Every year, some coffee beans sell for jaw-dropping prices, sometimes with a single cup being hard to come by. These high-priced beans mostly come from auctions, among which BOP and COE are the two most closely watched platforms. How auctions actually work, and why they can fetch such high prices, is a fascinating entry point for understanding the specialty coffee ecosystem. BOP: Baha [more…]

Even though they are all labeled Arabica, coffee bean prices can differ by dozens or even hundreds of times. At one end of this price spectrum are commercial beans on store shelves, and at the other end are famous estate beans bid on per pound at auctions. Understanding what makes each level expensive will help you spend your money wisely and make it easier to find the tier that matches your taste. The entry level is commercial grade. [more…]

The name Geisha is now almost a highly recognizable symbol in specialty coffee. But what many people don't know is that its roots actually lie in Ethiopia. In recent years, an estate named after Geisha—Gesha Village—has turned its attention back to Ethiopia, and has also made "original Geisha" a [more…]

It is known that COE is fully named "Cup of Excellen", which is translated as the Cup of Excellence. It is a coffee event first held in Brazil in 1999 by the non-profit organization the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE), and it is also the first I [more…]

In the specialty coffee world, Geisha from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda is a name that's almost impossible to avoid. When buying Geisha, product pages often feature terms like "Red Label," "Green Label," and "Auction Lot"—but what exactly do they mean? This article uses Hacienda La Esmeralda's Red Label Geisha as a thread to help you make sense of the grading system. Emerald [more…]

While Jamaican Blue Mountain and Hawaiian Kona have long occupied the coffee throne, a dark horse from Ethiopia's native forests—Geisha—is rewriting the landscape of specialty coffee with hurricane force. This article takes you through Geisha's legendary journey from its discovery in 1931 to its dazzling rise at Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama, recounting its glorious record of eleven championships and sky-high auction bids, and further, through hands-on testing with both pour-over and siphon extraction methods, deeply analyzing this bean's signature lemon-citrus aroma, honey-cream sweetness, and layer upon layer of oolong tea notes. Front Street Coffee will also share roasting and brewing insights to help you fully understand this green diamond capable of moving even the most seasoned connoisseur. [more…]

在精品咖啡的版图里，巴拿马瑰夏（Geisha）凭借明亮花香与复杂果酸，被不少爱好者视为超越牙买加蓝山与夏威夷可娜的存在。本文将从瑰夏的品种起源与传播路径谈起，串联埃斯美拉达农园的历史、竞标赛场的耀眼战绩、翡翠庄园红标与绿标的等级差异，以及日晒与水洗处理带来的风味取向。文末还附上以虹吸壶冲煮翡翠红标瑰夏的完整步骤，适合想深入了解瑰夏、又希望尝试不同萃取方式的咖啡爱好者阅读。 [more…]

长期以来，国内对顶尖咖啡的认知多受日本影响，牙买加蓝山与夏威夷可那位居神坛。然而随着精品咖啡浪潮席卷全球，巴拿马瑰夏异军突起，凭借惊人的香气表现与竞标价格成为新一代咖啡天王。本文系统梳理瑰夏的品种起源与传播轨迹，回顾其在国际赛事与拍卖会上的辉煌战绩，并详细介绍前街翡翠红标、绿标及波奎特瑰夏的产品定位。文章重点呈现三种萃取方案：手冲、虹吸壶与法压壶，分别给出具体参数与操作步骤，带你从不同维度感受瑰夏标志性的茉莉、莓果与柑橘调性。 [more…]

A few days ago, the much-anticipated online bidding event of BOP (Best of Panama) in the coffee industry came to an end. At this top-level auction that attracts the attention of coffee lovers worldwide, the Geisha from the renowned Hacienda La Esmera [more…]

Last month, Qianjie shared with everyone the scoring system of cup testing, among which we briefly mentioned COE. In daily life, the word COE also often appears on the labels of some beans. This immediately aroused everyone's curiosity: What is COE? [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow our WeChat official account: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee). The bright fruit acidity and vivid, full, outstanding mouthfeel of Kenyan coffee make it unforgettable to anyone who has tried it. Front Street Coffee has cupped quite a few coffee beans from different producing regions in Kenya. If we were to say that high [more…]

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow: Front Street Coffee (Frontsteet Coffee) Kenya AA coffee has always been regarded as one of the best specialty coffees in the world. For some friends who are not very familiar with Kenyan coffee, Front Street is often asked what AA means. Besides [more…]

Geisha coffee beans are famous for their rich floral aroma and refined fruit acidity, but this variety went from Ethiopia's wild forests to the world stage through nearly seventy years of obscurity and turning points. This article sorts out Geisha's varietal origins, spread, and growing condition requirements, focusing on the terroir advantages of Panama's Boquete producing region, as well as Hacienda La Esmeralda's Red Label and Green Label grading system. It also presents Front Street Coffee's roasting approach for Geisha and V60 brewing parameter recommendations, and includes flavor descriptions of beans from well-known Panama estates such as Butterfly and Elida, providing coffee lovers with a complete Geisha tasting reference. [more…]

Kenyan coffee is regarded by the global specialty coffee community as the "benchmark of Africa" for its powerful acidity, full-bodied tartaric acid, and distinctive blackcurrant flavor. This article takes the two major producing regions of Nyeri and Thika as its starting point to provide an in-depth analysis of the ins and outs of Kenyan coffee. [more…]

Boquete is Panama's most famous coffee-producing region, and Hacienda La Esmeralda is the birthplace of the world's most expensive Geisha coffee. This article takes you through the geography of Boquete, the history of Geisha, the miracle of Hacienda La Esmeralda, and the mystery of Geisha's flavor. [more…]

Previously, we talked about the coffee grading in Ethiopia. Today, let's take a look at what the coffee grading in Kenya is like! After all, when we see Kenyan coffee, we will see things like AA and AB. What exactly do these refer to? What is AA TOP? [more…]

In the past, when some friends who wanted to taste Geisha coffee came to Front Street Coffee and ordered Geisha, the baristas at Front Street would carefully ask, "Do you mean Ethiopian Geisha or Panamanian Geisha?" Everyone would be confused about the difference between these two Geishas. Nowadays, the name of Panamanian Geisha [more…]

Geisha, hailed as the most legendary coffee variety of the 21st century, has become an undisputed star in the specialty coffee world thanks to its stunning cupping performance and ever-rising auction prices. But where exactly did Geisha come from? Is it the same bean as Huakui? How do you distinguish between the Red Label, Green Label, and Volcanic Rock lots from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda? How does the product line from Gesha Village in Ethiopia differ? This article, led by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), will systematically trace Geisha's rise to fame, its varietal characteristics, and its flavor expression across different producing regions, along with practical brewing suggestions to help coffee lovers gain a comprehensive understanding of this legendary variety. [more…]

Geisha has made a big splash in recent years, and under the pursuit of enthusiasts, its price seems to be creating a historical high every year. With this kind of information, exactly what price should the Geisha coffee beans you buy reach before it [more…]

COE (Cup of Excellence) is one of the most authoritative fine coffee competitions globally, and also the first internet auction platform for globally award-winning coffee, which was organized and founded by the Alliance for Coffee Excellence (ACE) in [more…]