Red Label Geisha from Ethiopia? Introduction to the Flavor Characteristics of Geisha Village Red Label Geisha Coffee Beans

When Panama Geisha became famous worldwide, it captivated many coffee enthusiasts. The owner of Geisha Village Estate, which FrontStreet Coffee is introducing today, is someone who dedicated themselves to coffee cultivation entirely because of their fascination with Geisha coffee.

Geisha Village Estate

In 2007, documentary filmmaker Adam Overton and his photographer wife Rachel Samuel, while shooting 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 greatness of Ethiopia's land but also conceived the idea of establishing their own coffee estate and brand.

In 2009, they had the fortune to meet the renowned Don Pachi Estate owner and BOP judge Willem Boot. Willem Boot's vision provided the Overton couple with an opportunity: return to Ethiopia and find the birthplace of Geisha.

Eventually, they arrived in Bench-Maji, an area in southwestern Ethiopia near South Sudan, where many places are called Geisha Village and which was the most likely region to find the original Geisha. When they arrived in 2011, there was nothing on the estate.

Adam followed Willem Boot on expeditions in the forests surrounding the estate. In a jungle magically enveloped by dense forest, they discovered multiple wild coffee tree species, with the most exciting find being wild Geisha. They later learned that this was the Gori Geisha forest, the place where Geisha variety was first discovered. They collected seeds from the 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 most Ethiopian farms—it's not a small farm but a large 500-hectare estate with its own washing station and laboratory. Located in the southwest near the Sudan border, its most distinctive feature is that the entire farm only grows Geisha varieties, rather than the typical Ethiopian heirloom varieties whose exact genetic makeup cannot be determined. Geisha Village divides the farm into 8 blocks, with 3 main Geisha varieties, all sourced 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 Panama coffee estate owner Willem Boot, they offered 21 micro-lots in their first international auction on May 31, 2017—19 lots of 120 kilograms each, with a few smaller batches. Bidders from Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia responded with unexpected enthusiasm, with the top bid reaching $85 per pound, breaking all previous auction prices for African coffee beans!

The terrain on the western side of Geisha Village Estate is relatively higher, with the SHEWA-JIBABU block having a slightly higher altitude. The southern area has a relatively higher shade ratio, while the northern area receives longer sunlight exposure. Among the estate's eight blocks, the estate manager selects the most suitable variety for each block based on microclimate differences such as altitude, soil conditions, and shade coverage, ensuring each major block can develop distinct characteristics.

Product Categories

The products are divided into auction batches, Gold Label batches, Red Label batches, Green Label batches, and Chaka batches. (Of course, these "color labels" are Chinese colloquial terms derived from promotional background colors.)

The Gold Label's official name is "Rarities," which translates to "treasures." In any case, it represents the highest quality non-auction batches from Geisha Village. This series accounts for only 10% of the entire estate's production.

Geisha Village Red Label, officially named "Growers Reserve," translates to "Growers Reserve Area." It accounts for 15% of the estate's total production and scores above 88 points in SCA cupping.

Geisha Village Green Label, officially named "Single-Terroir," translates to "Single Terroir." This series provides detailed traceability information, allowing tracing back to specific blocks, coffee varieties, and processing information and times. Truly single-origin coffee.

The Chaka batch emphasizes accessibility with a low purchase threshold. It's a blend of all blocks and coffee varieties from the entire estate, without emphasizing subdivision. It can be said to represent the baseline quality of Geisha Village Estate.

FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Village coffee typically uses natural processing methods, as the estate owner believes Ethiopia's hot and dry weather is very suitable for natural processing, which results in coffee beans exhibiting very sweet flavors.

First, floating debris and impurities are removed, then the beans are dried in thin layers on African raised beds covered with plastic sheets. During drying on the beds, additional screening is performed to select out insect-damaged beans and coffee beans with greenish color. The total drying time is 18-30 days.

Coffee Varieties Grown on the Estate

Geisha Village has three varieties, named after the expedition teams that discovered the coffee: Gesha1931, Gori Gesha, and Illubabor provided by the Ethiopian Coffee Research Center.

Gesha1931 was identified through observation of plant morphology, bean shape and size, as well as cupping. It is the closest to the mother plant of Panama Geisha. The Gori Gesha heirloom variety was collected by the Geisha Village Estate owner during their own expedition in 2011 from the Gori Geisha wild coffee forest, located 20 kilometers from the current Geisha Village farm, and no duplicate samples have been found elsewhere.

FrontStreet Coffee would like to specifically explain that the Geisha grown in Geisha Village are all separated from the many coffee varieties native to Ethiopia. Although Panama Geisha can be traced back to Ethiopia, after decades of taking root in Panama, it has adapted to the local soil and climate environment. Therefore, the characteristics of Ethiopian Geisha differ significantly from those of Panama Geisha.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis

Roasting machine: Yangjia 800N (300g batch size)

Set drum temperature to 160°C at charging, air damper at 3, heat at 130. Return to temperature at 1'40", when drum temperature reaches 140°C, open air damper to 4, adjust heat to 150. When drum temperature reaches 148.1°C, bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering dehydration stage. When drum temperature reaches 166°C, reduce heat to 120, air damper unchanged; when drum temperature reaches 176°C, reduce heat to 90, air damper unchanged.

At 8'03", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, toast smell clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8'25", first crack begins, adjust air damper to 5 (adjust heat very carefully, not so small that there's no cracking sound). After first crack, develop for 1'45", then discharge at 197.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Suggestions

Given the distinctive characteristics and relatively high price of FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha coffee, failing to fully extract its flavors would be wasteful. Therefore, we can tailor a brewing plan specifically for Geisha.

This brewing demonstration uses FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Village Red Label Geisha coffee beans. It's important to distinguish between FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Village Red Label and FrontStreet Coffee's Panama La Esmeralda Red Label. FrontStreet Coffee still chooses 15g of coffee, paired with a Hario V60 small filter cup. In terms of grind size, we'll use a slightly coarser grind than FrontStreet Coffee's usual offerings, with a 78% pass-through rate on a #20 sieve, mainly because Geisha beans are relatively hard and tend to sink and clog the drainage holes.

Correspondingly, the coffee-to-water ratio is adjusted to 1:16. On one hand, using more water helps maintain extraction rate; on the other hand, it adjusts the coffee concentration to between 1.15%-1.25%, which is the optimal concentration for experiencing coffee flavors. Water temperature is maintained at 91°C.

During brewing, first pour 25ml of hot water for bloom for 30 seconds. Because Geisha beans are hard and their water absorption isn't as strong, 25ml of hot water is basically enough to wet the entire surface of the coffee grounds. If more water is used for blooming, the excess water will simply flow into the lower pot. During blooming, be gentle—use a small water flow in circular motions from the center outward for the best blooming effect.

After blooming, enter the second pour stage. This stage requires pouring 120ml of water, in a "mosquito coil-shaped" circular motion from the center outward to raise the coffee bed. The pour should be completed in about 1 minute. Then wait for the water level to drop. Under normal circumstances, the water level drops at a uniform slow speed, reaching about halfway down in approximately 1 minute 10 seconds to 1 minute 15 seconds, forming a "bowl shape."

Now begin the final pour. In this stage, pour 90ml of water, pouring in a circular motion covering about half the size of the water surface. The pour should be completed in about 1 minute 35 seconds. The remaining step is to wait until all the coffee liquid has dripped into the lower pot, then remove the filter cup. The total time is approximately 2 minutes to 2 minutes 5 seconds.

FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Village Red Label flavor profile: citrus, berries, cream, and fermented tropical fruit sweetness.

Important Notice :

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