How to Pour Over Geisha Village Coffee_How Much Does a Cup of Red Label from Geisha Village Coffee Estate Cost?

At FrontStreet Coffee, we offer multiple selections of just the "Geisha" variety alone. Many customers first notice the Emerald Red Label Geisha coffee because it has the highest price tag, followed by the Red Label Geisha from Ethiopia's Geisha Village. Everyone wonders what the difference is between these two coffees both called "Red Label." FrontStreet Coffee has repeatedly told the story of the Emerald Estate and Geisha's rise to fame, and you can also browse through our past articles - Geisha History. Today, let's explore the true origin of Geisha, delve into its heritage, and discover the unique characteristics of Geisha coffee produced by Geisha Village Estate.

The Turbulent History of Geisha

In the 1930s, after World War I, East African countries had been partitioned into colonial territories by European powers to seek economic benefits for their home countries. Among them, Ethiopia was one of only two countries that were never colonized, but the surrounding areas were all under British influence, so military forces were always stationed at the borders of this region. To find coffee varieties suitable for large-scale commercial cultivation, the British Agricultural Director in Kenya ordered a survey of Ethiopia's wild Arabica coffee varieties. He instructed Colonel Richard Whalle, stationed at the border, to lead troops deep into the Kafa forest in southwestern Ethiopia to collect coffee tree seeds for research.

Because a wild forest called "Gesha" near the Kafa forest was widely known for producing particularly delicious coffee, the European colonial powers became interested in this homeland of Arabica coffee. The colonel collected various coffee seeds and handed them to the British consul stationed in the Maji region, who then shipped them back to coffee research institutes in Kenya and Tanzania for classification and cultivation. A letter from that period mentions they collected about 10 pounds of coffee seeds from a place called Geisha. The letter noted that the original forest at Geisha was a rainforest area where coffee trees grew under the shade of dense, tall trees - a shaded growing environment similar to the coffee regions of Sudan. Since the report misspelled the collection site as "Gesha" instead of "Geisha," this famous coffee variety has been known by this "wrong name" for over a century.

According to documents from that time, such collection work was carried out three times: once in 1931 and twice in 1936. The first coffee was sent to Kitale, Kenya for trial planting. The second time, seedlings numbered Geisha 1, 9, 11, and 123 were selected and sent to the Lyamungu Coffee Research Station in Tanzania for trial planting. The Lyamungu Coffee Research Station then artificially selected and stabilized these Geisha plants, selecting a group of seedlings numbered from VC496 to VC500.

By 1953, the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica obtained these Geisha coffee seedlings from Ethiopia from the Lyamungu Coffee Research Station in Tanzania. Then, not until the 1960s did CATIE send these Geisha coffee beans (including the variety numbered T2722 from Emerald Estate) to Boquete, Panama, to give to local farmers for planting to combat leaf rust disease. After another 40 years, it was discovered by the Peterson family and dominated the Best of Panama (BOP) competition.

The Story of Geisha Village

Documentary filmmaker Adam Overton and his wife Rachel Samuel first encountered the coffee forest where Geisha was discovered in 2007 while filming a coffee documentary for the Ethiopian government. The couple felt the charm of Ethiopian coffee and hoped to establish their own estate. After consulting with coffee competition judges and advisors, they traveled in 2011 to Bench Maji, the birthplace of Geisha, hoping to explore the most original Geisha coffee.

Willem Boot

Geisha Village is located in southwestern Ethiopia near South Sudan, situated within the densely forested Bench Maji region. From Geisha Village, one can directly enjoy the beautiful scenery of the ancient forest. This is typical Ethiopian highland terrain, where even the lowest altitude plots exceed 1900 meters. The advantage of high altitude is that it allows coffee cherries to mature slowly under low temperatures, accumulating more flavor compounds. Adam, along with BOP judge Willem Boot, searched for native Geisha trees in the Gori Gesha forest and discovered wild Geisha coffee trees among a grove of wild coffee trees. After collecting seeds, they returned to Geisha Village for selection and began cultivation and planting. The couple established the nearly 500-hectare Geisha Village Coffee Estate near the Gori Gesha forest.

FrontStreet Coffee has mentioned in many articles that most coffee in Ethiopia is grown by small farmers, with relatively small coffee production and processing facilities. Geisha Village Estate is one of the few large-scale farms. To build a professional management system, Adam and Rachel established their own washed processing plant and laboratory on the farm. After referencing the standardized cultivation models of some Geisha-growing estates in Panama, they also numbered and kept detailed records of different planting plots for later organization and flavor traceability.

Through the estate owner's plot division, we can see that the western part of Geisha Village Estate has higher planting altitudes, especially the OMA, SURMA, and SHEWA-JIBABU plots, with altitudes between 1900-2069 meters, with SHEWA-JIBABU having the highest average altitude. The southern part of the estate has a relatively higher shade ratio, while the northern part receives longer sunlight exposure. Among the estate's eight plots, Adam selected the most suitable variety for each plot based on microclimate differences such as altitude, soil conditions, and shade conditions, ensuring that each plot could develop different flavor characteristics.

Different "Labels" of Geisha Village Estate

Ethiopia's most representative Geisha coffee comes from Geisha Village Estate. The Geisha varieties here are different from those in Panama. Geisha Village has three Geisha varieties: Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931, and Illubabor Forest. Gori Gesha and Gesha 1931 share the same lineage as Panama Geisha varieties but are still not identical varieties. Among them, Gesha 1931 exhibits characteristics very similar to Panama Geisha, while Illubabor is a disease-resistant variety provided by the Ethiopian research institute. To ensure the quality of Geisha coffee produced by Geisha Village Estate, estate owner Adam established a strict grading system, dividing Geisha into different levels: Competition, Gold Label, Red Label, Green Label, and CHAKA.

The Geisha Village Competition batches are the top-tier batches, available only through buyer auction. Ranked second is the Gold Label Geisha, which is Geisha Village's flagship product. Its English name "Rarities" translates to "rare treasures" - simply put, it's the highest grade Geisha (non-auction batch) launched by Geisha Village. The "gold" in Gold Label comes from the background color of the product trademark. According to Geisha Village's official website, this grade of Geisha coffee accounts for only 10% of the estate's total production, similar to Emerald Estate's Red Label, and each batch comes with plot information for buyer reference.

FrontStreet Coffee: Geisha Village Estate · Gold Label Geisha Coffee Beans

Region: Bench Maji, Ethiopia

Estate: Geisha Village Estate, Oma Plot

Altitude: 1900-2040 meters

Variety: Gesha 1931

Processing: Natural Process

Flavor: Citrus, Berries, Cream, Caramel, Honeydew Melon, Honey

Unlike the Gold Label grade, Geisha Village Red Label accounts for 15% of annual total production and represents high-quality Geisha coffee with SCA cupping scores above 88 points, also having complete traceability information. The official name for Red Label is "Growers Reserve." The natural process Red Label Geisha Village on FrontStreet Coffee's menu belongs to the Gori Gesha variety. It was found by estate owner Adam in the nearby Gori forest, who thought it looked very similar to Geisha plants, so he brought it back to the estate for cultivation and named it Gori Gesha. Therefore, compared to Emerald Estate's T2722, it's closer to the native Ethiopian Geisha variety.

The main harvest season at Geisha Village is from December to March of the following year. This is the dry season with little rain, so the estate can use natural drying beds. Compared to the relatively high temperature and humid processing season in Central and South America, Geisha Village's natural processing more easily highlights clean and natural flavors. The natural process Red Label Geisha Village not only has the classic Geisha characteristics of complex fruit, honey, and floral notes but also adds the bright, lifted acidity typical of African coffees. FrontStreet Coffee considers this a Geisha batch with excellent value, worthy of purchase by Geisha enthusiasts.

FrontStreet Coffee: Geisha Village Estate · Red Label Geisha Coffee Beans

Region: Bench Maji, Ethiopia

Estate: Geisha Village Estate, Shewa-Jibabu Plot

Altitude: 1973-2069 meters

Variety: Gori Gesha

Processing: Natural Process

Flavor: Lemon, Plum, Citrus, Tropical Fruits, Floral Tea

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will demonstrate the brewing steps for Geisha Village Red Label as served in our store. You can refer to this and compare it with your own brewing approach.

Pour-over Suggestions for Geisha Village Red Label Coffee:

Dripper: V60

Water Temperature: 91-92°C

Dose: 15g

Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Fine sugar (80% through #20 sieve)

Three-stage extraction: First, pour 15g of coffee grounds into the dripper and zero the scale. For the first stage, pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, starting the timer simultaneously. Use a small water flow, starting from the center and spiraling outward, making sure to moisten the entire coffee bed.

For the second stage, use a slightly larger water flow to pour 120g of water. The goal is to raise the entire coffee bed. The water stream needs to be poured vertically and evenly. At this point, the scale should show 150g, and the pour should be completed in about 55 seconds.

When the water level drops to about halfway, start using a small water flow in small circles to pour the third stage of 90g. Try to control the water flow to avoid too large circles, which can easily scatter the coffee grounds and cause under-extraction. The final water amount should be 240g total, with the drip finishing around 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Remove the dripper and gently swirl the coffee in the server to ensure even distribution before tasting.

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