What's the Difference Between Geisha Village Geisha and Regular Ethiopian Estate Geisha?

Most coffee lovers have heard of the renowned Gesha variety. Gesha coffee has gained great prominence in Panama, which has established Panamanian Gesha and driven up the value of Panamanian coffee. However, the Gesha variety did not originate in Panama itself but comes from coffee's homeland—Ethiopia.

As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia grows many wild coffee tree species. Even local Ethiopians cannot distinguish between countless unnamed coffee trees, so locals refer to native coffee beans as Ethiopian landraces. The Panamanian Gesha coffee we're familiar with was discovered in a forest called "gesha," then sent to Kenya for research, and subsequently spread to Uganda, Tanzania, and Costa Rica. Panama's Gesha variety was introduced from Costa Rica.

Documentary filmmaker Adam Overton and his photographer wife Rachel Samuel established their own estate in Gesha Village, located near the Gori Gesha Forest.

Adam followed mule estate owner and BOP judge Willem Boot into the forests surrounding the estate for an "adventure." In a jungle magically enveloped by dense forest, they discovered several wild tree species. Their greatest surprise was finding wild Gesha. They later learned that this was the Gori Gesha Forest—the place where the Gesha variety was first discovered. They collected seeds from the original Gesha trees, screened them, and planted them in Gesha Village. They decided to establish their estate here, naming it Gesha Village Coffee Estate—a 475-hectare coffee farm located about 12 miles from the Gori Gesha Forest.

There are almost no large estates and estate hierarchies in Ethiopia. After Willem Boot and Adam discovered the Gesha Forest, they decided to apply La Esmeralda's business model to this location, making Gesha Village Ethiopia's first coffee estate. Their approach is that every batch, with its own label, can be traced back to detailed information about the beans, and follows a strict grading system: Auction, Gold Label, Red Label, Green Label, and Chaka batches.

Comparison Between Gesha Village and La Esmeralda

Because Gesha Village, like Panama's La Esmeralda, has a strict grading system, and their products are named by label colors in China, this has led many consumers to confuse the products from both estates. The most frequent confusion occurs between the Red Label Gesha and Green Label Gesha from these two estates.

Take the Green Label as an example: FrontStreet Coffee's Green Label from La Esmeralda is a washed processing batch. Currently, La Esmeralda defines "Green Label" as Gesha coffee grown at altitudes between 1600-1800 meters, mainly from three farms within the estate: Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, and El Velo, featuring classic Panamanian Gesha flavor characteristics.

In contrast, Gesha Village's Green Label batches refer to single-plot, single-variety lots from the Gesha Village estate. Many Ethiopian coffee beans cannot provide detailed variety information, but this Green Label can be traced back to its planting plot, coffee variety, processing method, and other related information. For Gesha Village's Green Label, FrontStreet Coffee has also obtained a natural processed batch, using medium-light roasting to highlight its floral and fruity aromas.

Gesha Village Natural Process

FrontStreet Coffee's Gesha Village coffee uses natural processing. First, floating matter and impurities are removed, then the coffee is dried in thin layers on African raised beds, covered with plastic sheets. During drying on the beds, a second screening is performed to remove insect-damaged beans and green-colored coffee beans. The total drying time is 18-30 days. FrontStreet Coffee believes that naturally processed coffee has noticeable sweetness, soft acidity, and develops complex fruit flavor characteristics.

Those familiar with the Gesha story should know that La Esmeralda grows only one Gesha variety—the once-recorded "geisha T2722," a fungus-resistant variety. However, Gesha Village has two Gesha varieties: one is Gori Gesha, which is FrontStreet Coffee's Gesha Village Green Label variety, named after the Gori Gesha Forest where it was discovered. The other is Gesha 1931, commemorating the year 1931 when Gesha was discovered—this is the variety used for FrontStreet Coffee's Gold Label Gesha.

Cupping Comparison

To find clearer distinctions between the two, FrontStreet Coffee conducted a cupping comparison between Panama Green Label Gesha coffee and Gesha Village Green Label Gesha. First, 11.3 grams of each Green Label coffee bean were ground separately, then hot water at 94°C was poured in. During these four minutes, the wet aroma of the coffee grounds could be smelled. After four minutes, the crust could be broken, skimmed, and tasting could begin.

Through comparison, FrontStreet Coffee found that the similarity between Gesha Village Green Label and La Esmeralda Green Label is not high, even presenting completely different style characteristics. La Esmeralda's washed Green Label Gesha has excellent cleanliness with no off-flavors, very smooth mouthfeel, and flavors predominantly featuring white floral notes, blueberry, lemon, and tea sensations, with honey and brown sugar sweetness particularly prominent.

In contrast, Gesha Village's Green Label Gesha coffee tends toward candied fruit and raspberry flavors. Besides the intense berry aroma, it also carries bright acidity from cherry and citrus, leaving a lingering faint floral note and black tea finish after drinking.

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