How do rainforest alliance coffee beans differ?

Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda built its name on the Geisha variety, winning competitions from 2004 onward, while its Diamond Mountain series uses Catuai for everyday drinking. The naturally processed Diamond Mountain is dried on Guardiola beds, giving fruity notes and sweetness. Rainforest alliance coffee standards are separate from this estate's own farming, though both point to careful, sustainable production.

La Esmeralda began as a mixed farm with dairy cattle and citrus, and coffee was only part of its output. In 2002 Daniel Peterson started cupping plots separately, separating the Jaramillo estate added in 1996 from the original Boquete land. Buyers comparing rainforest alliance coffee beans with single-estate lots should note that certification covers farming practice, not variety or processing style.

In the Boquete region of Panama, Hacienda La Esmeralda has repeatedly created specialty coffee legends with the Geisha variety, while its Diamond Mountain series, made from the Catuai variety, offers an approachable yet consistently excellent everyday specialty coffee. This article begins with Hacienda La Esmeralda's cultivation history and award-winning record, traces the connection between Diamond Mountain and the estate, explains in detail the characteristics of the Catuai variety, the natural processing method, and the Guardiola drying method, and presents Front Street Coffee's brewing recommendations and flavor description for this naturally processed Diamond Mountain, giving you a comprehensive understanding of this star product that combines fruity notes and sweetness.

Panama - Hacienda La Esmeralda Diamond Mountain

Panama La Esmeralda Diamond Mountain

Introduction to Coffee Cultivation at Hacienda La Esmeralda

Hacienda La Esmeralda is located on the outskirts of Boquete in southwestern Panama. When it was first established, it was a comprehensive farm, and coffee cultivation was only part of the farm's overall economic output; other operations included dairy cattle and citrus cultivation. When it comes to Hacienda La Esmeralda, what draws particular attention is that at the end of the 20th century, the farm owner—the Peterson family—accidentally discovered a coffee variety with tremendous potential: Geisha. After careful cultivation and planting, starting in 2004, they won a string of championships in coffee competitions with this variety for several consecutive years, establishing Hacienda La Esmeralda firmly in a kingly position in the global coffee market.

2002 was a turning point for Hacienda La Esmeralda, thanks to Mr. Peterson's youngest son, Daniel Peterson. He believed that the coffee produced across the entire Hacienda La Esmeralda farm—whose coffee plantings were divided into two major areas: the original Hacienda La Esmeralda southwest of Boquete and the Jaramillo estate newly incorporated in 1996—had always been harvested and sold as a blend. Although the overall quality assessment was good, it was not necessarily all of equal quality and flavor. That extremely elegant citrus fruit aroma and sweetness should have come from certain outstanding coffees on the farm. So he began cupping and comparing each planting area one by one, and finally discovered, in several higher-altitude valleys within the Jaramillo area, coffee harvested from these tall, slender trees with low yields. The cup profile was outstanding. After repeated inquiries, he learned that this variety, which thrives at high altitude and low temperatures, was the later famous Geisha.

In 2004, Hacienda La Esmeralda entered these special coffees in the Best of Panama (BOP) cupping competition. Geisha's unique aroma and full body amazed the judges, earning it the title of "Best of Panama" champion, and at that year's auction it set a historical record of USD $21 dollars a pound! This competition brought Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha coffee tremendous attention in the specialty coffee world! It then went on to take the BOP crown in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010 as well.

Other award records of Hacienda La Esmeralda:

Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Cupping Champion (2007, 2006, 2005)

Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Coffee of the Year, Second Place (2009, 2008)

Best of Panama Champion (2010, 2009, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004)

Rainforest Alliance Coffee Quality Cupping Competition Champion (2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004)

Today, Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda is already the most award-winning coffee estate in the world.

The Relationship Between Hacienda La Esmeralda and Diamond Mountain

From consecutive championships starting in 2004 to independent bidding auctions beginning in 2008, it has set countless record-breaking prices. In recent years, in addition to shining with its very top-tier products, the estate has actually also launched many approachable green bean offerings, one of which is the Diamond Mountain series introduced by Front Street Coffee.

Front Street Coffee's Diamond Mountain series is grown in the Boquete region to the right of Volcan Baru, on the outskirts and hillsides of the Canas Verdes and Jaramillo areas, at an altitude of about 1400-1600M. The coffee planted in this area is mainly Typica, Bourbon, and Catuai. The volcanic soil in this area is an excellent location for growing coffee, and the pristine forest also provides sufficient shade for the coffee trees. Such exceptional conditions give the produced green coffee beans rich and complex fruity aromas, chocolate, and fresh spice flavors.

In addition to producing high-quality green coffee beans, Hacienda La Esmeralda's Diamond Mountain also continuously pursues and practices sustainable management methods. The entire estate holds Rainforest Alliance certification, ensuring that bird and wildlife habitats are not damaged by human activity. During post-processing of the green beans, wastewater is also recycled and reused, ensuring that the water source is clean and safe, forming a self-sufficient coffee estate ecosystem.

A Well-Known Hacienda La Esmeralda Product — Diamond Mountain

Geographical environment : Diamond Mountain is another star brand under Hacienda La Esmeralda. Its variety is mainly Catuai. This green coffee bean is harvested from Jaramillo and Canas Verdes, two of the four independent farms under Hacienda La Esmeralda. The volcanic soil of these two independent farms is an excellent condition for growing coffee, and the pristine forest also provides sufficient shade for the coffee trees. Because of such exceptional conditions, the produced green coffee beans have rich fruity aroma and sweetness. It is another highly popular independent brand of Hacienda La Esmeralda besides Geisha.

We know that coffee's flavor is largely influenced by the coffee variety, and the refined flavors of Geisha coffee are precisely what made this variety popular. The variety of Diamond Mountain is the Catuai variety planted at Hacienda La Esmeralda.

So the Catuai variety combines the advantages of both: high yield, disease resistance, and clean brightness. At the same time, compared with the Bourbon variety, Catuai's yield is very high. One reason is that the plant is small, which allows the spacing between plants to be shortened. Catuai's planting density is almost twice that of Bourbon.

The quality of Front Street Coffee's Diamond Mountain comes not only from its superior growing environment and high-yielding variety, but also from one advantage: Hacienda La Esmeralda's mature processing techniques. The Diamond Mountain we cupped comes from Hacienda La Esmeralda's natural processing. At Hacienda La Esmeralda, the harvested coffee cherries are sent directly to the patio to dry. The coffee cherries are dried evenly, and just as is characteristic of natural coffee, they are dried with the pulp retained. The coffee beans absorb the sugar within, developing more fruity and fermented aromas.

Guardiola is the preferred drying method at Hacienda La Esmeralda. As long as the coffee batch size allows, Guardiola can handle large quantities of coffee. Guardiola is a horizontally rotating drum that allows warm air to flow around the beans, thereby eliminating moisture and reducing the chance of mold. After the coffee beans are dried, they are placed in nylon bags and left in the warehouse for 30 to 45 days. This step is also called "reposo," which helps stabilize the coffee beans and improve the flavor in the cup.

Hacienda La Esmeralda — Introduction to the Flavor Description of Front Street Coffee's Diamond Mountain Series

By observing Diamond Mountain's naturally processed green beans, FrontStreet Coffee notes that the green beans are yellowish in color, and naturally processed green beans also have more silver skin on the surface. Caturra green beans have a curve at the tail end, are round and slender, while Catuai beans are flat in body with a relatively slender tail end. To retain more of the red berry notes in the coffee beans, Front Street Coffee's roaster adopted a medium-light roast level to present this Diamond Mountain. Now let's brew a cup and see how it tastes.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendation for Diamond Mountain

Grind size: medium-fine grind (80% passing through Chinese standard No. 20 sieve)

Brewing flavor: citrus, bright acidity, nuts, honey, slight fermented note, smooth mouthfeel, cocoa finish.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.