Is Geisha Blend Coffee a Single-Origin Bean? Introduction to Mariposa and Mirasou Geisha Blends

At FrontStreet Coffee, you'll find two Geisha blend coffees: one is FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Flower Butterfly Coffee, and the other is FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Mirasu Estate Strawberry Sugar Geisha Blend Coffee. Although both are called "blend coffees," they are genuinely single-origin coffee beans.

The Brilliant Debut of Geisha in Panama and Costa Rica

Geisha was discovered in 1931 in the Geisha Forest of Ethiopia and later sent to the Kenyan Coffee Research Institute. In 1936, it was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania, and in 1953, it was brought to Costa Rica.

In 1963, Don Pachi Serracin introduced Geisha coffee tree varieties from Costa Rica to Panama. Due to low yields directly affecting harvest volumes, coffee farmers had little interest in cultivation. It wasn't until Daniel Peterson, owner of Panama La Esmeralda, accidentally discovered that coffee beans from Geisha coffee trees originally serving as windbreaks at the highest point of his coffee estate produced the characteristic citrus and floral notes unique to African beans. He then separated these coffee beans to participate in the 2004 Panama Cupping Competition, where they gained instant fame. From then on, Geisha beans became unstoppable, winning consecutive championships in the Panama Coffee Cupping Competition for many years. In the eyes of specialty coffee enthusiasts worldwide today, Geisha coffee beans are undoubtedly the supreme treasure.

FrontStreet Coffee · Panama Boquete Flower Butterfly Coffee Beans

Region: Panama · Boquete

Altitude: 1600m

Variety: 70% Geisha, Caturra, Catuai

Processing: Washed Process

FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Boquete Flower Butterfly is composed of 70% Geisha coffee varieties, made up of Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai varieties. It is grown in the Baru Volcano region of Boquete, at an altitude of 1600 meters in volcanic areas. The processing plant uses refined washed processing. Panama's special microclimate results in abundant rainfall in this region and significant temperature differences between day and night. Combined with the unique volcanic soil of volcanic areas, as well as meticulous harvesting and refined processing, this FrontStreet Coffee Panama Flower Butterfly coffee performs exceptionally well in body, acidity, and floral notes.

FrontStreet Coffee · Costa Rica Mirasu Estate Strawberry Sugar Geisha Blend Coffee Beans

Region: Costa Rica, Tarrazú

Estate: Mirasu Estate

Altitude: 1700m

Variety: Geisha, ET47, SL28, MAICO

Processing: Raisin Honey Process

Similarly, FrontStreet Coffee's Mirasu Estate Strawberry Sugar Geisha Blend from Costa Rica is composed of Geisha, ET47, SL28, and MAICO varieties. These are all single-origin coffee beans grown on the same estate and then blended. It's worth mentioning the ET47 and SL28 variety coffee beans. ET47 is a native Ethiopian variety. In the 1990s, the Costa Rica Coffee Research Institute gave many introduced varieties to farmers in the Tarrazú region as research trees for rust resistance. The original goal in selecting SL28 was to mass-produce coffee beans that combined high quality with disease and pest resistance. In some regions, the main goal of selection was high yield without considering disease resistance. Thanks to Bourbon genetics, although SL28's yield was later lower than expected, its copper-colored leaves and broad bean shape produce wonderful sweetness, balance, and complex, varied flavors, as well as significant citrus and plum characteristics.

As for whether these two blended coffee beans belong to the single-origin coffee category, FrontStreet Coffee believes that the general definition of single-origin coffee is coffee from a single origin, specifically referring to a particular plantation or small region. From this perspective, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Flower Butterfly is produced by small farmers in the smaller Boquete region, while FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Strawberry Sugar Geisha Blend comes entirely from Mirasu Estate, completely matching the definition of single-origin coffee. What we call Geisha blend coffee is because the bean varieties are not unique— it's composed mainly of Geisha coffee beans, supplemented with other coffee bean varieties from the estate.

Coffee Bean Processing Methods

FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Flower Butterfly coffee uses the washed processing method. Selected coffee cherries are put into a depulper to initially remove their skin and pulp; coffee beans with residual pulp and mucilage are placed in water to ferment for about 24 hours; after fermentation, coffee beans with parchment are put into flowing water channels to wash away their pulp and mucilage; after washing, the coffee beans are dried in the sun or with dryers to reduce moisture content to about 12%. Finally, the parchment is removed from the coffee beans. The washed processing method gives FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Butterfly a brighter acidity and highlights the floral characteristics of Geisha coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mirasu Strawberry Sugar Geisha Blend coffee uses raisin honey processing, retaining 100% mucilage and zero water processing methods. This increases the difficulty of honey processing, requiring strict time control. On the day of harvesting coffee berries, the harvested coffee berries are poured into large water tanks. Mature, full fruits will sink to the bottom; underdeveloped or overripe fruits will float to the surface and need to be removed. Selected coffee fruits are dried on raised beds for at least three days, then the berry skin is removed, retaining mucilage before further drying. At this stage, climate factors are key to successful honey processing. During drying, these coffee fruits need to be constantly turned to ensure even drying, but the turning frequency must be controlled to ensure slow drying for fermentation treatment, but not so slow as to cause over-fermentation. The raisin processing method enhances the sweetness of this FrontStreet Coffee Mirasu Strawberry Sugar Geisha Blend.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis

Due to the particularity of FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Flower Butterfly in terms of variety, FrontStreet Coffee's roaster decided to use medium-light roasting. Because the beans have high density and hardness, they start with high heat for dehydration, then reduce heat before first crack to control temperature rise, trying to preserve the loss of small molecule aromatic substances like floral notes, so as not to destroy Geisha's unique floral, white grape, caramel, honey, and black tea aromas.

For a 550g roast: Preheat the roaster to 200°C, load beans, adjust heat to 160 after 30 seconds, open damper to 3, return to temperature point at 1'31", maintain heat; turn yellow at 4'50", grassy smell disappears, enter dehydration stage, adjust heat down to 130°C at 165°C, keep damper at 4. Dehydration completes at 7'50", bean surface shows wrinkles and black patterns, toast smell turns to coffee aroma, this is the prelude to first crack, pay attention to listen for first crack sound. First crack starts at 8'31", fully open damper to 5, adjust heat to 70°C. Development time after first crack is 1'28", unload at 193°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Brewing Parameters:

Water Temperature: 90-91°C

Grind Size: 20# standard sieve 80% pass rate (fine sugar size)

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Coffee Amount: 15 grams

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Method: First pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour 95g (scale shows about 125g), finishing in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100g (scale shows about 225g), finishing in about 1 minute 40 seconds. Complete dripping between 1'55"-2'00", remove the filter cone, and complete extraction.

[FrontStreet Coffee Panama Flower Butterfly] Brewing Flavor: Floral notes, black tea, berries, citrus, with a light nutty finish. Smooth texture, low bitterness, moderate acidity, medium aftertaste.

[FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica Mirasu Estate Strawberry Sugar Geisha Blend] Brewing Flavor: Fresh jasmine fragrance, gentle fruit acidity, almond aftertaste, with noticeable sweetness.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473