Why is Geisha Coffee Called Geisha? The Origin Story of the Geisha Coffee Variety

The Origin Story of the Coffee Variety Geisha: Why Geisha Coffee is Called Geisha

There are many ways to name coffee, such as by estate, country, or growing region. However, one of the world's most expensive coffees, Geisha, is named after its variety—meaning Geisha coffee is actually a coffee variety. Geisha coffee beans originate from the Kaffa forest in Ethiopia's Geisha Mountain, yet it gained fame through Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda.

Since Geisha coffee became famous, many regions around the world have started growing it. Geisha coffee has become the new king of specialty coffee, with particularly high quality and prices in South American countries like Panama, Guatemala, and Colombia. Geisha coffee beans offer floral notes, tropical fruit flavors, and intense sweetness. The experience it provides is like sipping the fragrance of a fresh bouquet of flowers, akin to a glass of rich fruit juice.

The Geisha coffee tree grows tall with slender leaves and is resistant to coffee leaf rust disease. It branches from the trunk, and its green beans are elongated in shape. When roasted, the beans exhibit strong, intense fruity characteristics. Due to its low yield, this variety couldn't be acquired for commercial trade. It is cultivated in small quantities in countries such as Panama, Jamaica, Malawi, Kenya, and Guatemala.

The Origin Story of the Coffee Variety Geisha

Geisha originated from Geisha Mountain in southwestern Ethiopia. With its cultivation spreading worldwide in recent years, it has become synonymous with a coffee variety. "Geisha" has a similar pronunciation to the Japanese word "geisha." Around 2006, Mr. Yuan from Calamondin Coffee first imported Panamanian Geisha to China. With its explosive floral and fruity flavors, he named this variety "Guixia" in Chinese, which has been used ever since. This is why many people often refer to Geisha coffee beans as "Geisha coffee beans."

Why was "Geisha" changed to "Guixia"?

According to information researched by FrontStreet Coffee, because of the term "Geisha," many coffee merchants have used the Japanese "geisha" in their packaging and promotions. This approach is somewhat inappropriate, as there is essentially no connection between the two except for their similar pronunciation. Therefore, by changing the Chinese translation of Gesha, consumers new to Geisha coffee will no longer mistakenly believe it was named after the Japanese traditional performing art of geisha. It also aims to clearly avoid any future instances of Orientalist imagery being used in marketing and referencing this coffee, while making this coffee variety with its delicate flavors and experienced palate more poetic.

Geisha Coffee

Like many Arabica varieties, Geisha also originates from Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee. In 1931, Geisha was first collected from the wild Kaffa forest in southern Ethiopia, with the aim of finding new disease-resistant varieties. It was named after the nearby Geisha Mountain. Later, it was transferred to research institutes in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania for trial planting. In 1953, the Geisha variety arrived at CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) in Costa Rica and was recorded as T2722. Although it was planted on several local farms, Geisha's brittle branches and low yield didn't make it popular among farmers, nor was it widely cultivated.

Beginning in the 1960s, CATIE distributed T2722 Geisha to Panamanian coffee farmers, and Geisha began its journey into the fertile lands of Panama. In the 1990s, the Peterson family, owners of Hacienda La Esmeralda, began focusing on coffee production and acquired a new high-altitude farm, Jaramillo. Many coffee trees on the farm suffered from leaf rust disease, but Daniel Peterson noticed that the Geisha trees weren't severely affected. Therefore, they decided to transplant the Geisha, which was originally mixed with other varieties, to more areas of the farm while increasing its planting altitude.

After several years of comparison and testing by Daniel and his sister Rachel, they finally identified this variety in 2003. Two weeks before the 2003 Best of Panama (BOP) competition, while selecting competition batches on their internal cupping table, they discovered that the Geisha variety possessed outstanding flavors of jasmine, citrus, peach, blueberry, bergamot, and sugarcane. Although these flavors differed from the preferences of coffee connoisseurs at the time, Daniel still chose to participate in the competition with the Geisha variety and won first place. Therefore, the astonishing Panamanian Geisha coffee of today is the same T2722 variety from back then.

In 2005, Hacienda La Esmeralda entered Geisha in the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) competition, defeating many star contenders and earning the honor of world-class specialty coffee. It swept the world championships in 2006 and 2007, thus once again capturing the attention of coffee enthusiasts worldwide. Since then, coffee-growing regions everywhere have competed to introduce Geisha, including our country's Yunnan, which has also started planting this popular variety. Although Geisha can now be produced worldwide, FrontStreet Coffee believes that as the discoverer of Geisha's flavor profile, Hacienda La Esmeralda not only strictly controls the quality of its coffee but also uses natural processing methods to best present the classic "Geisha flavor."

Panamanian Geisha Coffee

Although many regions grow Geisha, each growing area has unique terroir, and different terroirs create distinct coffee flavors. Similarly, Geisha also displays its own flavor profile in each region. FrontStreet Coffee believes that the explosive popularity of Geisha's flavor is inseparable from the excellent environment of Boquete.

Panama has only three main coffee-growing regions: Boquete, Volcan, and Renacimiento, yet they produce some of the world's most expensive coffee. The Boquete region is one of the towns in Chiriquí Province, located on the eastern side of Barú Volcano at an altitude of approximately 1,000-2,000 meters. It faces the warm, moist monsoon winds from the Caribbean Sea, with cold Atlantic currents behind it. The mountains are high and steep, with "Barú Volcano National Park" serving as an ecological conservation area with rich biodiversity. It has seven microclimates, is shrouded in mist year-round, and receives abundant rainfall, creating excellent local growing conditions.

FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda and Elida Estate both come from the Boquete region. To allow more coffee friends to taste the flavor of Geisha coffee, FrontStreet Coffee has included the washed Boquete Geisha coffee from the Boquete region as one of its daily offerings.

Geisha is very particular about its growing environment, requiring high altitude, fertile soil, and cloud cover or plant shading—it cannot be directly exposed to sunlight. The owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda has mentioned that the estate needs many shade trees to protect the delicate Geisha from the sun, and traditional pruning methods must be used during the initial planting period, otherwise the plants can easily die. FrontStreet Coffee has found that Geisha planted at higher altitudes has a longer maturation time for coffee cherries and exhibits more complex and unique flavor profiles. This is precisely why Geisha from Ethiopia doesn't taste as good as Panamanian Geisha, and why it became famous at Hacienda La Esmeralda.

After Geisha won championship honors, the Peterson siblings systematically managed the Geisha coffee trees in their estate based on altitude, region, and cupping performance. The Geisha growing areas were divided into three main plots: Cañas Verdes, Jaramillo, and El Velo.

Geisha Coffee Bean Processing Methods:

Most Geisha coffee beans use the most traditional washed and natural processing methods. FrontStreet Coffee believes that naturally processed coffee has a richer mouthfeel than washed coffee, with more pronounced juiciness and stronger sweetness; while washed coffee has a cleaner, richer mouthfeel that better reflects the local coffee terroir. Therefore, most of FrontStreet Coffee's daily offerings are processed using the washed method.

FrontStreet Coffee's Roasting Suggestions for Geisha Coffee Beans:

Geisha coffee is world-renowned for its rich floral notes and complex fruit flavors. FrontStreet Coffee's roasters hope to preserve more of Geisha's quality acidity, therefore choosing a medium-light roast (with slight adjustments for different batches). This roast level doesn't significantly change the high hardness of beans grown at high altitudes, so brewing requires a higher extraction rate to present fuller flavor layers. This involves using higher water temperatures and a slightly finer grind to extract more aromatic compounds.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Parameters for Geisha Coffee:

FrontStreet Coffee's daily offerings mostly use the V60 dripper because its 60-degree angle design and spiral ribbing allow users to fully extract the essence of Geisha coffee by controlling water flow and pouring frequency. Meanwhile, the large outlet design prevents over-extraction. The V60 dripper features diversion ribs connecting the top and bottom and a large circular hole in the center, which accelerates water flow. The spiral-shaped exhaust grooves extend the water path, increasing contact time between coffee grounds and hot water. Each water stream converges along the grooves toward the center of the dripper, concentrating pressure on the coffee grounds and resulting in richer extraction layers.

Dripper: V60, Water temperature: 91-92°C, Dose: 15g, Water ratio: 1:15, Grind size: Fine sugar size (sieved through a #20 sieve to 80% retention).

Flavor characteristics of Panamanian Washed Boquete Geisha Coffee: It has clear acidity of citrus, lemon, and bergamot, with a creamy smooth mouthfeel when swallowed, and finishes with the sweetness of green tea and honey.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Suggestions:

When it comes to coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects the flavor of the coffee. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee ships all coffee beans within 5 days of roasting. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee possible. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it's at its peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee gently reminds you: if the coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for a resting period, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide buildup in the packaging also helps round out the coffee flavor. Therefore, you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly, as it oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning its flavor will dissipate relatively quickly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh for each brew to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

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