PANAMA GEISHA ESMERELDA COFFEE

La Esmerelda farm on the slopes of Volcan Baru in Panama produces what is currently the most sought-after coffee in the world. Grown on a rare varietal known as Geisha, it has come to represent the pinnacle of coffee flavour. We are pleased to have purchased a micro-lot from the Jaramillo section of the farm. It is also one of the most expensive coffees in the world, a value based on its unique character and low yield. The air in Jaramillo is a high up in the mountains kind of wet and cold, surprisingly perfect for making the pronounced bergamot and jasmine aromatics of the Geisha variety sing. Notes of berry, citrus, mango, papaya, peach, pineapple, guava, honey, raspberry, apricot and mandarin are also described. The farm jumps up from rolling hills on its lower part to steep 40 degree inclines higher up, making harvesting a manual and challenging affair. It is these high altitudes that really make the Geisha’s bright, floral aromatics express themselves. With cooler temperatures and massive shade trees that have been standing for ages, it turns out that Jaramillo is the perfect place for this variety to have landed. To this day many of the top performing micro lots of Geisha coffee come from little patches on the slopes of Jaramillo. The Geisha plant has elegant, elongated leaves, cherries and beans making them hard to mistake.