Pour-Over Coffee Bean Recommendations: How to Brew the Finest Geisha Coffee to Perfection

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Geisha, Also Known as "Geisha Coffee"

Geisha is pronounced the same as the Japanese word "geisha," which is why it's sometimes called Geisha Coffee. Because the coffee tree variety is taller than regular coffee trees, it was originally planted in a small area within the estate and used as a windbreak.

Geisha as a Coffee Variety

The Geisha variety was first discovered in 1931 in the Gesha forest of Ethiopia and later taken to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya. In 1936, it was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania, and in 1953, it was brought to Costa Rica.

For a long time, not many people paid attention to Geisha. It wasn't until one day when Don Pachi brought it from the small town of GESHA in southwestern Ethiopia to Costa Rica, and then Geisha traveled along the southern route to Panama. The Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama separated it from other varieties and it won the national coffee competition championship. This is how Geisha officially came into everyone's view.

Elida Estate natural processed Geisha sold for $275.70 per pound.

Geisha coffee is particularly picky about its growing environment, requiring high altitude, cloud shade, fertile soil, and sufficient accumulated temperature. The average altitude is 1625 meters, the annual average temperature is between 16°C to 25°C, and the average rainfall is approximately 3500 millimeters. The plantation uses semi-shaded cultivation, with tree varieties all from local species.

For example, the Iron Man coffee estate is located in the northwest corner of Chiriquí province in Panama, with part of it being high-altitude Hass avocado trees. (Aurora Estate owner Robert's natural processed Geisha coffee won the 2016 Best of Panama championship. Iron Man Geisha is a nickname for Panama Aurora Geisha.)

By a stroke of chance, the son of the owner of Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda was searching for all coffee tree varieties in the estate to test for the annual Best of Panama competition, which gave Geisha the opportunity to enter everyone's spotlight. From then on, it became unstoppable. It has also participated in various world coffee competitions and has now won eleven championship trophies.

Expensive Price

Geisha is just expensive... Shocking! The latest world's most expensive coffee ranking list shows the top-ranking sky-high priced coffee at $5,000 per kilogram.

Of course, extremely low production is just an excuse for the high price. The real fascination is the flavor that surpasses all other coffees in the world, which is the most important reason for Geisha's exceptional value. Currently, Geisha is mainly from Panama and Colombia, and more recently, Gesha Village has emerged.

Panama Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda is the king of specialty coffee, commonly known as "Red Label Geisha," with higher quality and naturally high prices. It takes your taste buds to an ethereal world. Red Label Geisha is harvested from areas above 1600 meters altitude and participates in global bidding auctions every May.

Hacienda La Esmeralda is located on the slopes of Barú Volcano, the highest peak in Boquete, western Panama. The mild climate, fertile volcanic soil, appropriate rainfall, and varied microclimates provide perfect natural conditions for coffee cultivation. In 2017, Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha won the natural process championship again... that should be the 18th championship trophy. Being able to stand out among many strong competitors year after year, in addition to the delicious genes of Geisha beans, excellent coffee estate management and harvesting/processing are indispensable.

In online public bidding, the 2017 latest season "Best of Panama" auction results were announced. The highest price in this auction far exceeded previous price records. The natural processed Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda fetched an astonishing $601 per pound, which is equivalent to 8,900 yuan per kilogram. A certain coffee shop in Shanghai has sold natural processed Geisha at 1,000 yuan per cup. The auction price of Red Label Geisha is between 1,500-2,000 yuan per kilogram. If brewing a cup of coffee uses 15 grams of beans, the raw bean cost is already as high as 133 yuan, not including transportation, labor, roasting, and other costs. At FrontStreet Coffee in Guangzhou, I've had a cup of Red Label Geisha that left a deep impression. It's like a cup of fruit tea, priced at 75 yuan per cup. Blue Label Geisha is 60 yuan per cup, which is considered a relatively affordable price.

What Are Red, Green, and Blue Labels?

Hacienda La Esmeralda: Red, Green, and Blue Labels

Only Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha has the distinction of [Red Label, Green Label, Blue Label]:

Red Label (Special-Geisha): Collects the top batches from Hacienda La Esmeralda, all grown at altitudes above 1600 meters (even above 1900 meters), with cupping scores above 90 points.

Top Tier - Red Label [Auction Batches]

⇒ Cultivation altitude: 1,600-1,800 meters

⇒ Cupping score: above 90 points

⇒ Mainly produced from Jaramillo and Cañas Verdes estates, also the highest quality Geisha beans

⇒ Geisha beans harvested from the highest points of the Boquete mountain area, with special, bright floral aromas and citrus fragrance

⇒ Coffee at this level will be processed into natural or washed green beans

⇒ Can only be obtained through the annual global auction

Green Label (PrivateCollection-Geisha): Geisha from different plots within Hacienda La Esmeralda estates, cultivated at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters.

Second Best - Green Label [Reserve Batches]

⇒ Cultivation altitude: 1,600-1,800 meters

⇒ Micro-batch blends from three different estates: Jaramillo, Quiel, Cañas Verdes

⇒ Although not the highest-grade auction beans, this grade of Geisha still carries the classic flavors of Geisha coffee beans - floral, fruity, citrus acidity, and thick, juicy mouthfeel

⇒ Carefully selected perfectly ripe coffee fruits create rich sweetness, bright fruit acidity, and delicious flavors

⇒ This grade of Geisha also offers washed or natural processed green beans to choose from

Blue Label (Geisha1500): Geisha from various Hacienda La Esmeralda estates, cultivated at altitudes above 1500 meters.

Regular - Blue Label [Selected Batches]

⇒ Cultivation altitude: 1,500 meters

⇒ Blends from three different estates: Jaramillo, Cañas Verdes, El Velo

⇒ Slight floral, fruity acidity, sweetness, with less full body

⇒ This grade of Geisha only has washed processed green beans available

Image source: aroma

Gesha Village Geisha

The journey of Gesha Village began in 2007 when Adam Overton and Rachel Samuel helped the Ethiopian government film a documentary about Ethiopian coffee. During the filming process, they met Dr. Girma and visited the Gera coffee forest near Jimma. Dr. Girma is a coffee researcher with extensive knowledge about coffee agriculture and farm management. While filming the documentary, Rachel rediscovered her birth country, while Adam was fascinated by the rich history of coffee's origin.

As the entire coffee journey was about to end, they greatly hoped to start their own coffee farm. They saw too much untapped potential and opportunity in Ethiopia's wild coffee forests. Adam and Rachel established Gesha Village Coffee Estate.

Gesha Village Coffee Estate covers a total area of 471 hectares. In 2015, Gesha Village Coffee Estate completed coffee planting on 300 hectares, and in 2016, continued to add another 50 hectares. The Geisha selection comes from the original coffee forest (Gori Gesha) 20 kilometers away from the estate, which is also the source of the Panama Geisha variety.

Roasting Geisha

To highlight the characteristics and aroma of this bean, light roasting is used. This roast level can better bring 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 characteristics of the coffee beans and the roaster's understanding of the beans themselves.

Unique Floral and Fruit Aromas

Among many coffees, floral aroma and the intense sweetness of tropical fruits are consistent characteristics of Geisha.

How to Properly Taste a Cup of Blue Label Geisha?

Today, taking [Blue Label Geisha] as an example, how to properly taste a cup of Geisha:

Tasting single-origin Yirgacheffe is divided into seven steps:

1. Smell the Dry Aroma of Coffee

Washed Geisha has slight osmanthus and jasmine floral aromas, with grapefruit and citrus notes. Light roasting reveals more tea rose fragrance. During brewing, there's a citrus wet aroma with more floral fragrances and rich honey sweetness emerging.

2. Perceive the Mouthfeel

When coffee liquid enters the mouth, it stimulates the taste buds. Use your tongue to feel the coffee liquid and experience the sensation of impact in your mouth.

In professional coffee tasting, this indicator is also called body, visually explained as water compared to syrup or milk. Syrup and milk have thicker textures than water. Blue Label Geisha (light roast) tastes very watery, while natural processed Geisha has a full and rich texture, which can also be understood as a viscous feeling.

Smoothness refers to the silky feeling, similar to drinking milk. Usually, very smooth coffee, when it stays in the mouth for a moment, feels round and natural when swallowed through the throat, without any effort. Poor quality coffee feels unsmooth when swallowed, giving the throat a tight and rough sensation.

The smoothness and body of coffee have a certain relationship, sometimes collectively referred to as "richness and smoothness." The richer the coffee, the more pronounced the smoothness will be accordingly.

3. Understand Cleanliness

Some coffees have astringency, some powdery feelings, and some earthy notes. Such coffees are considered unclean in cupping. High cleanliness makes tasting easy and pleasant. Washed Blue Label Geisha will have a clean and clear mouthfeel.

4. Understand Acidity

Sweet and acidic substances in coffee are components that contribute to the complexity of coffee flavor. Like Yirgacheffe, although it carries acidity, it's the kind of comfortable, rounded acidity that comes with sweetness. Washed Blue Label Geisha contains rich acidity like peaches and plums.

5. Experience Sweetness

Sweetness is the simplest and most intuitive aspect of coffee tasting. A good cup of Geisha has almost no bitterness, so the sweetness is more pronounced.

Sweetness is liked and accepted by everyone. Pleasant, lively sweetness will pair well with acidity. When we drink coffee with excellent sweetness paired with lively acidity, achieving a balance between sweet and sour, with sweet-sour transformation.

Blue Label Geisha with sweetness is like a fruit. It contains fructose in the coffee beans, with a sweet taste similar to sweet potatoes, cane sugar, brown sugar, and caramel, creating a mouth-watering sensation.

6. Taste the Flavor

When coffee is in your mouth, you can feel its flavors, usually distinguishing the sweet, salty, sour, and bitter tastes. Geisha is fruit-like sweet.

7. Perceive the Aftertaste

After drinking coffee, there's always a flavor that returns from the throat, called "aftertaste." If it makes the mouth feel dry, it's generally called a "dry" or "throat-drying" aftertaste.

The aftertaste of Blue Label is very persistent and clear, like eating licorice olives. A cup of coffee with good aftertaste will keep the aroma in the mouth longer, with a more extended finish.

How to Brew Geisha Well?

FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over reference: Weigh 15g of [Blue Label Geisha] coffee powder, pour into a grinder for medium grinding. The ground particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use BG grinder setting 4B, water temperature 91 degrees, using a wave filter for extraction.

The hot water in the pour-over kettle should circle clockwise around the center of the filter. Start timing when brewing begins. In 15 seconds, brew the coffee to 30g, then stop pouring water. When the time reaches 1 minute, pour water for the second time. For the second pour, like before, circle clockwise around the center of the filter. The water flow should not hit the area where coffee powder meets the filter paper to avoid channeling.

Leave a circle when brewing coffee powder to the outermost edge, then circle back toward the center. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds, brew the coffee to 220g. Coffee brewing is complete.

Cold Brew Geisha

FrontStreet Coffee's cold brew Geisha reference:

Panama basket label Geisha, light roast, BG grinder setting 4B, #3 grind size, 20 grams of beans, 83-degree water temperature, bloom for 3 minutes, Chemex pot, then cold brew with ice water, total water volume 200ml.

Related recommendations: Does pour-over coffee really taste good? Why does coffee smell better than it tastes?

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473