What Variety is Gesha Village Gesha Coffee Bean? What is the Price of Gesha Village Red Label Grade Coffee?

When mentioning Geisha coffee, many people's first reaction might be the intense white floral aroma, enticing juiciness, and honey sweetness of Panamanian Geisha coffee. Those familiar with the history of the Geisha coffee variety all know that the now-default Geisha coffee variety was discovered in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia in the 1930s, went through several transitions, and arrived at the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica in the 1950s and 60s as a sample, where it was numbered T2722. It was distributed to Panama for cultivation in the 1970s, and in 2004, it gained fame by winning the Best of Panama (BOP) competition and breaking the auction price for green coffee beans.

Although modern scientific instruments have concluded that the genetic relationship between Panamanian Geisha varieties and Ethiopian Geisha varieties is not strong, we shouldn't give up on tasting and comparing the differences between them. After all, experiencing both is very important.

As a top-tier estate that has brought Ethiopia back to the forefront of world-class coffee, Geisha Village has always been an essential specialty coffee that FrontStreet Coffee cannot miss. With absolute recognition, the estate owner's passion and dedication to coffee have always guaranteed quality. Geisha Village Estate grows the Geisha variety, which is the origin of the top Panamanian Geisha varieties. Excellent growing conditions and post-processing methods make Geisha Village's coffee highly priced yet still sought after. Both natural and washed processes display elegant floral and fruit aromas with a smooth, rounded mouthfeel. FrontStreet Coffee pursues coffee beans with unique characteristics and compelling background stories, and this coffee produced by Geisha Village Estate meets our requirements. Today, we're sharing the Red Label, which offers excellent value for money.

Geisha Village

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 located in the Bench-Maji region. During this process, they not only rediscovered this great land of Ethiopia but also developed the idea of establishing their own coffee estate and brand.

In 2009, they had the good fortune to meet 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 to find Geisha's birthplace. Finally, they arrived in Bench-Maji, the region in southwestern Ethiopia near South Sudan, where many places are called Gesha Village and where it was most likely to find original Geisha. When they arrived in 2011, there was nothing on the estate.

Adam followed Willem Boot in "exploring" the forests around the estate and discovered multiple wild tree species in a jungle magically enveloped by dense forest. What surprised them most was wild Geisha. Later they learned that this was the Gori Geisha forest, the place where Geisha was first discovered. So they collected seeds from native Geisha trees, screened them, and then planted them in Geisha Village. They decided to establish the estate here and named it Geisha Village Coffee Estate—a 475-hectare coffee farm located about 12 miles from the Gori Gesha forest.

Geisha Village Coffee Estate is completely different from the vast majority of Ethiopian farms—it's not a small farm but a large 500-hectare farm with its own washing station and laboratory. Located in the southwest near the Sudanese border, its most special feature is that the entire farm only grows Geisha varieties, rather than the typical Ethiopian native varieties with uncertain cultivar identification. Geisha Village divides the farm into 8 blocks, with 3 main Geisha varieties, all Geisha seeds collected from nearby forests.

Construction of the farm began in October 2011, with the first harvest in 2015. Due to enthusiastic responses from all parties, with the assistance of Panamanian coffee estate owner Willem Boot, they provided 21 micro-lots at their first international auction on May 31, 2017—19 of them with 120 kilograms each, with a few smaller lots. Bidders from Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia responded with unexpected enthusiasm, and the final winning bid reached $85 USD per pound, breaking all previous African coffee auction prices!

Geisha Village Red Label Geisha

Geisha Village's coffee grading includes: Auction, Gold Label, Red Label, Green Label, and CHAKA. Among these, Geisha Village's Red Label grade consists of batches with complete traceability, requiring scores above 88 points in the SCA evaluation system and possessing typical Ethiopian Geisha Village flavor characteristics. Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee found that Geisha Village Red Label has the classic Geisha characteristics of complex fruits, honey, and floral notes, with added bright acidity typical of African coffees, though overall flavor intensity and complexity are slightly weaker than Gold Label batches. At FrontStreet Coffee stores, you can taste this level of Geisha flavor for just 30 yuan, making it an extremely cost-effective single-origin batch.

FrontStreet Coffee: Geisha Village Estate Red Label Coffee Beans

Region: Ethiopia Bench Maji

Estate: Geisha Village Estate

Altitude: 1909-2069 meters

Variety: Gori Geisha

Processing Method: Natural Processing

FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Village Red Label Geisha uses the natural processing method. After harvesting, the coffee cherries are first screened to remove floating impurities, then dried in thin layers covered with plastic sheets on African raised beds. During drying on African beds, they are screened again to remove insect-damaged beans and green-colored coffee beans. Total drying time is 18-30 days.

When FrontStreet Coffee roasts this Geisha Village Red Label Geisha, to highlight its fruity flavors, they use a medium-light roast level. Using a Yangjia 800N roaster (300g batch size), the specific operation is as follows:

Set the drum temperature to 160°C at charge, air damper at 3, heat at 130. The turning point is at 1'40". When the drum temperature reaches 140°C, open the air damper to 4 and adjust heat to 150. When the drum temperature reaches 148.1°C, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration phase. When the drum temperature reaches 166°C, reduce heat to 120, damper unchanged. When drum temperature reaches 176°C, reduce heat to 90, damper unchanged. At 8'03", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma—this can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the first crack sound. At 8'25", first crack begins, adjust the air damper to 5 (adjust heat very carefully, not so low that cracking stops). Develop for 1'45" after first crack, drop at 197.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee's baristas use higher water temperature, finer grind size, and a faster-flowing dripper for three-pour infusion when brewing this Geisha coffee bean.

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 91°C

Dose: 15 grams

Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Chinese standard #20 sieve 80% pass-through

30g water for bloom, 30 seconds. Using small water flow, pour to 125g for the first pour, then continue pouring to 225g when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed. Remove the dripper when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed again. (Timing starts from bloom) Extraction time: 2 minutes.

After brewing, FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Village Geisha coffee offers flavors of coconut, licorice, cream, chocolate, toffee, citrus, almond, and strawberry, with a fermented aroma. The overall flavor is quite balanced, with a rich mouthfeel and prominent nutty flavors.

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