and natural processing options.

FrontStreet Coffee: Panama La Esmeralda Estate Green Label Geisha Coffee Beans

Region: Boquete
Estate: La Esmeralda Estate
Altitude: 1600-1800m
Variety: Geisha
Processing: Washed

FrontStreet Coffee: Brewing Parameters for La Esmeralda Estate's Red Label and Green Label Coffee Beans

FrontStreet Coffee recommends using the following brewing parameters: Hario V60 dripper, 91°C water temperature, 15g coffee dose, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, medium-fine grind (80% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve).

Regarding grinding, FrontStreet Coffee determines this through sieve testing. Based on grinding recommendations for pour-over coffee provided by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), FrontStreet Coffee combined this with practical verification—using different grind levels for brewing produced noticeably different results, and each coffee bean requires different grind settings, which is the significance of sieving. If you don't have a sieve at home, FrontStreet Coffee suggests observing water flow speed to judge grind size—fast flow indicates coarse grind, slow flow indicates fine grind.

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, also known as three-stage brewing. Use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then continue pouring in a circular motion with small water flow to 125g for the first segment. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. Wait until the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, then remove the dripper. (Timing starts from the bloom) Total extraction time is 2'00".

FrontStreet Coffee: Panama La Esmeralda Estate Red Label Geisha Coffee Beans Flavor Description

Bright rose and citrus aromas, brown rice, berries, apricots, complex fruits, honey, with a thick juice-like texture and rich flavor layers with noticeable sweetness.

FrontStreet Coffee: Panama La Esmeralda Estate Green Label Geisha Coffee Beans Flavor Description

Rich jasmine floral aroma, high sweetness, citrus, berries, juice-like texture, cream, green tea, orange peel, cantaloupe, with overall rich flavor layers and a finish with persistent floral and citrus notes.

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