How Much Does Starbucks Gesha Black Coffee Cost - Gesha Coffee Bean Varieties, Flavor Characteristics, and Story

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Is Geisha Coffee Really Expensive?

"Is Geisha coffee really expensive?" Many people, when first hearing about Geisha coffee, might be intimidated by its distinctive name. In reality, although Geisha coffee is relatively more expensive than many ordinary specialty coffee beans, not every variety of Geisha coffee beans is that expensive.

The Panamanian Geisha coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) also have different prices. The price of a cup of Geisha coffee ranges from 30-75 yuan depending on the bean's origin, while a package of Geisha coffee beans costs between 85-350 yuan, also varying by origin.

The Origins of Geisha Coffee

Geisha coffee beans are not actually coffee beans grown in a specific region. Geisha is one of the varieties within the Arabica coffee bean family. However, this variety was not initially discovered for its unique fruit acidity and floral aroma. So what opportunity led to the Geisha coffee variety becoming the "Hermès" of the specialty coffee world?

Geisha coffee originated in Ethiopia. It was discovered in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia in 1931 and then sent to a coffee research institute in Kenya. In 1936, it was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania. Costa Rica introduced it in 1953, and Panama introduced it in the 1960s when Don Pachi brought seeds from CATIE in Costa Rica and began planting Geisha coffee, also distributing it to other estates. Initially, everyone planned to use it to improve the disease resistance of other coffee varieties. Due to its low coffee yield, this variety was not taken seriously.

It wasn't until the son of the Hacienda La Esmeralda owner noticed the variety's charming aroma that it was separated out, processed individually, and sent to competitions. Finally, in 2004, it won the Best of Panama (BOP) green bean competition championship. The excellent performance of Geisha coffee beans immediately drew attention from the specialty coffee industry. From discovery to overnight success, the Geisha coffee variety endured nearly half a century. In subsequent green bean competitions, Geisha consistently defeated other varieties (such as Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, etc.). For fairness, later green bean competitions established separate categories, also stipulating that Geisha varieties could only compete with Geisha varieties, otherwise it would be too unfair to other coffee varieties.

The Rise of Geisha Coffee

After Geisha became an overnight success, Hacienda La Esmeralda also stated that this variety only produces more charming coffee flavor when grown in regions above 1600m. Although Geisha grown at around 1500m still has charming aroma, it lacks complexity. Since most coffee estates in the Panama region have high-altitude advantages, they all began planting the Geisha variety.

However, despite this, Geisha coffee grown in different estates and regions within Panama shows varying degrees of flavor differences, and Geisha coffee prices are determined by factors such as estate fame, award status, and overall flavor performance. Currently, the most expensive Geisha coffee beans are competition-grade Red Label Geisha coffee beans from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda, with auction prices exceeding 20,000 RMB per kilogram.

Geisha Classifications at Hacienda La Esmeralda

At Hacienda La Esmeralda, Geisha coffee beans are divided into Esmeralda Special (Red Label), Private Reserve (Green Label), and Geisha 1500 (Blue Label). (In 2022, the Blue Label grade was cancelled, and the coffee beans that were defined as this grade were purchased in bulk by a green bean company and named Volcanic Geisha coffee beans. After cupping comparison by FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), Volcanic Geisha coffee beans have the tonality of Hacienda La Esmeralda's Blue Label Geisha coffee beans and are very close. Therefore, it was confirmed that Volcanic Geisha coffee beans are Hacienda La Esmeralda's Blue Label Geisha coffee beans.)

Among them, the Red Label has the highest price. The Geisha planting plots are divided very finely: Jaramillo plot, Cañas Verdes plot, and Vuelta plot, with each estate further divided into smaller plots. The average altitude of this plot is 1700 meters. As the most original plot of Hacienda La Esmeralda, when Geisha became famous, it expanded around the original Cañas Verdes plot to grow Geisha coffee on a larger scale. The Green Label coffee beans are a mixture of Geisha coffee beans grown at 1600-1700 meters altitude from several plots. The Blue Label is a mixture of Geisha coffee beans grown at around 1500 meters altitude from several plots.

The Red Label, Green Label, and Volcanic from Hacienda La Esmeralda can all be purchased at FrontStreet Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) Tmall flagship store/physical store. In addition to Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee also offers 90+ Estate Geisha coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's Hope Estate Geisha coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete Geisha coffee beans, and the Geisha blend from the same producing region—FrontStreet Coffee's Flower Butterfly coffee beans.

Brewing Recommendations from FrontStreet Coffee

All coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) are freshly roasted and will be shipped within 5 days after roasting completion. Since Geisha coffee grows at high altitudes, the day-night temperature difference gives coffee beans sufficient time for growth and flavor development. Therefore, Geisha variety beans are relatively hard and tend to sink easily, potentially clogging the drainage holes. For this reason, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) recommends using a coffee grind size with a 78% pass rate on a China standard No. 20 sieve (approximately fine sugar size), and suggests using a brewing water temperature of 90-91 degrees Celsius.

Use 15g of coffee grounds with a Hario V60 small-sized dripper, then brew using a 1:16 coffee-to-water ratio. Once everything is ready, adopt a three-stage brewing method: start timing, first pour water to 30g and let it bloom for 30 seconds; then begin the second stage with small circular pours to 125g, wait until the water level drops to halfway before continuing to pour, then continue with small circular pours to 225g. After complete drip filtration, the total extraction time should be around 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds.

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