What Makes 90+ Coffee and Panama Geisha Different?

90+ (Ninety Plus) is an American green bean company named for coffees that score above 90 in cupping. Its Profile Processing system controls selection, breeding, and processing, which set the beans apart in the cup. Two of its lots now sold by Front Street Coffee are Eleta, with longan and spice notes, and Juliette, with grape and champagne-like flavors.

The company first drew attention with Aricha and Beloya from Ethiopia and later with lots from a Panama Geisha estate. Profile Processing begins upstream, at the farm and selection stage, rather than at the roastery. That model helps explain why the Panama Geisha lots from 90+ keep a recognizable character even when cupped beside other coffees.

In the specialty coffee world, the mention of "90+" always ignites lively discussion—is it a new bean release? Or yet another novel processing method? In fact, 90+ (Ninety Plus) is the name of an American green bean company, named for the fact that it only produces top-tier beans scoring above 90 in cupping. From the sensational debut of Aricha and Beloya from Ethiopia to the stunning Eleta and Juliette from the Panama Geisha Estate, 90+ has relied on its original Profile Processing system, controlling everything from selection and breeding to processing, redefining upstream standards in specialty coffee. Today, Front Street Coffee will give you a comprehensive look at the past and present of 90+, its core processing methods, and the pour-over flavors and brewing suggestions for two Geisha coffees.

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In coffee enthusiast circles, just mentioning the three characters "90+" often immediately sparks lively discussion. The topics people focus on are nothing more than: what new beans has 90+ released recently? What ingenious processing method did they use this time? Today, Front Street will chat with everyone about what exactly 90+ is and where it comes from.

What is 90+?

90+ (Ninety Plus) is actually the name of an American green bean trading company. In the context of coffee cupping, "90+" also represents a score above 90—usually only exceptionally outstanding coffee beans can achieve such a high score. Because of this, many people interpret the name of the 90+ company as meaning: they only produce coffee beans scoring above 90.

This interpretation is certainly not unfounded; the beans produced by 90+ are indeed quite outstanding. For example, the Eleta currently sold by Front Street carries notes of longan and spices, and Juliette presents grape and champagne-like flavors—both come from 90+. When these beans are cupped alongside other coffees, people can always easily identify them as belonging to the 90+ series—that uniqueness cannot be replicated elsewhere. And this uniqueness stems precisely from the production system that 90+ established itself: Profile Processing.

90+ Profile Processing

As mentioned earlier, 90+ is a green bean company—in plain terms, a green bean merchant. What sets it apart from other green bean merchants is the Profile Processing established by founder Joseph Brodsky at the company's founding.

The process by which ordinary green bean merchants purchase beans is similar to that of ordinary consumers: first confirm the flavor through cupping (that is, drinking), then select good-quality coffee beans to purchase. This model is essentially buying others' already-grown quality green beans and reselling them. But what makes 90+ special is that they were not satisfied with only doing the purchasing step; instead, they personally handled everything from selection and breeding to processing, wanting to produce high-quality green coffee themselves. Thus, after the company was founded in 2006, this plan was officially launched.

At first, 90+ was limited in scale, and its funds were insufficient to cover all stages of green bean production, so they decided to start with coffee processing, since they possessed the technology to regulate flavor. The specific approach was: first purchase freshly picked coffee cherries from nearby farmers, transport them back to the processing plant for meticulous post-processing. Aricha and Beloya were born under exactly such circumstances.

These two beans had extremely rich fruit characteristics, and as soon as they were launched they caused a huge response, allowing 90+ to win an extremely high reputation in its very first battle as a newcomer. Along with fame naturally came considerable income, and with funds, they could venture into more stages of green bean production. So 90+ took the opportunity to select promising farmers and gradually intervene in every step of green bean production. Ultimately, 90+ could offer varying degrees of suggestions to farmers and processing plants according to the flavors it desired, so that they could cooperate better and gradually adjust the beans toward the preset flavor direction.

But 90+ did not stop there. The produced beans would also undergo further screening, and only batches that best matched the established standards would be officially released for sale. So it can be said that the reason 90+ beans consistently maintain an upstream standard is by no means luck or coincidence, but the result of their careful maintenance, and also the core value they have always upheld.

90+'s Estates

In 2009, after achieving great success in Ethiopia, 90+ returned to Panama with years of accumulated technology and experience and established Ninety Plus Geisha Estate. Because during their time in Ethiopia they had not found a variety comparable to Geisha, they decided to use Geisha directly, pouring years of technology into it and striving to make Geisha surpass Geisha. Five years later, in 2014, this estate was finally able to produce coffee beans, and the 90+ series was thus born. The Eleta Geisha and Juliette Geisha mentioned earlier by Front Street both come from this 90+ series.

Introduction to the Geisha coffee beans of the 90+ Estate

On Front Street's bean list, there are two beautifully named 90+ Geisha coffee beans, namely Juliette and Eleta. Medium roasting allows their full juice-like body and rich floral aroma to be perfectly displayed, and Front Street dares to say that the performance of these two beans is entirely worthy of the 90+ name.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Panama Ninety Plus 90+ Geisha · Eleta Coffee Beans

Country: Panama

Grade: SHG

Region: Volcán

Estate: Ninety plus

Variety: Geisha

Altitude: 1400-1800 meters

Processing method: 90+ special processing

Flavor: bergamot, sweet orange, pineapple, longan, dried fruit, apple

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Panama Ninety Plus 90+ Geisha · Juliette Coffee Beans

Country: Panama

Grade: SHG

Region: Volcán

Estate: Ninety plus

Variety: Geisha

Altitude: 1400-1800 meters

Processing method: 90+ special processing

Flavor: Muscat grape, champagne, perfume lemon, full and round body, long and pleasant high sweetness with a sweet finish

Brewing suggestions for 90+ Geisha coffee

Coffee beans: 90+ Eleta Geisha, 90+ Juliette Geisha

Dripper: V60

Water temperature: 92℃

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: fine granulated sugar size (80% of powder passing a No. 20 sieve)

These two beans also belong to 90+ special processing, and after tasting, Front Street surmises that they should belong to the anaerobic natural category, so the grind size is best slightly finer, so that these beans, which drain relatively quickly, can achieve suitable extraction.

Fold the filter paper and fit it to the dripper, wet the filter paper with a small amount of water and make it adhere better, then discard the water in the server. Next, pour in the coffee grounds and tap lightly so the coffee bed is evenly distributed. For the first pour, gently add 30 grams of water for blooming, with a blooming time of 30 seconds; for the second pour, add water until about 135 grams, circling outward evenly and steadily. Then wait for the coffee liquid to drop, and when it has dropped halfway, pour the final stage of water until 225 grams. After all the coffee liquid has finished dripping, the total extraction time is generally about 2 minutes, and a cup of 90+ Geisha coffee is complete.

In 2019, after the Geisha Estate, 90+ acquired another new plot and established a new 90+ estate. This plot is located near Barú Volcano, so it was named Ninety Plus Barú Estates. With the nourishment of volcanic soil, it is believed that 90+ can produce even more delicious coffee beans. Front Street calculates that with establishment in 2019 and five years of cultivation, we now only need to wait a little longer before we can drink the brand-new deliciousness from the 90+ Barú Estate—let's look forward to it together.

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