Hacienda La Esmeralda: Geisha. The Coffee Varietal That Changed Everything

The story of one of the world's most famous coffee varietals, first known from Panama, is as long and rich as the aroma of the coffee itself: Geisha.

About Geisha.
After the excavation of the Panama Canal, completed at the beginning of the last century, many foreign workers chose to remain in the country. Some settled in the mountainous areas in the northwest, towards the border with Costa Rica. Many had come from rural Europe, and some of them wanted to start coffee farms in their new homeland. At the top of the Boquete Valley, at the foot of the Barú volcano, the fresh mountain climate has proven perfect for growing coffee.

It wasn't until 2004, about 100 years later, that the family owning Hacienda La Esmeralda discovered they had some coffee bushes on their farm that no one else had - and which produced a completely unique coffee with a fantastic floral aroma!

Two generations of Petersons at Hacienda La Esmeralda

Robert William, who first started Java, then started roasting coffee inside the Mocca coffee shop in 2001, and then the roastery Kaffa in 2005, was constantly traveling to coffee-producing countries to find special lots that would fit our coffee menu. Already the year after the first Geisha coffee bushes were discovered at Esmeralda, he was present to taste this special coffee, but the few kilos available were already sold. The following season, we bought a small lot of green coffee from the same plot (Mario), but this time through a national auction. To secure the bid, we paid what was then the highest price ever paid for coffee at such an auction, over $120 per kilo. In 2006, this was an astronomically high price, but today, Geisha coffee from this valley has become so sought after that some lots sell for several thousand dollars per kilo. The price itself is not the main point here, but that the Geisha varietal from these farms in this mountain climate yields a taste profile unmatched anywhere else on the globe.

View up the Boquete Valley where the magic happens. Barú volcano in the background.

This is therefore a story about our own relationship with the Geisha varietal, the place it comes from, and the families who cultivate it. Java espresso bar and Mocca coffee bar & roastery (where the coffee was roasted before, while today at KAFFA) were the first and at the time the only customers of Hacienda La Esmeralda outside the American continent. Since then, many other farmers have started growing Geisha, both in the same region and elsewhere in the world. Customers have flocked, and the Boquete Valley has gained renown due to the coffee itself, and the progressive environment for coffee cultivation and processing.

For our part, we have established a good tradition, maintained a solid trade relationship, and made many good friendships with the most skilled farmers in the village.

Daniel Peterson, 3rd generation coffee farmer and the one who discovered the Geisha varietal at Hacienda La Esmeralda in 2004. This bush is from the "Mario" plot.

Since it's now time to celebrate, read: Java anniversary, Christmas, and soon a new year, we want to beat the drum a little. Therefore, we have purchased lots from several different plots. Hacienda La Esmeralda has several small farms (e.g. Jaramillo) and each of them is divided into plots (e.g. Mario). Moreover, we have chosen to present lots of both classic wet processing and natural (dry-processed) methods.

Geisha drying. Processed as natural (left) and washed (right):

This time, we have bought these lots directly from the family, and although the price tag may seem high now, it would actually have cost many times more if we had had to buy the green coffee from auction. For us at KAFFA, the value of this coffee lies on other planes anyway, or to put it in New Norwegian, this coffee is priceless.

Let's celebrate!

St.Hanshaugen, Oslo. December 2022

This is part 2 of two blog posts celebrating Java at St.Hanshaugen in Oslo turning 25. Read the first part here.

Link to Hacienda La Esmeralda

Longer article about Hacienda La Esmeralda on Kaffe.no