Panama, as a coffee-producing country in Central America, nurtures exceptional specialty coffee with unique flavors thanks to its distinctive microclimates and fertile volcanic soil. Among these, the Geisha variety from Hacienda La Esmeralda has sparked a revolution in the specialty coffee world, repeatedly setting auction records. This article will provide a detailed introduction to Panama's coffee-growing environment, the history of Hacienda La Esmeralda, the flavor characteristics of Geisha coffee, and the Geisha situation in Guatemala's Acatenango producing region, offering you a comprehensive understanding of this legendary coffee variety.
The microclimatic conditions of the Panamanian highlands are the key to creating the country's unique coffee flavors. Panama's east-west orientation allows cold air to flow along the Central Cordillera and converge at elevations above 6,500 feet, thereby forming a rich diversity of microclimates in the Boquete and Volcán–Candela areas, which has also made this region the core producing area for Panama's specialty coffee. These coffee trees grow in the nutrient-rich and balanced soil surrounding Barú Volcano.
Chinese name: Panama Coffee Country: Panama Characteristics: Small volume Attribute: Coffee
Growing Environment
Panama is located in the central part of the American continent, a small country whose coastline is washed by the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The country lies at 9 degrees north latitude, precisely in the convergence zone of the Central Cordillera, where Barú Volcano, one of the highest volcanoes in Central America, is located.
Barú Volcano rises over 11,400 feet above sea level, and the fertile, nutrient-rich soil around it creates superior conditions for the sowing and cultivation of Panama's specialty coffee.
The suitable microclimates, soil, temperature, and altitude conditions of these high-altitude areas are highly favorable for the sowing, growing, and harvesting of many specialty coffees. Such coffees can present rich flavors including jasmine, citrus, ripe fruits, berries, caramel, distinctive sweetness, vanilla, and chocolate.
One-of-a-Kind Coffee
Panama's specialty coffee is divided into small-batch lots and numbered individually. The small-batch design helps optimize management, while the classification and numbering allow buyers to grasp and trace information throughout the entire process.
Due to limited production, Panama's coffee products are positioned as specialty coffee. The country supplies high-quality products to specialty shops around the world, including Denmark, the United Kingdom, Greece, Norway, Sweden, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan Province of China, and the United States.
Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda
Panama Geisha Hacienda La Esmeralda
In the past, the standards for judging top-tier coffee mostly followed the Japanese market, but the emergence of Geisha swept through the coffee world like a hurricane. This coffee revolution came with such force that Jamaica Blue Mountain and Hawaii Kona, which had long occupied the throne of the coffee kingdom, had to yield. This wild variety, originally from Ethiopia, has now been widely planted in major coffee-producing regions after being tested in countless competitions, and its finest representative is Panama's "La Esmeralda" estate. The Geisha coffee produced by Hacienda La Esmeralda is the most renowned of all Geisha varieties.
Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda
Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda
In 1924, a Swede named Hans Elliot founded the Esmeralda farm, which at the time was not a coffee farm but a cattle ranch. Forty years later, in 1964, Mr. Daniel Peterson's grandfather, Mr. Rudolph Peterson, purchased the Esmeralda farm to have a place to settle after retirement. Grandfather Rudolph Peterson was born in Sweden and had served as president of an American bank and as director of the United Nations Development Programme.
His son, Mr. Price Peterson, moved from California to Panama in 1973 to take over the management of his father's farm. In 1987, he converted most of the farm to coffee cultivation, and in 1994, in order to establish a brand, he invested in purchasing machinery and equipment for coffee processing. While Mr. Price Peterson and his wife Susan got the coffee farm on track, they also raised three children: Eric (born in Philadelphia in 1966), Rachel (born in Sweden in 1967), and Daniel (born in Panama in 1974).
In 1996, Price and Rachel visited a farm for sale in the Jaramillo area of the Boquete valley, and captivated by its beauty, they bought it on the spot. This was the Hacienda La Esmeralda Jaramillo farm, and it was here that their third son, Mr. Daniel Peterson, grew the Geisha coffee that would astonish the coffee world!
Panama Geisha grows at an altitude of 1,500–1,650 meters, and its unique growing environment gives it a distinctive flavor profile:
Dry aroma: tea, floral (magnolia, tulip), herbal, milky, brown sugar sweetness, fine champagne, with an uplifting aroma.
Wet aroma: apricot, caramel, milky, floral.
Slurping: excellent oiliness, with a delicate Lishan premium tea sensation; the astringency of fine white liquor quickly turns into a delicate, smooth body that fills the mouth.
Berry candy and spice sweetness intertwine, accompanied by a surge of floral notes; the finish is filled with florals, fruity sweetness, and a rather persistent body. The lower the temperature, the more delicate the acidity becomes.
To date, La Esmeralda estate has won 12 championships in various coffee competitions, and in online public auctions it has set the highest bid record 3 times, at $21 in 2004, $50.25 in 2006, and $130 in 2007! Of course, other countries have also produced excellent coffees that fetched close to $50 per pound (Brazil's 2005 CoE champion Fazenda Santa Inês), and Guatemala's 2008 CoE champion El Injerto reached $80.20; but please note the timing: when La Esmeralda set its record prices, no previous auction price had surpassed hers, and although others later did, she would then surpass them again. To call her a record-setter is by no means a fluke!
The Glorious History of Hacienda La Esmeralda
Panama's highest-grade coffee ranking: No. 1 for 4 consecutive years in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007!
Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) World Coffee Cupping ranking: No. 1 for 3 consecutive years in 2005, 2006, and 2007!
Rainforest Alliance coffee quality cupping ranking: No. 1 in 2004, 2006, and 2007!
Guatemala Geisha
Guatemala Acatenango Geisha.
In 2007, Guatemala added its 8th coffee-producing region, Acatenango Valley(R), which we translate as "Acatenango region."
In 2007, Anacafé (the Guatemalan coffee association) not only promoted it vigorously at the SCAA exhibition but also arranged a special presentation during the national competition to explain it to international judges. Guatemala had previously claimed seven major producing regions, which not only distinguished their characteristics but also made them easier for buyers and consumers to remember. The seven regions—Antigua, Huehuetenango, Lake Atitlán, Cobán rainforest, and others—each can yield outstanding estates and fine coffees with the terroir characteristics of that area.
Acatenango is located in the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala. More than 5,000 hectares of coffee farms throughout the region have fertile volcanic soil, mainly situated along two major volcanic mountain ranges, and nearly all have forests and shade trees. As can be seen from the photo above, the estates almost all use shade cultivation, and the main variety remains Bourbon, with some Catuai and Caturra.
The two major volcanoes of Acatenango are Volcan de Fuego and Volcan Acatenango. Acatenango in particular is the third-highest peak among the volcanoes of Central America, and crossing over Fuego Volcano brings you to the Lake Atitlán area. The region's annual rainfall is 48 to 72 inches, with an average annual temperature of 14–31°C. The large temperature variation makes the beans dense and compact, which greatly benefits the flavor. The coffee harvest season is mainly from mid-January to March. At present, Kaqchikel people still live in this area and maintain traditional farming methods; there are about 4,000 farming households in this producing region in total, and coffee cultivation there can be traced back to as early as 1880.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
