What is Geisha Coffee? Are Coffee Beans from Panama and Colombia Both Geisha?

Understanding Geisha Coffee: The Price Difference Between Panama and Colombia

"Geisha coffee is incredibly delicious!!! But I'd like to ask, since both are from Central and South America, why is there such a significant price difference between Panama's Geisha coffee and Colombia's Geisha coffee? Are they the same Geisha coffee beans?" Yes, they are indeed the same Geisha coffee beans. Just as one's environment shapes their character, coffee cultivation follows the same principle. With different natural factors such as altitude, environment, climate, and soil, Geisha coffee produced in the two countries will exhibit different flavor profiles~

Although Geisha coffee beans gained fame thanks to Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda, the origin of this variety is not in Panama but rather from the Kafa forest in Ethiopia. In 1930, British colonial explorers went to southwestern Ethiopia in search of coffee varieties resistant to leaf rust disease and sampled local wild coffee varieties. At that time, other unnamed coffee varieties were also sampled, so this batch of coffee varieties was not directly named but was marked as coffee varieties discovered on Gesha Mountain in the Kafa forest.

These seeds marked as Gesha were shipped in batches to Kenya in 1931 and 1932 for selection and sample research, then in 1936, the selected varieties were sent from there to Uganda and Tanzania. Later, in 1953, the Tropical Agricultural Education and Research Center in Costa Rica introduced the varieties that had been further researched and tested in Tanzania, managing them under the catalog number T2722.

In the 1960s, the owner of Panama's Don Pachi Estate, aiming to improve the local coffee trees' resistance to leaf rust, introduced T2722 from the Costa Rica Tropical Agricultural Education and Research Center and shared some with other coffee estates. However, after receiving them, other estates found that the coffee tree yields were extremely low, so no one paid much attention to this variety. During harvest, they mixed it with other varieties for sale.

It wasn't until the son of the Hacienda La Esmeralda owner noticed the captivating aroma of this variety that he separated it for individual processing and sent it to competition. Finally, in 2004, it won the Best of Panama (BOP) green bean competition. The outstanding performance of Geisha coffee beans immediately drew the attention of the specialty coffee industry. However, the name T2722 wasn't impressive enough, so the estate owner eventually traced the variety's origin back to samples from Ethiopia's Gesha Mountain, thus naming it the Geisha coffee variety.

The Rise of Geisha and Regional Differences

After Geisha became famous overnight, Hacienda La Esmeralda also stated that this variety would exhibit more charming coffee flavor profiles only when grown in areas above 1600m. While Geisha grown around 1500m still had captivating aromas, it lacked complexity. Since most coffee estates in the Panama region have the advantage of high altitude, they began planting Geisha varieties one after another. Even neighboring Colombia, seeing such an attractive variety, noted that they had similar geographical environments and thus also introduced Geisha cultivation.

For example, renowned coffee estates in Colombia such as La Esperanza, La Hacienda El Diviso, and La Hacienda San Pedro all grow Geisha coffee varieties. To ensure Geisha coffee varieties can exhibit more outstanding flavor profiles, these estates plant Geisha coffee in regions above 1625m altitude, with cloud shade, fertile soil, and suitable climates. However, the flavor profile of Geisha coffee produced in Colombia is not as good as that grown in high-altitude regions of Panama. It always lacks some complexity and has more caramel-like notes.

This proves that regardless of how special a coffee variety is, the characteristic flavors of its origin region remain significant. The formation of regional flavor profiles is related to the geographical environment, which may seem similar to people but makes a huge difference for agricultural crops. FrontStreet Coffee, through cupping and comparing different varieties from two regions that both boast beautiful mountains, fertile soil, and pristine water, found that Panama's regional coffee flavor exhibits distinct tea-like qualities with floral and fruit aromas, while Colombia's regional coffee flavor shows delicate berry acidity and caramel-like aftertaste.

Comparative Brewing Analysis

For a more direct comparison, FrontStreet Coffee brewed washed Geisha coffee beans from Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda grown at 1600-1800m altitude and washed Geisha coffee beans from Colombia's La Esperanza grown at 1700-1800m altitude for brewing comparison.

Since Geisha coffee grows at high altitudes, the temperature difference between day and night gives coffee beans sufficient time for growth and flavor development, making Geisha beans relatively hard and likely to sink and block water flow. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests using a grind size with 78% pass-through rate on a Chinese standard #20 sieve (approximately fine sugar size).

15g of coffee grounds, paired with Hario's V60 small dripper, then brewed using a 1:16 coffee-to-water ratio. On one hand, this uses slightly more water to maintain coffee extraction rate, and on the other hand, adjusts the coffee concentration to between 1.15%-1.25%, which is the optimal concentration for experiencing coffee's best flavors. For water temperature, maintain 91°C.

Once everything is prepared, use a three-stage brewing method: Start timing, first pour water to 30g for a 30-second bloom; then begin the second stage with small circular pours to 125g, wait until the water level drops to half before pouring again, then continue small circular pours to 225g. After complete dripping, the total extraction time should be approximately 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds.

Tasting Notes

Hacienda La Esmeralda Washed Green Label Geisha Coffee Bean Flavor: Ginger flower, jasmine, berries, sweet orange, honey, Tie Guan Yin tea

La Esperanza Washed Geisha Coffee Bean Flavor: Lime, jasmine, ginger candy, oolong tea

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