Panama Geisha La Eameralda Tasting
The Trance...
Late last month saw a Friday afternoon of coffee savouring at TCR. A special tasting event was held to honour one of the most talked about coffees of this year.
Grown in Jaramillo, Boquete, Panama at 1550-1650m above sea level, a varietal called Geisha is considered the Queen of coffee. Hacienda La Esmeralda is the producer of this rarity. February this year saw only 8 x 22kg boxes harvested with Single Origin Coffee Roasters scoring one box aaaaand it was a natural process. Natural process means that the fruit of the coffee cherry is allowed to dry surrounding the bean after harvesting. This produces flavours of ripe berry, with the classic Geisha tangerine sweetness & the most lush tropical fruit aroma.
Enough of the technical info, lets get down to business...
Seats pre sold for $20 bucks as peeps were quaking at the chance to taste, savour & believe. Feeling immense pressure to brew this bean to perfection but privileged to hold so close, I slice open the tiny 125g bag. The aroma of life drifts into my aurora & I'm taken to my special coffee place. We taste... We savour... Not sure? Leave it to cool & see... Time to adjust... Slightly...
Take 2... Then the flavour hits me, calm & tropical, yet syrupy & loooooooooong. Tangerine sweetness erupts on the tip of my tongue, low acidity & bitterness with such a clean finish that will linger for dayzzzzzzz! I'm in a trance-like state... The colours... The stripes... Blue & white stripes. My senses are out of control with every sip. The linger makes me want more but there isn't any.
It's the end. Well, until next season...