Does Luckin Coffee's Gesha SOE Coffee Taste Good? Why Is Luckin's Gesha So Inexpensive

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The Geisha Coffee Controversy

Recently, Luckin's Geisha coffee has become a hot topic in the coffee community.

"Dark roasted Geisha, isn't this wasting the beans?" "Are they using competition-grade coffee beans?!"

"Such good Geisha coffee beans reduced to dishwater..." "Selling this cheap and it's still Geisha?"

...

Understanding Geisha Coffee

"Geisha" became known to most coffee enthusiasts thanks to Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama, as well as the specialty coffee industry's perfect interpretation of this variety over the past decade.

Therefore, when many people first encounter Geisha, they naturally associate it with specialty coffee, as well as with the higher-priced Geisha from small regions in Panama.

But in reality, Geisha is actually a cultivar line, not a single variety. The Geisha that everyone loves today is mostly "Geisha T2722," a branch of the Geisha cultivar line that has been "tamed" over several generations and possesses delicate floral and fruity aromas.

Besides this "T2722," there are still many other Geishas used for varietal breeding. In Ethiopia, the birthplace of Geisha cultivar plants, there are also many native Geisha cultivar coffee beans. Although they are all Geisha cultivars, these native Geisha coffee beans have completely different coffee flavors from the Panamanian Geisha that everyone knows.

The Luckin Geisha

As a commercial coffee brand, its product positioning, pricing, and use of the term "Gesha" have already indicated that this Geisha release is not from Panama/other South American regions where Geisha is grown.

The Gesha used by Luckin this time comes from the Bensa Maji region of Ethiopia, which is also one of the first sample collection areas marked as Gesisha and sent to British plantations in Kenya for cultivation.

Therefore, most Ethiopian coffee produced here is called Ethiopian native Gesha, and its production volume is as abundant as the Ethiopian native varieties (Heirloom) we drink daily. They both belong to a natural mixed variety (because they cannot be finely classified) and are graded G1-G5 based on green bean defect rates.

Regardless of the grade, their quality, flavor, and price are very different from those grown in South American regions/Ethiopia's Geisha Village, nor are they defined as specialty coffee beans. According to Teacher Xu Baolin's "Bean Hunter 2," native Geisha varieties, when dropped after the second crack, show cupping flavors of berries, nuts, spices, plant roots, and stems.

It's worth noting that Luckin also uses coffee beans that are close to second crack/dropped after second crack. As a commercial coffee brand, they pursue stability in every cup of their product. Light roasting obviously cannot achieve this effect, nor is it necessarily suitable for espresso production. If you don't hold expectations of the captivating floral and fruity aromas of Panamanian Geisha and seek obvious coffee flavors, this Geisha SOE is on point.

For a coffee bean to reach 80 points or above as stipulated by SCA is not difficult. In fact, many coffee beans today can achieve such scores. For competition-level, this Geisha uses anaerobic fermentation processing, which is also one of the processing methods chosen by many coffee competition participants today.

Using "specialty grade" and "competition grade" for promotion, for Luckin Coffee, the benchmark is profit, while for those who pursue coffee, the benchmark is culture, professionalism, and taste. Both perspectives are correct, but they are not on the same footing. For general consumers, it doesn't matter - what's important is whether they feel the coffee they bought is worth it.

Opportunities for the Specialty Coffee Market

The better development of the specialty coffee market cannot be separated from the popularization of coffee beans. Luckin's promotion can quickly make many people know about Buku and Geisha, which is clearly not a bad thing. Frankly speaking, this is an effect that many small cafes have tried hard to achieve for a long time without success.

I believe many coffee shops have also noticed that since Luckin launched Buku, more customers have become interested in learning more about it. Isn't this an opportunity to showcase the charm of independent specialty coffee shops? Commercial coffee points provide opportunities for general consumers to get to know coffee, and what specialty coffee shops need to do is refine this knowledge. When consumers have a preliminary understanding and interest in Geisha, baristas can use a more professional perspective and vivid expressions to talk with interested customers about what Geisha is and what Geishas from different growing regions have to offer. Let every customer who comes feel the charm of specialty coffee shops.

Everyone doesn't need to worry that ten-yuan Geisha will take away business from hundred-yuan Geisha because they target completely different customer bases. The latter might not choose the former, but the former could become the latter. Whether the conversion can be successful depends on whether specialty coffee shops can make consumers feel that spending over a hundred yuan is worth it.

Image source: Internet

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