Where is Gesha Village and What Are Its Flavors? Introduction to Ethiopian Gesha Coffee

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

FrontStreet Coffee - Gesha Village Gesha Knowledge Sharing

"The Birthplace of Gesha"

Ethiopian Gesha coffee requires extremely high cultivation conditions, needing an almost perfect location: high altitude, abundant rainfall, and mild climate - all key natural factors for producing high-quality coffee. Finally, by divine blessing, they found this mountain forest area in the Bench Maji region and began building their dream coffee farm. Surprisingly, this area possessed unique coffee resources: near the Gori Gesha forest, which according to genetic tracing, is the famous origin of Panamanian Gesha. Among these, one variety that traveled to Panama in the 1930s is called Gesha1931, while another is the wild Gesha variety discovered and brought back by the Gesha Village estate owner when entering the Gori Gesha forest in 2011, named Gori Gesha. Both varieties are heirloom or native Gesha.

In 2011, Adam followed consultant Willem Boot on "expeditions" in the forests surrounding the estate. In a jungle magically enveloped by dense forest, they discovered multiple wild tree species, with the most exciting find being wild Gesha. They later learned that this was indeed the Gori Gesha forest - the place where Gesha was first discovered.

They collected seeds from the original Gesha trees, and after careful screening, sent the seeds to professional institutions for genetic testing, confirming this area as the original collection site of the Panamanian Gesha variety. Subsequently, by studying coffee tree morphology, bean appearance and size, as well as cupping results, they selected the Gesha variety closest to today's Panamanian Gesha and began nursery cultivation. The three coffee varieties currently grown at Gesha Village are shown below:

-Coffee Varieties Currently Grown at Gesha Village

Gesha Village Coffee Estate often causes misunderstanding due to its name, leading people to think that Gesha Village only grows Gesha. In fact, besides the two Gesha varieties, Gesha Village also has a native variety called Illubabor. It's worth mentioning that some Gesha estates in certain producing regions may not have very prominent differences between batches due to their smaller scale; but for a large estate like Gesha Village, differences between plots are equivalent to differences between small estates, so the estate owner has implemented very detailed plot numbering for easier later management and flavor traceability.

To produce top-quality "terroir flavor," Gesha Village maintains strict standards for coffee picking and processing. "Only pick the most mature coffee cherries" and "don't use any that have fallen on the ground or are spoiled" are requirements followed by every worker, while picking instructors teach workers what constitutes the most mature coffee and what cherries are spoiled. With the support and cooperation of local residents, they have successfully trained a group of high-level pickers and processing plant workers.

Leveraging its unique natural advantages, Gesha Village's primary processing method is natural processing. Because Gesha Village's main harvest season is from December to March, which is the dry season in this region with minimal rainfall, the estate can use natural drying methods like drying beds to process coffee beans. Compared to the relatively high temperature and humid processing season in Central America, Gesha Village's natural processing more easily achieves very clean natural flavor profiles.

Knowledge Extension: Gesha1931

Gesha1931 was confirmed by observing plant morphology, bean shape and size, as well as its cupping profile - it is the closest to the mother plant of today's Panamanian Gesha.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473