What's the Difference Between "Hua Kui" and Geisha? Understanding the Distinctions Between Hua Kui and Geisha Coffee Varieties and Their Stories

Understanding Geisha Coffee

Geisha/Gesha, because its pronunciation is similar to "Geisha" in Japanese, is sometimes referred to as Geisha coffee in certain regions. Although the flavor of Geisha variety coffee beans is exquisite, this elegant flavor originates from specific growing conditions. The Geisha variety is quite "picky" about its growing environment, requiring cultivation in high-altitude areas with cloud shade or extensive shade tree cover, and fertile soil to produce rich, captivating floral aromas, delicate and elegant fruit acidity, and tea-like aftertaste.

Major Geisha Growing Regions

The main growing regions for Geisha include Panama, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, and Colombia.

Panama Geisha

Panama Geisha was instrumental in introducing this variety to the world and making it widely recognized.

The Panama Geisha variety originates from Ethiopia. It was discovered in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia in 1931, then sent to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya. In 1936, it was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania, then to Costa Rica in 1953, and finally to Panama in 1970. When initially introduced to Panama, people were unwilling to cultivate it due to its low yield, so it was planted in windbreaks to protect other coffee trees from the wind.

Ethiopia Geisha

The most representative Ethiopian Geisha coffee comes from the Gesha Village Estate, which is one of the few estates primarily dedicated to growing the Geisha variety. Since the Geisha variety grown in Gesha Village belongs to wild Geisha varieties, there are similarities in plant structure and flavor to the familiar Panamanian Geisha, but overall, it still differs significantly from Panamanian Geisha coffee flavor.

Colombia Geisha

Colombia has only recently started importing Geisha coffee beans from Panama in recent years. Most Colombian coffee growing areas are located in mountainous regions with abundant microclimates, mild temperatures, and abundant water resources, providing excellent growing conditions for coffee. FrontStreet Coffee, through cupping Colombian Geisha coffee beans, found notes of flowers, soft acidity of orange/mandarin, honey-like sweetness, and tea-like finish.

Hua Kui Coffee Beans

This 2017 TOH (Taste of Harvest) champion bean was originally just called Hambela coffee beans. In the same year, after the champion batch of green beans was imported by a Beijing green bean trader, it was named "Hua Kui," meaning "the finest among flowers" and suggesting an enchanting presence. Chinese coffee enthusiasts truly got to know Hua Kui coffee beans in 2017 when Li Jianfei, the runner-up in the China region of the World Brewers Cup, used this batch of Hua Kui coffee beans to defeat many contestants' Geisha coffees. In an era when Geisha coffee beans dominated major competitions, a sun-dried coffee bean from Ethiopia managed to outcompete so many Geisha coffee beans, naturally making everyone view this unassuming coffee bean with new respect. This is the origin of our reference to "Hua Kui" - it hasn't been many years, and people who were drinking coffee several years ago will have some impression of this.

Hua Kui coffee beans use Ethiopian native varieties, and this variety does not refer to a specific cultivar. As the birthplace of coffee, Ethiopia has countless coffee varieties—it's like a natural gene bank for Arabica. On one hand, there are numerous varieties making identification and classification difficult; on the other hand, the Ethiopian government,出于保护考虑, is unwilling to disclose information about these varieties, so they are collectively referred to as Ethiopian native varieties. Precisely because of the variety complexity, they are mixed-planted and mixed-harvested, resulting in Ethiopian native variety beans being of uneven sizes.

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