The Relationship Between Geisha and Arabica: The Bittersweet Journey of the Geisha Coffee Variety from Ugly Duckling to White Swan

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FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Geisha Coffee

Have you ever heard people say that there are only two types of specialty coffee beans: one is Geisha coffee, and all other Arabica coffees are considered the other type?

Although this is somewhat of an exaggerated joke, it's undeniable that Geisha coffee is recognized as the most noble variety among specialty coffees, especially deeply ingrained in people's minds over the past fifteen years. For example, the top-tier green coffee competition in the coffee world - the Best of Panama (BOP) competition - specifically separates Geisha varieties from other varieties for group judging, which demonstrates the formidable strength of the Geisha variety.

Geisha coffee beans are also known as "Geisha," but they don't originate from Japan. They are named because the place where they grow, Mount Gesha in Ethiopia, happens to have the same pronunciation as the traditional Japanese "Geisha." However, in recent years, the Chinese phonetic translation has mostly been "Gui Xia coffee."

Although the original homeland of this coffee bean is Mount Gesha in southwestern Africa, it was later introduced to Panama where it wasn't very popular among coffee farmers due to its low yield. It wasn't until Panama's La Esmeralda estate made a spectacular showing with this coffee bean at the 2004 Panama cupping competition that Geisha's reputation began to spread far and wide!

Another reason is that Geisha coffee production is relatively scarce, so when people equate price with quality, our Geisha coffee instantly became a legend. At the 2019 Best of Panama (BOP) competition, Panama's Geisha coffee continued to maintain its throne as the most expensive coffee at a high price of $1029 per pound!

Until 2004, Geisha coffee remained relatively unknown. When cupping coffee at La Esmeralda in Panama, they discovered that some coffee trees tasted slightly different from other cultivated coffee trees, possessing a very unique citrus fruit profile.

Before 2004, when processing coffee, they harvested and processed all coffee trees grown on the estate together. However, in 2004, they decided to separately process the coffee fruits produced by those rather peculiar-looking coffee trees.

By a stroke of serendipity, they discovered that these coffee varieties originally used for wind protection and pest prevention actually had flavors leaning toward Ethiopian coffee beans, with a more intense floral aroma. Of course, La Esmeralda later discovered that these beans were indeed from Ethiopia, and the earliest literature also shows that this variety was cultivated in Panama as early as the 1960s.

In Summary:

FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee research establishment dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. Our sharing is completely without reservation, aiming to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Moreover, we hold three low-discount coffee events every month because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible price - this has been our mission for the past six years!

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