Why is Gesha called Gesha? Stop calling it "Geisha" - The Historical Development Story of Gesha Coffee Beans

Since the Geisha coffee variety won the championship with the highest score in the specialty coffee industry at the 2004 Best of Panama (BOP), it has consistently remained at the forefront of specialty coffee. This coffee variety has repeatedly broken auction price records, helped many baristas win competitions, and captivated coffee enthusiasts worldwide with its unique, elegant, and fresh flavor profile.

As more people become acquainted with Geisha coffee beans, they begin searching for information about Geisha coffee—just as you've found this article! During your research, you might have noticed that Geisha coffee beans have another Chinese name—"Yiji" (艺妓) coffee beans. In fact, regardless of which name is used, they ultimately refer to the same coffee variety: Gesha. So why are there two different names?

Initially, Gesha coffee beans were first called "Yiji" because when Japanese people first encountered this variety, the pronunciation of "Gesha" was the same as "Geisha" in Japanese. Later, Taiwan region began learning about this coffee variety through Japanese contact and thus adopted "Yiji" as the Chinese name. Meanwhile, "Guixia" (瑰夏) was named by Mr. Yuan, the mainland China representative of the Menglu Green Bean Company.

Why was "Yiji" changed to "Guixia"? According to research by FrontStreet Coffee, because of the "Yiji" association, many coffee merchants used Japanese "Geisha" imagery for packaging and promotion, which was somewhat inappropriate as there was essentially no connection between the two—only similar phonetic pronunciations.

Therefore, by changing the Chinese translation of Gesha, consumers new to Geisha coffee would no longer mistakenly believe it was named after the Japanese Geisha performing arts tradition. It also aims to clearly avoid future instances of orientalist imagery being used for marketing and referencing this coffee, while making this coffee variety with its delicate flavor and experienced palate profile more poetic.

The Origin and Discovery of Gesha Coffee

The Gesha coffee variety was first "discovered" in the 1930s in southwestern Ethiopia by British colonial explorers. Initially, this coffee variety wasn't named and was simply recorded as samples collected from Gesha Mountain. Subsequently, the Gesha variety was taken to research stations in Kenya and Tanzania, where its excellent resistance to coffee leaf rust was discovered. Consequently, the Gesha variety was brought to Panama for coffee variety research and improvement.

Not until 2003, when the Peterson family, managers of Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda, conducted cupping after a concentrated harvest, did they discover that some coffee beans tasted slightly different from those grown in other estates, possessing very unique citrus fruit and floral notes. They separated this batch of uniquely flavored coffee beans for special processing. In 2004, they decided to separately process the coffee cherries from these unusual-looking trees and enter them into competition, ultimately winning the championship at the 2004 BOP with very high scores.

At that time, this championship batch of Gesha coffee beans fetched $21 per pound at auction, which was already an extremely high price in 2004. After winning the championship, the Peterson family also conducted genetic tracing of these coffee beans, determining that this variety shared identical genes with plants collected from Gesha Mountain in Ethiopia, thus naming it Gesha.

The Global Expansion of Gesha Coffee

As the fame of Gesha coffee grew, beyond Hacienda La Esmeralda, this variety was also introduced in other parts of Panama. Many estates became famous for competing with Gesha coffee varieties, such as Elida Estate, Aurora Estate, Deborah Estate, and Nuguo Estate. Besides estate-grown Gesha coffee beans, Gesha coffee grown in other related regions also shows excellent flavor performance. Although it may not be as refined as estate-level Geisha, beginners can start with regular Panamanian Gesha coffee beans, such as those from the Boquete region offered by FrontStreet Coffee. (Little secret: Hacienda La Esmeralda is also located in the Boquete region!)

Brewing Guide for Gesha Coffee

Wow! You've already got your hands on some! Hurry up! So how should we brew such elegant Gesha coffee to make it delicious? Because Gesha coffee grows at high altitudes, the temperature difference between day and night allows coffee beans sufficient time for growth and flavor development. Therefore, Gesha variety beans are relatively hard and tend to sink easily, potentially clogging the filter's drainage holes. For this reason, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a grind size where 78% passes through a Chinese standard #20 sieve (approximately the size of fine granulated sugar).

Brewing parameters: 15g of coffee grounds, using a Hario V60 small dripper, with a 1:16 coffee-to-water ratio. On one hand, using a slightly larger amount of water helps maintain extraction rate; on the other hand, it adjusts the coffee concentration to between 1.15%-1.25%, which is the optimal concentration for experiencing the coffee's best flavors. For water temperature, maintain 91°C.

Once everything is ready, adopt a three-stage brewing method: Start timing, first pour to 30g of water and let it bloom for 30 seconds; then begin the second stage with small circular pours to 125g, wait until the water level drops to half before continuing, then continue with small circular pours to 225g. After complete filtration, the total extraction time should be approximately 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds.

Tasting Notes

Panama Boquete region Gesha coffee beans brewing notes: citrus, white floral notes, green tea sensation, honey.

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