Characteristics of Light Roast Geisha Coffee: What Roast Level Makes Geisha Coffee Beans Taste Best

Introduction to Geisha Coffee

Geisha Coffee, a coffee variety that has revolutionized coffee judges and even changed the flavor trends of coffee with its delicate floral acidity and fruit notes, has led the development direction of specialty coffee for nearly 18 years since its rise to fame. Geisha Coffee, known in English as Geisha Coffee, earned the nickname "Geisha Coffee" because its transliteration is similar to Japan's geisha. However, many baristas dislike this name, believing that this coffee should not be associated with Japanese geisha impressions. Therefore, more and more people are using the Chinese name "Geisha," which is also more aesthetically pleasing.

Panama Geisha Coffee comes from South America but has a completely different flavor profile from South American coffee beans, instead resembling Ethiopian coffee flavors but with a richer, thicker body. If Ethiopian coffee is like a cup of floral tea, then Panama Geisha Coffee is like a cup of fruit juice—sweeter and more balanced. Panama Geisha was originally introduced from Ethiopia, but due to Panama's microenvironmental factors, it has created a unique and unparalleled coffee flavor for Panama Geisha.

Origin and History

Geisha is a variety from the Kaffa forest region of Gesha, Ethiopia. In 1931, a British citizen sent these coffee beans, along with various other native coffee varieties, to Kenya under the name Gesha. In 1936, it was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania, and in 1953, it was brought to Costa Rica and archived under the code T2722. Panama introduced the Geisha variety in the 1970s when Mr. Francisco Serracin from the Pichilla farm brought it from Costa Rica.

Compared to other coffee varieties, the most significant characteristic of Geisha coffee is its extremely low yield. Its morphological features include long internodes on coffee branches, wide spacing between nodes, and few flowers and fruits, but it has good disease resistance. Therefore, when Geisha was first introduced to Panama, it was used for research cultivation. Later, around 2000, the owner of Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda discovered that this variety possessed very distinctive fragrance, as captivating as perfume, and thus separated it for entry in the 2004 BOP (Best of Panama) competition, where it won the championship.

The Impact on Coffee Flavor Preferences

Before Geisha coffee beans were recognized by the world, the coffee everyone pursued was rich and mellow in style. However, after Geisha coffee beans, people began pursuing distinct acidity and fresh mouthfeel. Coffee bean roasting styles also developed from dark roasting to light roasting, aiming to preserve more acidity in the coffee beans.

There's a saying in the coffee industry: 60% of a cup of coffee's flavor comes from the raw beans, 30% from roasting, and 10% from brewing. The flavor of coffee beans, besides their origin characteristics, needs to be revealed through roasting. When a batch of coffee beans arrives, FrontStreet Coffee's roasters first understand from the packaging where these coffee beans come from, what variety they are, their altitude, prominent flavors, and other information. Then they make fine adjustments according to the roasting curve for this major producing region's coffee beans, followed by cupping to select the most suitable roasting profile for this particular coffee bean, allowing everyone to taste its most beautiful flavors.

We all know that lightly roasted coffee beans are more acidic, with more floral notes and lemon acidity, such as Ethiopian coffee; medium-light roast is more balanced, with some nutty notes and soft fruit acidity, such as Costa Rican coffee; dark roasted coffee beans are more bitter, with nutty, peanut, and caramel flavors, such as Brazilian coffee and Mandheling coffee.

Roasting Geisha Coffee

So should Geisha coffee beans be lightly roasted or medium-dark roasted?

First: Geisha coffee raw beans have a very beautiful blue-green color, with a jade-like warm texture. They smell like fresh grass, peaches, berries, and have the unique milky sweetness of oolong tea that most coffee beans don't possess. It seems that aroma and flavor require associative thinking, but the light tea aroma is something we can clearly perceive.

To highlight the characteristics and aroma of this bean, the roast level should be close to the second crack. Approaching the second crack and the first pop of the second crack are commonly used roast levels. As mentioned earlier, these levels can better bring out the bean's inherent characteristics. Too light can produce off-flavors, while too deep can 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.

Geisha coffee roasted beans: The roasted beans will appear somewhat "wrinkled." Beans with these "sexy wrinkles" are meant to highlight their original flavor and fruit acidity. However, if the quality of the raw beans is not high, it may produce some off-flavors, such as rotten earthy notes, grassy flavors, and astringent tastes. These are flavors that roasters should try to avoid. Well-roasted Geisha coffee has captivating lemon-citrus aroma and ultra-sweet honey cream flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee believes: A qualified roaster, like a tea master, can understand through the raw bean's origin, estate, and variety, and through sight, touch, and smell, how the bean should be roasted to best present its inherent flavors. It's certainly possible for roasters to roast with their own distinctive characteristics. This is entirely possible—just as Pu'er tea doesn't all taste the same, even without considering age, people discuss which workshop produced it, and Wuyi Mountain tea isn't all one flavor either. Therefore, roasters can express their own style through different roasting curves and machine expertise during the roasting process.

FrontStreet Coffee's Roasting Approach

So how to roast a batch of Geisha?

To fully express Geisha's personality, considerable effort must be put into roasting. Geisha is generally grown at high altitudes above 1,500 meters. We received beans with a Michael hardness of 1,700 and high density. Their form is plump, medium-sized, with thick and long bodies that taper at both ends.

To highlight the characteristics and aroma of this bean, FrontStreet Coffee uses light roasting. This roast level can better bring out the bean's inherent characteristics. Too deep 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 process, attention should be paid that the Geisha roasting curve should not be too long, otherwise the flavor will become dull. After the first crack, the temperature should not rise too much. Geisha beans taper at both ends and are prone to developing black scorch marks. A temperature increase of 4 degrees or less would be better. Light roasting brings out more tea rose aroma.

Cupping and Flavor Comparison

We conducted cupping comparisons to see what differences there would be in flavor:

[Curve 1] Has bright citrus and lime acidity, with obvious jasmine and chamomile floral notes, and finishes with cream, sugarcane sweetness, and green tea aroma.

[Curve 2] Obvious sweetness, with caramel, chocolate, bergamot, and sweet orange flavors.

Pour-over comparison:

[Curve 1] Has obvious chamomile and jasmine floral notes, bright fruit acidity, with lemon, citrus, and bergamot sweet-sourness at entry. The mid-section has honey and maple sweetness, and the finish is fresh green tea aroma with lasting sugarcane aftertaste. Overall, it's a relatively refreshing feeling.

[Curve 2] Has obvious caramel and chocolate sweetness at entry, along with oolong tea aroma. As the temperature slightly drops, you can feel light orange and bergamot soft acidity in the finish. The overall mouthfeel is rich and smooth.

Conclusion

After comparing the two roast levels of Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee feels that lightly roasted Geisha has more obvious aroma and richer flavor layers, with an overall fresher profile; while medium-dark Geisha has a richer mouthfeel, more obvious sweetness, and fruit acidity that tends toward softness. Although medium-dark roasted Geisha doesn't taste bad, because the Geisha variety itself is rich in floral and fruit aromas, if roasted too deeply with longer development time, it's easy to lose much of Geisha's unique flavor, becoming more balanced and focusing more on sweet expression. Therefore, to preserve these unique floral and fruit aromas, FrontStreet Coffee chooses to shorten the bean's development time, retaining more floral and fruit aromas, and expressing Geisha's characteristic flavors.

As mentioned earlier, the flavor of beans can also change with the roaster, but FrontStreet Coffee believes it's best to roast following the basic premise of the coffee's origin flavor. For example: roasting Mandheling coffee to be acidic—can this be done? Friends familiar with coffee might say this is abnormal, because everyone knows Mandheling has herbal, silk, and nutty notes, which everyone describes as bitter. If it suddenly becomes acidic, that's definitely not normal.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee brewing parameters:

FrontStreet Coffee frequently uses KONO drippers and V60 drippers for brewing. KONO drippers are typically used for medium-dark roasted coffee beans, better preserving the coffee's richness; while V60 drippers are usually used for light or medium-light roasts, resulting in richer coffee mouthfeel. FrontStreet Coffee often uses V60 drippers when brewing Geisha coffee because the 60-degree angle design and spiral rib design allow brewers to fully extract the essence of Geisha coffee by controlling water flow and pour frequency, while the large drainage hole design avoids over-extraction. The V60 dripper body has guide ribs connecting the top and bottom and a large central hole, which accelerates water flow rate. The spiral-shaped exhaust groove design extends the water flow path, increasing contact time between coffee grounds and hot water. Each water stream converges along the grooves toward the filter's center point, concentrating pressure on the coffee grounds and extracting coffee with richer layers.

Dripper: V60, Water temperature: 91-92°C, Dose: 15g, Water ratio: 1:15, Grind size: Fine sugar size (sieve through #20 sieve to 80%).

[Panama Washed Boquete Geisha Coffee Flavor Characteristics]: Has clear citrus, lemon, and bergamot acidity, with creamy smooth mouthfeel when swallowed, finishing with green tea and honey sweetness.

FrontStreet Coffee's Freshness Philosophy

FrontStreet Coffee brewing suggestions:

For coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans has a great relationship with the coffee's flavor. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee ships coffee beans roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee kindly reminds: once coffee beans are pre-ground, they no longer need a resting period, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide in the package also helps round out the coffee flavor, so you can immediately brew a cup when you receive the coffee grounds. However, coffee grounds need to be brewed promptly because they oxidize quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate relatively quickly, and the coffee flavor won't be as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh for each brew to better taste the coffee's flavor.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat: qjcoffeex

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