Ethiopia Gesha Village Gold Label Geisha: Introduction to Gold Label Batch Geisha Coffee Beans

At FrontStreet Coffee, many curious newcomers often come with questions, first ordering a cup of coffee and then seeking answers one by one from FrontStreet Coffee. For instance, a Geisha enthusiast once asked: "What does the Gold Label on the blackboard mean? Where is Geisha Village located? Is the Gold Label even higher grade than the Red Label? How does it differ significantly from the Red Label of Hacienda La Esmeralda? Don't worry, if you want to understand the stories behind these labeled Geishas, let FrontStreet Coffee start by explaining these 'labels' and their colors!

The "Gold" in Gold Label

It's not hard to notice that these labeled Geishas mentioned by baristas are named to highlight their high grade. Whether it's the Red Label and Gold Label we're discussing today, or the Green Label and Blue Label that follow, even if we can't tell their hierarchy by their prefixes alone, we certainly know that this x-label Geisha from xx estate should be higher grade than ordinary Geisha, and of course, likely more expensive.

In fact, this "label" terminology only appears in Chinese contexts. In other words, when we use their original English names, you might not recognize who is who, or which is higher grade. The most famous Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label Geisha's original name is "Esmeralda Special," translated to Chinese as "Esmeralda Special Selection." This is the highest quality Geisha coffee beans sold by the estate, requiring not only cupping scores above 91 points but also detailed "birth information" for each batch. The "red" in Red Label comes from the background color of this product's trademark, and the same applies to Hacienda La Esmeralda's Green and Blue Labels, aiming to make them easier for domestic consumers to remember and distinguish.

Similarly, Geisha Village Estate's Gold Label Geisha also has its own English name "Rarities," meaning "rare treasures," essentially the highest grade Geisha (non-auction batches) launched by Geisha Village. The "gold" in Gold Label also comes from the background color of the product trademark. According to Geisha Village's official website disclosure, this grade of Geisha coffee accounts for only 10% of the estate's total production. Like Hacienda La Esmeralda's Red Label, each batch comes with plot information for buyer reference.

Although this domestic practice of using background colors to replace original product names does make different grades of Geisha more accessible and memorable, it sometimes causes confusion due to "color clashes." For example, in the respective Geisha production and sales systems established by these two estates, both have grades with red and green backgrounds, so there are two "Red Labels" and two "Green Labels" on the market. When ordering, remember to pay attention or ask the barista which estate the Geisha comes from.

Introduction to Geisha Village

FrontStreet Coffee's research shows that Geisha Village is located in southwestern Ethiopia near South Sudan, situated within the densely forested Bench Maji region, covering nearly 500 hectares. When you're at Geisha Village, you can directly overlook the beautiful scenery of ancient forests. This is typical Ethiopian highland terrain, where even the lowest altitude plots exceed 1,900 meters. The advantage of high altitude is that it allows coffee cherries to mature slowly under low temperatures, accumulating more flavor compounds.

Bench Maji borders Sudan and is one of the 14 regions under the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Regional State (SNNPR) of Ethiopia, home to three ethnic groups, with the Bench ethnic group accounting for 50% of the population. As the region where Geisha originated, it remains relatively remote and underdeveloped, so most coffee is still grown in original forest planting methods. Bench Maji has its own small farmer cooperative union, the Bench Maji Coffee Farmers' Cooperative Union, comprising 65 cooperatives serving 130,000 small farmers. Geisha Village is the only large-scale coffee estate here and among the few in all of Ethiopia, with its own washing station, laboratory, and systematic planting model. After referencing the standardized management of representative Panamanian estates, the estate owner has also numbered and recorded different planting plots in detail for later organization and flavor tracing.

Gold Label Geisha Varieties

If you're a loyal Geisha fan, you should know that Geisha actually originates from Ethiopia. In 1931, Geisha was first collected from the wild Kaffa forest in southern Ethiopia, with the purpose of finding new disease-resistant varieties, named after the nearby Geisha Mountain. Later, it was transferred to research institutes in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and other countries for trial planting. In 1953, the Geisha variety arrived at the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa Rica and was recorded as T2722. Although it had planting records in multiple local farms, due to the fragile branches and low yield of the Geisha variety, it wasn't favored by farmers and wasn't widely cultivated.

Starting in the 1960s, CATIE distributed T2722 Geisha to Panamanian coffee farmers, and Geisha began its true journey into the fertile land of Panama. In the 1990s, the Peterson family, owners of Hacienda La Esmeralda, began to focus on coffee production and acquired a new high-altitude farm, Jaramillo. Many coffee trees in the farm suffered from leaf rust disease, but Daniel Peterson noticed that Geisha trees weren't severely damaged, so they decided to transplant Geisha, originally mixed with other varieties, to more areas of the farm while increasing its planting altitude.

In 2004, the Geisha that won the championship at the Best of Panama (BOP) competition and amazed everyone was found, through sample comparison, to actually be the "geisha T2722" variety originally collected in the 1930s from the Gesha area near the Kaffa forest in southwestern Ethiopia and later cataloged as an anti-fungal variety by CATIE in Costa Rica.

However, the variety name of Geisha Village's Gold Label includes an additional year, called "Geisha 1931." The selection work at Geisha Village was led by Willem Boot. Due to the lack of genetic comparison technology at that time, estate owner Adam referenced the plant morphology and flavor performance of Panamanian Geisha to screen and find two Geisha varieties in the vast Gesha area. One of them had flavors remarkably similar to Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha, so it was named "Gesha 1931," symbolizing the year 1931 when Geisha was discovered.

From this, we can confirm that the popular Panamanian Geisha today (including Hacienda La Esmeralda) is the coffee variety once recorded as "T2722" in a small notebook, while Geisha Village's "Gesha 1931" is a similar variety found in the vast Kaffa forest using Panamanian Geisha as a reference template, so it cannot be proven to be of the same origin as Panamanian Geisha.

Gold Label Grade Geisha

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 1,900-2,069 meters, where SHEWA-JIBABU has the highest average altitude. The southern part of the estate has relatively higher shade ratios, 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 each plot can form different flavor characteristics.

FrontStreet Coffee needs to remind everyone that the Geisha planted at Geisha Village Estate in Ethiopia is not the same variety that became famous in Panama. Geisha Village has 3 Geisha varieties: Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931, and Illubabor Forest. Gori Gesha and Gesha 1931 share the same bloodline as Panamanian Geisha varieties but are still not identical varieties, with Gesha 1931 showing characteristics very similar to Panamanian Geisha, while Illubabor Forest is a disease-resistant variety provided by the Ethiopian research institute. To ensure the quality of Geisha coffee produced by Geisha Village Estate, Adam established a strict grading system, dividing Geisha into different grades: Auction, Gold Label, Red Label, Green Label, and CHAKA.

Geisha Village Gold Label Geisha is frequently purchased by competition participants worldwide and roasters with high quality requirements, accounting for about 10% of the estate's annual production and featuring detailed traceability information. The Gold Label batch Geisha purchased by FrontStreet Coffee offers complex and rich flavors, and during cupping, one can experience the charm of this Geisha coffee batch. Whether it's the unique dry aroma or the sipping flavors, mouthfeel, and aftertaste, they all leave a lingering fragrance.

FrontStreet Coffee: Ethiopia · Geisha Village Estate · Gold Label Geisha
Region: Bench Maji, Ethiopia
Estate: Geisha Village Estate - Oma Plot
Altitude: 1,900-2,040 meters
Variety: Gesha 1931
Processing: Natural Process
Flavor: Citrus, Berries, Cream, Caramel, Honeydew, Honey

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Suggestions for Gold Label Geisha

Preparation before brewing is crucial. Since this is high-quality coffee beans, to taste the complete aroma of the coffee, FrontStreet Coffee suggests choosing freshly roasted coffee beans. Since all coffee has its best flavor period, typically within 7-30 days after roasting, only brewing during this time won't waste these fine coffees. Coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days, ensuring that the coffee beans received after ordering are the freshest, just in time for the optimal tasting period.

Light roast coffee beans have a harder texture and require higher water temperature and finer grinding to bring out the aromatic qualities of Geisha coffee.

Dripper: V60
Water Temperature: 91-92°C
Coffee Dose: 15g
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Fine sugar size (80% passing through #20 sieve)

Three-stage extraction: First stage uses 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, pouring evenly in circles to form a dome. Second stage pours 95g of hot water. When the coffee bed drops to half, begin the third stage with 100g until all coffee has finished dripping. Note to start pouring from the center point, using small water flow with gentle circular motion throughout to avoid uneven extraction.

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