One of the Top Ten Best Black Coffees: How to Brew Geisha Coffee for an Enchanting Floral Aroma

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Geisha Coffee

In 1931, a group of explorers discovered a coffee variety in the virgin forests of Geisha Village, southwestern Ethiopia. Its tree trunk was tall, and its beans were larger than typical Ethiopian coffee beans, so they collected some seeds and sent them to the Kenya Coffee Research Institute for trial cultivation. Five years later (in 1936), they selected plump, firm, and mature fruits from the produced crops as seeds and brought them to Uganda and Tanzania for cultivation.

In 1953, CATI (Costa Rica's agricultural research institution) obtained some seeds from Tanzania for research purposes, marking the introduction of Geisha coffee to the Central American region.

Pachi Serracin, owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama, obtained some Geisha seeds from Costa Rica in 1963, beginning the introduction of Geisha coffee to Panama. Initially, due to low yields and poor economic benefits, it was rarely used alone. However, after a period of domestication and adaptation to local soil and climate conditions, its flavor became exceptionally distinctive. After 2000, Daniel Peterson of Hacienda La Esmeralda first discovered the charm of Geisha—its rich fruit aroma, sweet aftertaste, and caramel notes were truly captivating.

In 2003, Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha coffee won first place in that year's "Best of Panama" competition. Its rich and diverse flavors amazed all judges, and it dominated green bean competitions for the next decade. Costa Rica, Colombia, and Bolivia subsequently followed suit in developing Geisha varieties.

After Panamanian Geisha gained fame, many people traced back to the virgin forests of southwestern Ethiopia in search of better coffee varieties. Willem Boot, founder of La Mula, and Joseph Brodsky of Ninety Plus both made such journeys, but ultimately everyone agreed that Panama was the most suitable region for cultivating Geisha. Both of these major coffee companies established their coffee estates in Panama to grow Geisha, developing from washed processing to natural and honey processing methods, even accepting customization requests from coffee roasters.

Both Panama and Costa Rica are located in the Central American isthmus, with Panama being closer to the equator. Its climate is influenced by both Pacific and Atlantic ocean currents and sea breezes. The famous Panama Canal serves as the hub connecting these two major bodies of water.

This unique geographical location and special climate environment have created ideal growing conditions for specialty coffee and contributed to its extremely distinctive flavors. Orange and citrus fruit aromas, the subtle sweetness and acidity of lychee, cantaloupe, and grapes, along with the caramel notes of roasted sweet potatoes, create rich and full layers. The taste is bright and clean, leaving an endless aftertaste.

Brewing Recommendations

V60 dripper, grind size BG-6s, water temperature: 91°C. Technique: segmented extraction—bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds, start timing when pouring begins. For the second pour, add water to 125g and wait until the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, then begin the third pour. Stop pouring at 225g and wait until the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, then remove the filter. Total extraction time: 2 minutes.

Knowledge Point

The reason Geisha is more precious than gold is due to its extremely low yield and the competitive bidding process required to acquire it. Obtaining Geisha green beans is therefore exceptionally difficult.

In Conclusion

FrontStreet Coffee is a café dedicated to coffee research, eager to share knowledge about coffee with everyone. We share without reservation because we want more friends to fall in love with coffee. Every month, we hold three low-discount coffee events because FrontStreet Coffee wants to offer the best coffee at the lowest prices to more friends—this has been our mission for the past six years!

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473