If Geisha is compared to a thousand-mile horse, then Hacienda Esmeralda is undoubtedly the talent scout who recognized its worth. It was Hacienda Esmeralda that discovered Geisha's potential and introduced its deliciousness to the world at the 2004BOPauction, which is why Geisha has become the top variety in today's specialty coffee scene. It's fair to say that without Hacienda Esmeralda, Geisha might have taken many more years to successfully "debut."After Hacienda Esmeralda successfully made Geisha famous, they began strict, refined cultivation and management of this variety, and introduced a dedicated grading system. The familiar "Red Label Geisha" and "Green Label Geisha" are the different grades of Geisha separated by Hacienda Esmeralda, and both of these Geishasare sold at Front Street's offline stores as well as online on Taobao and Tmall.However, because the price difference between them is more than double, quite a few friends are curious: "They're both Geisha from Hacienda Esmeralda—what exactly is the difference between the Green Label and Red Label that differ by more than double in price?" This is a question Front Street's customer service receives frequently.First, we need to understand that whether it's Red Label or Green Label, the various colored "labels" we commonly see in coffee are mostly just consumers' shorthand for these products. What does that mean?It means these so-and-so "labels" aren't actually the names of the products themselves—they refer to the trademarks corresponding to the products. When Hacienda Esmeralda graded its products, it also created corresponding trademarks to distinguish them, and the biggest difference between each product's trademark is their color.The so-called "Red Label" refers to the highest-grade Geisha among the products that Hacienda Esmeraldaregularlysells(excluding auction lots). Its name is Esmeralda Special(翡翠特选), and its trademark is primarily red; while Green Label refers to the Geisha whose trademark color is primarily green, ranking below Red Label in Hacienda Esmeralda's product line. Its name is Private Collection, which translates to 私人收藏.As Front Street has introduced, Red Label is the highest-grade Geisha from Hacienda Esmeralda apart from auction lots. They are grown at altitudes above 1,600 meters, score no less than 91 points in cupping, and come from a single plot, with very detailed traceability information.Every Red Label comes with an independent lot number, from which we can read very detailed traceability information about the specific plot where that Red Label was grown—altitude, day-night temperature difference, latitude and longitude, tree age, harvest time, number of harvests, processing method, total output, and more.Green Label Geisha is grown at altitudes ranging from 1,600 to 1,800 meters, with only two traditional processing methods available: natural and washed. Moreover, it is a blend of Geishas harvested from each estate. Compared to Red Label, it doesn't have such detailed traceability information, and this is the biggest difference between it and Red Label!What does that mean?Hacienda Esmeralda has three sub-estates: Jaramillo,Cañas Verdes, and El Velo. Each estate is further divided into multiple plots—6, 11, and 7 respectively, totaling 24. Every Red Label Geisha comes from a single plot, while Green Label Geisha is a product made by harvesting Geishas from all plots of each estate, blending them together, and selling them as one. That should be easy to understand~Now that we know their differences in grading, the next question is how they differ in taste. As it happens, Front Street has just acquired a new-crop washed Red Label Geisha from the Mario plot of Jaramillo, so next we'll compare it with the Front Street washed Green Label Geisha from Front Street's bean list, to see exactly how Geishas that differ by more than double in price differ in taste~(Green Label on the left, Red Label on the right)To better highlight the coffee's floral and fruity notes, Front Street used a medium-light roast profile for these two beans. Since the roast level is similar and the processing method is the same, the parameters Front Street used for brewing are also identical! As follows:Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15Grind size:Ek43's setting 10, 80% pass-through rate on a No. 20 sieve, fine granulated sugarBrewing temperature: 92°CBrewing technique: 3-pour methodThe brewing technique is no different from usual:First, we pour twice the coffee's weight in water for a 30-second bloom; after the bloom ends, we pour the second pour of hot water at a moderate flow rate. This pour totals 120ml, poured from the center and then slowly spiraling outward. After reaching the outer ring, we continue pouring in circles until the target amount is reached; the third pour is timed after the water from the second pour has fully drained. We use a slower flow to pour the remaining 75ml of hot water in small circles, and once the hot water in the dripper has fully drained, we can remove the dripper and end the extraction.Because the beans are denser and drain more slowly, both cups' extraction times were around 2 minutes 15 seconds. And how did they taste... honestly, there is a certain difference, but not as big as everyone might imagine.The flavor profile of the Emerald Green Label is white floral, citrus, honey, and oolong tea notes, with some caramel and melon sweetness. The overall taste is balanced, the mouthfeel smooth and round, with a long finish, like drinking a cup of fruity jasmine tea; while the Emerald Red Label's flavor profile is much the same—also floral and fruity, jasmine, berries, citrus, oolong tea... likewise like drinking a cup of fruity floral tea, but its overall mouthfeel is cleaner and the flavors are clearer.Unless you're someone who drinks Red Label and Green Label regularly as everyday beans, it's almost impossible to tell which is which when tasting blind. And this is actually understandable—after all, they're coffees grown on the same land, and with the same variety, terroir, and processing, it's hard for very big differences to emerge. This is also why Green Label is often called the most cost-effective Geisha from Hacienda Esmeralda currently(it was originally Blue Label, but Hacienda Esmeralda has discontinued the Blue Label product line).So that's the difference between Hacienda Esmeralda's Green Label and Red Label Geisha. If you'd like to try a more classic Geisha flavor, then Front Street's Hacienda Esmeralda Green Label washed Geisha, or the Front StreetBoquete·washed Geisha from Front Street's bean list, would both be excellent choices~ The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
