What's the Difference Between a $3 and $30 Cup of Coffee? Why is the $340/lb Red Geisha So Expensive

During leisure time, relaxing at a coffee shop to enjoy a cup of coffee has become an increasingly popular way for people to enjoy life. However, coffee prices range from 30 to 300 yuan. Why is there such a huge price gap when they're all coffee? When it comes to expensive coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes that Gesha must be on the list. When people mention Gesha, the first thing they think of is how good it tastes, followed by its expensive price.

What Makes Gesha So Expensive?

Gesha participated in auctions in 2004, and the bidding wars had already pushed Gesha to astonishing prices. Looking back at the 2017 Panama Specialty Coffee auction, a batch of natural Gesha from Hacienda La Esmeralda fetched an astronomical price of $601 per pound, almost double the previous coffee bean auction prices. This means that one kilogram of green beans cost as much as 8,900 RMB. In 2018, the auction price for Hacienda La Esmeralda's Red Label Gesha was $340 per pound, won by HARU International Corp, while other bidding Gesha coffees ranged from $80-100 per pound. By 2019, the highest bid broke through $1,029 per pound.

Gesha is a coffee variety with rich and elegant floral aromas, citrus, peach, and complex fruit acidity, creamy smooth mouthfeel, and a finish with oolong tea sweetness. Its delicate flavor expression makes people feel as if they're not drinking coffee, but rather tasting a cup of fragrant fruit tea. FrontStreet Coffee mentions in many articles that coffee, as an agricultural product, has flavor expressions always closely related to factors such as variety, climate, altitude, soil, and management. It's a natural and true reflection of the variety and local terroir, while post-processing methods and roasting should maximize the preservation, restoration, and presentation of their most authentic flavors. Therefore, Gesha's excellence is inseparable from the combination of all the above factors.

As the saying goes, "scarcity brings value." Gesha coffee production is extremely scarce. Panama's annual coffee production is about 10,000 tons, while the renowned Hacienda La Esmeralda produces only 150 bags of green beans annually, about 9,000 kilograms. If Gesha accounts for only 3% of production, that's only 270 kilograms. Coupled with various media publicity and embellishment of Gesha's flavor, people's enthusiasm for Gesha has only increased, so Gesha coffee prices naturally remain high.

Compared to other Arabica varieties, Gesha not only has low fruit yield but the plants are particularly fragile and quite picky about their growing environment. It requires high altitude, fertile soil, cloud cover or plant shade, and cannot be directly exposed to harsh sunlight. The leaf system of Gesha coffee trees is very thin, meaning photosynthesis efficiency is very low, and the roots are quite fragile, with slow absorption of water and nutrients. Therefore, coffee production is very low, and with the high-altitude growing environment, fruit maturity time is also relatively late. The fruit yield of a Gesha coffee tree is only half that of the Caturra variety, plus higher costs for manual care, which is one of the reasons why Gesha is so precious.

How Did Gesha Become Famous?

Gesha coffee's current ultra-high reputation, FrontStreet Coffee believes, is largely thanks to Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda. Daniel Peterson, the third-generation owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda, stated that the discovery of the "Gesha variety" was only finalized in 2003 after years of comparison and testing. Two weeks before the 2003 Best of Panama (BOP) competition, when selecting competition batches on the internal cupping table, he discovered that the Gesha variety had outstanding flavors of jasmine, citrus, peach, blueberry, bergamot, and sugarcane. These flavors were different from the preferred flavors in the coffee circle at that time, but Daniel still chose to enter the Gesha variety in the competition and won first place.

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

Where to Find High Value-for-Money Gesha Coffee?

As the place where Gesha became famous, Panama's mature cultivation techniques and processing methods still guarantee Gesha coffee's reputation in the industry. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee has launched a very cost-effective Boquete region Gesha coffee, using washed processing. For just 30 yuan at FrontStreet Coffee stores, you can taste the classic Gesha flavor.

The washed process first puts selected coffee cherries into a depulper to initially remove the skin and pulp; the coffee beans with remaining pulp and mucilage are placed in water to ferment for about 24 hours; after fermentation, the coffee beans with parchment are placed in flowing water channels to wash away the pulp and mucilage; after washing, the coffee beans are dried in the sun or with the help of dryers to reduce moisture content to about 12%. Finally, the parchment is removed from the green coffee beans.

As one of the most traditional green bean processing methods, washing not only makes coffee production quality more stable but also presents Gesha with higher cleanliness and fresher flavor profiles. After roasting, FrontStreet Coffee experiences Gesha's elegant white floral aromas, uplifting citrus and lemon acidity, with a slight green tea finish, reminiscent of drinking a gentle Tieguanyin tea. How should such rich-tasting Gesha coffee be brewed to avoid waste?

FrontStreet Coffee's Pour-Over Recommendations

Panama's Gesha growing environment is high-altitude, and the coffee beans are quite hard. FrontStreet Coffee's roasters generally use medium-light roasting for beans with floral and fruity notes to preserve more quality acidity. Light roasting doesn't significantly change the internal structure of the coffee beans, so FrontStreet Coffee's baristas use higher water temperature and finer grinding to stimulate Gesha's aromatics.

Dripper: V60
Water Temperature: 91-92°C
Dose: 15g
Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Fine sugar size (80% pass through #20 sieve)

Three-stage extraction: First stage: Use 30g water to bloom for 30 seconds, pour in circular motion to form a dome. Second stage: Pour 95g hot water, when the coffee bed drops to half, start the third stage with 100g, until all coffee drips through. Note: Start pouring from the center, use small water flow with gentle circular motion throughout to avoid uneven extraction.

The pour-over Panama washed Boquete Gesha coffee has clear acidity of citrus, lemon, and bergamot, with a creamy smooth mouthfeel when swallowed, and a finish of green tea and honey sweetness.

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