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Geisha Village Geisha | The Unique Geisha Village Gesha Village Ethiopia Original Geisha Go

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange, for more coffee bean information please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account cafe_style) Ethiopia Gesha Village Geisha Gori Natural Ethiopia Geisha Village Original Geisha Natural 01 | Region Introduction In recent years

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange. For more information about coffee beans, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

Ethiopia Gesha Village Gesha Gori Natural

FrontStreet Coffee · Ethiopia Gesha Village Gesha Gori Natural

Region | Bench-Maji

Altitude | 1900-2100m

Variety | Gesha Gori

Processing | Natural

01 | Region Introduction

In recent years, people have begun to focus on Gesha production in the indigenous regions of Ethiopia. When it comes to the Gesha Village brand, which has gained rapid fame in recent years, we must first talk about its founders, the Overton couple. In 2007, documentary director Adam Overton and his photographer wife Rachel Samuel, while filming a documentary about Ethiopian coffee for the Ethiopian government, encountered the Gera coffee forest in the Bench-Maji region. During this process, they not only rediscovered the great land of Ethiopia but also conceived the idea of establishing their own coffee estate and brand.

In 2009, they had the honor of meeting the renowned La Mula estate owner and BOP judge Willem Boot. Willem Boot's ideas provided an opportunity for the Overton couple: return to Ethiopia and find the birthplace of Gesha.

Finally, they arrived in Bench-Maji, a region in southwestern Ethiopia near South Sudan. Many areas in this region are called Gesha Village, which is also the most likely area to find the original Gesha. When they arrived in 2011, there was nothing on the estate.

Adam followed Willem Boot on "adventures" in the forests surrounding the estate, discovering multiple wild tree species in a jungle magically enveloped by dense forest. To their greatest surprise, they found wild Gesha. Later they learned that this was the Gori Gesha forest, the place where the Gesha variety was first discovered. So they collected seeds from the original Gesha trees, screened them, and then planted them in Gesha Village. They decided to establish the estate here and named it Gesha Village Coffee Estate, a 475-hectare coffee farm located about 12 miles from the Gori Gesha forest.

Gesha Village covers a total area of 475 hectares, gradually expanding its cultivation area since 2011. As of 2017, the planting area reached approximately 320 hectares.

Later, Willem Boot came to Gesha Village as their technical advisor. They discovered samples in a primary forest near the estate, known locally as Gori Gesha, that were very similar to the Gesha original variety being cultivated at La Mula estate.

Both the Overton couple and Willem Boot believed they had found the origin of Gesha, and subsequent breeding and cultivation work gradually confirmed this hypothesis.

In the 2017 Japanese Barista Championship, Takayuki Ishitani used beans from Gesha Village to win the championship, not to mention the excellent performance of Gesha Village's green beans on various auction cupping tables.

2017 Gesha Village Coffee Estate

Independent Auction Data Overview

(Source: Grand Cru)

The first global public auction of Gesha Village Coffee Estate began at 9:00 AM (BST) on May 31, 2017, with nearly 3 hours of intense bidding. Buyers from multiple countries and regions including Hong Kong, Japan, and Greece participated in the auction, successfully winning 21 auction lots.

-Average bidding price for Gesha Village auction lots

Gesha Village owners Adam Overton and Rachel Samuel participated in an expedition, collecting seedlings from the forest; they have now cultivated several Gesha varieties from this expedition to achieve the highest quality goal. Rachel said: "Gesha enjoys a prestigious reputation in the industry for its high quality, but Ethiopia has not become an important part of its story, despite Gesha originally coming from here. We are excited to help develop the coffee specialty market in the Gesha region so that this amazing coffee is finally available in its birthplace."

-Gesha Village workers selecting coffee cherries

Three Strict Quality Control Stages:

Creating Super Premium Coffee

(Source: Grand Cru)

Quality Control Stage 1: Variety Selection

To fulfill the mission of growing the world's best coffee, Gesha Village strictly controls the selection process. They sent coffee seeds collected from the Gori Gesha forest, 20 kilometers away from Gesha Village estate, to professional institutions for genetic testing, confirming this area as the original collection site of the Panama Gesha variety. Subsequently, by studying coffee tree morphology, bean appearance and size, and cupping results, they selected the Gesha variety most similar to today's Panama Gesha and began seedling cultivation. The coffee varieties currently planted in Gesha Village are shown in the figure below:

-Current coffee varieties at Gesha Village

Due to the very large area of the estate, the estate owners divided Gesha Village into 8 major areas for better management and product differentiation, and then renumbered each batch internally to facilitate batch distinction. It's worth mentioning that some Gesha estates in certain regions may not have very prominent differences between batches due to their relatively small scale. However, for a large estate like Gesha Village, differences between various plots are equivalent to differences between estates in Panama, and must be taken seriously.

-Processing time for beans from different plots at Gesha Village in 2017

02 | Processing Method

Harvesting and processing.

With the support and cooperation of local residents, they successfully trained a group of high-level pickers and processing plant workers. "Only pick the most mature coffee cherries" and "don't take any that have fallen on the ground or are spoiled" are the requirements every worker is instructed to follow. The picking instructors teach workers what kind of coffee is most mature and what cherries are spoiled. When the coffee is placed on drying beds for natural processing, another selection is made to pick out insect-damaged beans and underripe green coffee beans. Additionally, all drying environments first start in shade to avoid rapid drying in sunlight that would make the coffee shell too brittle and crack.

-Gesha Village drying beds

The main processing methods for Gesha Village's green bean production are two types, as shown in the table below:

At the same time, Gesha Village is also experimenting with various processing methods, including dry fermentation, wet fermentation, and various honey processes.

03 | Green Bean Analysis

The green beans are smaller than those from Panama. FrontStreet Coffee's washed Gesha green beans have a very beautiful blue-green color, while FrontStreet Coffee's natural Gesha green beans have a beautiful green with slight yellow tones, presenting a jade-like warm texture. They smell of fresh grass, peaches, berries, and the unique milky-sweet aroma of oolong tea that most coffee beans lack. It seems that aroma and flavor require a lot of associative thinking, but the subtle tea aroma is something we can clearly perceive.

| Unique Floral and Fruity Aroma

Among many coffees, floral aroma and intense tropical fruit sweetness are consistent characteristics of Gesha.

04 | Roasting Analysis

This FrontStreet Coffee natural Gesha Village coffee has relatively small beans with high density, absorbing more heat during the roasting process, and the Maillard reaction occurs relatively quickly. In the first batch of roasting, I used a high dropping temperature of 210°C, continuously applying heat before the coffee beans dehydrated and turned yellow to ensure sufficient heat would last until the end of roasting.

Entry temperature of 200°C, with relatively reduced heat, gradually increasing the heat as needed during roasting. With this operating method, the coffee's dehydration time is extended compared to the first batch, with a temperature increase rate of 6-8°C every thirty seconds.

| Gesha, Roasting

To highlight the characteristics and aroma of this FrontStreet Coffee natural Gesha, light roasting is used, which best brings out the bean's inherent characteristics. Too dark would damage the floral aroma and fruit acidity. Of course, this should also be adjusted according to the coffee bean's characteristics and the roaster's understanding of the bean itself.

During the roasting stage, a smaller starting heat of 140°C and a slower roasting rhythm are used to express the multi-layered flavors of this coffee.

Roaster: Yangjia 600g semi-direct heat

Preheat to 200°C, air vent at 3.5, adjust heat to 140°C after 30 seconds, air vent unchanged. Return temperature point at 1'35", adjust heat once at 152°C, at which point the bean surface turns yellow, grass aroma completely disappears, dehydration is complete, adjust heat to 120°C, air vent to 4.

At 8'45", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma clearly transforms to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 7'43", reduce heat to 80°C, fully open air vent to 5 (adjust heat very carefully, not so low that there's no crackling sound). After first crack, develop for 1'20", drop at 193°C.

Cupping:

Dry aroma: wine, apricot

Wet aroma: sweet orange juice feeling, jasmine flowers, sweet peach, wine, pineapple, bright and rich

Sipping: citrus, tropical fruit aroma, ripe fruit aroma, berry notes, citrus, light fermented wine aroma, clear and bright acidity, smooth texture, grapes, maple syrup, wild ginger flowers, delicate fruit acidity, clean and balanced mouthfeel, lively and lingering fruity sweet aftertaste.