Which Ethiopian Coffee Ranks Best? What are the Differences Between Gesha Village's Red Label and Gold Label?

FrontStreet Coffee - Gesha Village Gold Label and Red Label Coffee Knowledge Sharing

In 2007, documentary director Adam Overton and his photographer wife Rachel Samuel, while filming a documentary about Ethiopian coffee for the Ethiopian government, encountered the Gera coffee forest located in the Bench-Maji region. During this process, they not only gained a renewed appreciation for Ethiopia's magnificent land but also conceived the idea of establishing their own coffee estate and brand.

In 2009, they had the fortune to meet the renowned mule estate owner and BOP judge Willem Boot, whose ideas provided the Overton couple with an opportunity: return to Ethiopia to find the birthplace of Gesha.

Eventually, they arrived in Bench-Maji, an area in southwestern Ethiopia near South Sudan. Many places in this region are called Gesha Village, making it the most likely area to find the original Gesha. Adam followed Willem Boot on "expeditions" in the forests surrounding the estate, discovering various wild tree species in a jungle magically enveloped by dense forest. To their greatest surprise, they found wild Gesha.

Later they learned that this was the Gori Gesha forest, the place where the Gesha variety was first discovered. They collected seeds from the original Gesha trees, selected from among them, and then planted them in Gesha Village. They decided to establish their estate here and named it Gesha Village Coffee Estate, a 475-hectare coffee farm located about 12 miles from the Gori Gesha forest.

Gesha Village Coffee Estate is completely different from most Ethiopian farms - it's not a small farm but a 500-hectare large estate with its own washing station and laboratory, situated in the southwest near the Sudan border. Most notably, the entire farm only cultivates Gesha varieties, rather than the typical Ethiopian native varieties of uncertain genetic background.

Gesha Village divides the farm into 8 zones and 3 main Gesha varieties, with all Gesha seeds collected from nearby forests rather than from Panama.

Gesha Village has a strict internal grading system, including Auction, Gold Label, Red Label, Green Label, and CHAKA batches.

Gold Label

The Gold Label accounts for only 5% of Gesha Village's total annual production and can almost be considered a work of the same caliber as the auction batches. Roasters with high quality requirements also purchase these batches, which have complete traceability. Each batch features outstanding flavor complexity, making it the estate's second-highest grade after the auction batches.

Red Label

Batches with complete traceability that feature typical Gesha Village flavors. The flavor intensity and complexity are slightly lower than the Gold Label batches, making them a very cost-effective single-origin batch.

Knowledge Extension

Both the Gold Label and Red Label varieties are Gori Gesha, while CHAKA is composed of three varieties: Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931, and Illubabor.

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