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What Brand of Coffee Beans is Good - Characteristics of Geisha Coffee: Smooth as Jade, Delicate as Cream

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange for more coffee bean information please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style) FrontStreet Coffee - Geisha Coffee Introduction Geisha seeds were discovered in 1931 from the Geisha forest in Ethiopia then sent to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya in 1936 introduced to Uganda and Tanzania 1953 introduced to Costa Rica Panama was 1

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

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Geisha Coffee

Geisha coffee seeds were discovered in 1931 from the Geisha forest in Ethiopia and then sent to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya. In 1936, they were introduced to Uganda and Tanzania. Costa Rica introduced them in 1953, and Panama began cultivating Geisha coffee in the 1970s when Mr. Francisco Serracin from the Tumba七 Agricultural Estate obtained seeds from CATIE in Costa Rica. Due to extremely low yields and the need for competitive bidding, this coffee bean can be said to be hard to come by.

Geisha coffee raw beans possess a beautiful blue-green color with a jade-like warm texture. They smell of fresh grass, peach, berry notes, and the unique milky sweetness of oolong tea that most coffee beans lack. It seems that aroma and flavor require associative thinking, but the faint tea essence is something we can clearly perceive.

To highlight the characteristics and aroma of this bean, the roast level is brought to the verge of second crack. The verge of second crack and first crack of second crack are commonly used roast levels that can best bring out the bean's inherent characteristics. Too light a roast will produce off-flavors, while too dark will damage the floral aroma and fruit acidity. Of course, this must also be adjusted according to the coffee bean's characteristics and the roaster's understanding of the bean itself.

The roasted beans will appear with some "wrinkles." Beans with these "sexy wrinkles" are intended to highlight their original flavor and fruit acidity. However, if the raw beans themselves are not of high quality, they may produce some off-flavors, such as decaying earthy notes, grassy flavors, and astringent tastes. These are flavors that roasters should try their best to avoid. Well-roasted Geisha has charming lemon-citrus aromas and extremely sweet honey-cream flavors.

Flavor Profile:

Floral notes, tropical fruits, and intense sweetness—these are the sensations that Geisha has always brought us. With proper roasting, the sensation they bring you is simply like sipping the fragrance of a fresh bouquet of flowers. Perhaps you are not yet familiar with the story of Geisha—it was originally an ancient native variety from Ethiopia, brought into Costa Rica's coffee experimental garden as a coffee sample and distributed to several small farms for small-scale trial planting.

For a long time, not many people paid attention to Geisha, until one day when Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda separated it from other varieties and won the national coffee competition championship.

It was so extraordinary, with fruit flavors and floral elements seemingly like those from Yirgacheffe in Ethiopia on the other side of the world in Africa. Of course, these are all old news now. Some small farms have also obtained Geisha seeds and are eager to try growing their own Geisha.

However, the results have been varied. Affected by weather, soil, and altitude, this "star" variety seems to taste quite different when planted in different geographical locations. However, in the Acotenango region, we see typical Geisha characteristics: elongated bean shape, changes during roasting, and the elegant, refined flavor in the cup.

Knowledge Point:

This wild variety native to Ethiopia, after countless battles, has now been widely planted in major coffee-producing regions. Its best representative is the "La Esmeralda" estate from Panama. The Geisha coffee from La Esmeralda estate is the most famous coffee among the Geisha varieties.

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research hall, happy to share coffee knowledge with everyone. We share without reservation only to let more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month, there are three coffee discount events because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends drink the best coffee at the lowest price. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's principle for six years!