What is the taste of Gesha coffee? What are the flavor characteristics of Panamanian Gesha coffee and how many flavor profiles does it have?

Years ago, when we talked about coffee, the first names that came to mind were Jamaica Blue Mountain and Hawaii Kona. In the early days of specialty coffee culture, these two coffees with their rich flavors and full-bodied textures were favorites among connoisseurs, earning Blue Mountain and Kona the titles of "King and Queen" in the coffee world.

As the coffee world has entered an era of specialty coffee culture characterized by a hundred schools of thought and a hundred flowers blooming. The rise of Gesha has overturned the "King and Queen" coffee myth, and has already formed a trend of latecomers surpassing predecessors. Gesha coffee has become synonymous with high prices and high quality in today's coffee market.

The Flavor Profile of Gesha Coffee

Compared to the rich and solid coffee flavors of Blue Mountain and Kona, Gesha coffee has revolutionized people's perception of coffee taste with its delicate acidity and fresh floral notes. At the same time, younger generations of consumers are pursuing refreshing tastes, making Gesha coffee naturally a popular variety.

Is Gesha Coffee Really Good?

After years of cupping and comparison at FrontStreet Coffee, it has been found that Gesha coffees from different regions and seasons actually show significant flavor differences, and even coffees from different plots in the same region can exhibit varying tastes.

The most familiar Gesha coffees from the Panama region have a very charming character, with notes similar to rose and jasmine. The acidity is typically bright and uplifting, with citrus tones. The mouthfeel is clean and clear, with distinct layers. After appropriate processing and roasting, it can showcase a smooth, balanced, and uniquely delicate flavor.

Meanwhile, Gesha coffees from the Ethiopia region are relatively less delicate but still rich. They feature notes similar to red berries, nuts, spice sweetness, and tea-like aftertaste. After suitable processing and roasting, they can display balanced and integrated flavor characteristics.

Are Panama Gesha and Ethiopia Gesha the Same Variety?

In the early 1930s, the Gesha variety was collected in an area called Gesha in Ethiopia. At that time, not just one variety was collected, but a mixture of plant varieties from the region's primary forests and those sold in markets were sent together to Kenya for research and cultivation.

Later, Tanzania, Costa Rica, and Panama successively introduced Gesha coffee for further cultivation and research. These plant varieties gradually formed different genes to adapt to different regional terroir and climate conditions, resulting in different flavors.

The Gesha coffee that arrived in Panama, due to factors such as high altitude, microclimate, and soil, accidentally formed very attractive and refined coffee flavors. It was discovered in 2003 by the owner of Panama's La Esmeralda estate, and then sent to participate in the Best of Panama (BOP) competition in 2004. Its unique flavor shocked all judges at the time, ultimately winning the championship with an average cupping score of 94.6, breaking BOP's historical record. It overnight became the champion coffee variety sought after by the entire world.

In the past decade or so, people have begun trying to bring Gesha coffee back to its homeland, Ethiopia, and cultivate it in the "Gesha Village," located 12 miles from the Gesha forest and covering an area of 475 hectares. The plantation owner participated in expeditions to find wild coffee varieties in the forest, and now they are growing several Gesha varieties brought back from the forest, hoping to produce higher quality coffee.

Although the varieties grown in Gesha Village are also called "Gesha," they are essentially native varieties from the Ethiopian region. Even though they are closest to the Panama Gesha variety "Gesha 1931" in terms of plant morphology, bean shape, and cupping performance, because they haven't undergone human "taming" (but Panama's Gesha was "tamed" by humans and nature over many years to achieve its current rich and charming floral and fruity acidity), the Ethiopian Gesha and the Gesha varieties from Central and South America can be understood as two different varieties.

How to Brew Gesha Coffee for Best Taste?

FrontStreet Coffee offers Gesha products including three Ethiopian Gesha coffee beans: Gesha Village Gold Label, Red Label, and Chaka, as well as three Panama Gesha coffee beans from La Esmeralda's Red Label, Green Label, and the large Boquete production region. To allow everyone to taste the most complete flavors of the coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee ships all coffee beans within 5 days of roasting!

Regardless of which region's Gesha variety coffee beans, they all have rich fruit acid characteristics. Because FrontStreet Coffee uses medium-light roasting, it preserves the bright acidity and charming floral and fruity aromas.

Medium-light roasted coffee beans have a harder texture and tend to sink to the bottom during brewing, easily clogging the drainage holes. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a grind size where 78% passes through a Chinese standard #20 sieve (approximately the size of fine sugar), and suggests a brewing water temperature of 90-91°C.

FrontStreet Coffee's daily store preparations use 15g of coffee grounds with a Hario V60 small-sized dripper, then brew with a 1:16 coffee-to-water ratio. Once everything is ready, a three-stage pouring method is used: start timing, first pour to 30g of water for a 30-second bloom; then start the second small-water-volume circular pour to 125g, wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before pouring again, then continue with small-water-volume circular pouring to 225g, and after all dripping is complete, the total extraction time is approximately 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473