Why Do Panamanian and Ethiopian Geisha Coffee Have Different Flavor Characteristics? What Does Geisha Taste Like?

What Makes Geisha Coffee So Special?

Geisha has become one of the most well-known coffee varieties since Blue Mountain, even becoming the most expensive "treasure of the house" in many coffee shops. Besides the widely known Panama Geisha, there are also common Geisha varieties from Ethiopia, Colombia, and Costa Rica on the market. Even in a few coffee shops, you can find Geisha from Bolivia, Mexico, Jamaica, and Yunnan, China.

If you've heard great things about Geisha and randomly order a cup at a coffee shop, you'll most likely taste the stunning flavor profile with rich floral and fruity acidity as described in the rumors; there's a moderate chance you'll taste something average, not as exaggerated as described in the rumors; and there's a small chance you'll taste something completely different from the rumors, making you wonder if the barista brewed the wrong beans!

The popularity of Geisha in the consumer market has led many coffee-producing countries to invest in Geisha cultivation. Perhaps, they just happen to be all called "Geisha," with little connection to the legendary Geisha described in the rumors!

So what exactly makes a Geisha? Let's go back to the 2004 BOP (Best of Panama) competition, where judges frowned at a coffee, tasting it repeatedly. They couldn't believe that coffee grown in Panama could have the floral, citrus, and honey-sweet flavors typically found in Ethiopian coffee. At that time, coffee from Central and South America was primarily characterized by nutty, cocoa notes with balanced profiles.

As expected, this stunning coffee bean won the championship that year, and this bean came from the Peterson father and son of Hacienda La Esmeralda. When everyone was curious about how Hacienda La Esmeralda grew such delicious coffee, the owner Price revealed that this coffee's variety was Geisha, which we call "瑰夏" in Chinese.

At this point, we can confirm that what amazed everyone was the coffee bean with rich floral, citrus, and honey-sweet flavors, and the reason for such stunning flavors is attributed to the coffee variety - Geisha. "The reason Geisha is recognized is because of its unique taste. Conversely, if so-called Geisha doesn't have that flavor, can it still be recognized?"

Since we found that the deliciousness of this coffee comes from this noble variety, then if other estates want to have coffee beans with such stunning flavors, they just need to obtain its seeds. So everyone started tracing the origin of Geisha.

The Origin of Panama Geisha

Let's take a God's-eye view and see where Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha variety came from.

Going back to the 1930s, Africa had been divided among Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, with Ethiopia being one of only two countries not colonized. However, the countries surrounding Ethiopia were already under British influence. In 1931, border garrison commander Colonel Richard Whalley, under orders from the British ambassador, led troops deep into the Kaffa Forest in southwestern Ethiopia to collect coffee tree samples for research, seeking varieties suitable for large-scale commercial cultivation.

They came to a forest called Gesha and collected various coffee seeds, then handed them to the British consulate in Maji, which then shipped them back to coffee research institutes in Kenya and Tanzania for classification and cultivation. The colonel was always a military man, not a botanist, so he could only write in his report that these coffee seeds were collected from a place called Geisha. Because there were significant differences between the local Ethiopian language and English, many spellings were based on heard sounds, so he mistakenly wrote "Gesha" as "Geisha" in his report.

The seeds from Geisha arrived in Kenya and began trial planting, with different coffee trees numbered based on their appearance characteristics. Then in 1936, Kenya sent coffee seedlings numbered 1, 9, 11, 123, etc., to the Lyamungu research station in Tanzania for cultivation and research. Lyamungu then renumbered these coffee trees and selected VC496-500 seedlings for cultivation.

In 1953, this batch of selected Geisha samples from Tanzania arrived at CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) in Costa Rica. Finally, in 1963, Don Pachi, who held an important position in the Panama Ministry of Agriculture, brought some Geisha varieties from CATIE back to Panama and distributed them to farmers for cultivation. Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha variety is precisely the variety numbered T2722 from CATIE, which corresponds to VC496 from Tanzania's Lyamungu.

To translate this: from Ethiopia to Panama was a continuous selection process. Initially, the colonel collected various varieties from Gesha, which were screened by Kenya and handed to Tanzania, then screened again by Tanzania and handed to Costa Rica, and only then reached Panama. After another 40 years, it was discovered by the Peterson father and son, finally amazing everyone. The name "Geisha" is actually a misspelled place name. We recognize that the special floral and fruity aroma comes from the T2722 (VC496) variety.

Why Don't Ethiopian Geishas Have That Flavor?

It's simple - Ethiopian Geishas are found locally in their homeland. Ethiopia has thousands of coffee varieties, and finding one with the same origin as T2722 among them is extremely unlikely.

In 2007, documentary director Adam Overton became interested in coffee while filming a coffee documentary in Ethiopia. In 2009, led by Willem Boot (one of the judges amazed by Geisha in 2004, owner of Finca Mula and Finca Sofia), Adam and his team retraced Colonel Richard's path, entering the Gesha Forest to find the Geisha variety mentioned by Hacienda La Esmeralda.

Since genetic comparison wasn't available at that time, they could only compare based on plant appearance and cupping results. Finally, they selected varieties from the forest that were very close in flavor to Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha and named them Gesha 1931. Documentary director Adam later became the owner of Gesha Village. In 2011, Adam found another variety similar to Geisha in the Gori Forest near the estate and brought it back to cultivate, calling it Gori Gesha.

So whether it's Gesha 1931, Gori Gesha, or the original Gesha varieties, they were all found in Ethiopia by referencing the plant appearance and flavor profile of Panama Geisha. This doesn't prove they are the same as Panama's T2722. Therefore, it's normal for there to be significant differences in both bean appearance and flavor profile between the two. However, these coffees do indeed come from the Gesha Forest, so calling them "Geisha" seems reasonable!

Why Are Costa Rican Geishas Also Somewhat Different?

Costa Rica, as the previous stop before Panama and also a neighboring country, theoretically should have no difficulty finding T2722. But why don't Costa Rican Geishas have the same rich flavor profile as Panama's?

FrontStreet Coffee believes there might be several reasons. First, after Costa Rica introduced Geisha, they also released some selected varieties for farmers to cultivate. Besides T2722, there were other numbered varieties with different plant morphologies like T2917 and T3214. Later, when Geisha became famous, these were all collectively called Geisha. FrontStreet Coffee has also observed that some Costa Rican estates have Geisha beans that are long and full, very similar in appearance to Panama Geisha beans, with flavor profiles that have Panama Geisha characteristics. Other estates' Geisha beans appear flat, short, and slightly pointed at both ends, with less obvious Panama Geisha characteristics.

The second reason is terroir. Microclimate variations in local regions can affect coffee quality expression. Just as Geisha was introduced to Panama in 1963 but only shone in 2004, largely because when initially planted at lower altitudes (below 1400 meters), the citrus flavors were not prominent and there was more bitterness. It wasn't until Hacienda La Esmeralda acquired the Jaramillo farm and tried planting these Geisha trees at higher altitudes (1500-1800m) that the floral and citrus flavors became rich and intense.

The third reason is processing methods. Costa Rican coffees often use honey processing, and like Colombia, they are skilled at using heavy fermentation processing. This can result in fermented flavors that mask some of Geisha's inherent flavors, making Geisha's flavor characteristics less obvious.

As for other coffee-producing countries with rare Geisha production, it's also difficult to determine whether they come from Panama's T2722. They might be genuine Geisha varieties introduced from Panama, but due to terroir reasons, failed to express Geisha's flavor profile - "like oranges south of the Huai River being sweet, but bitter north of it." Or they might simply share the same name "Geisha" without being the actual variety.

If you want to experience the legendary Geisha flavor, choosing Panama Geisha is definitely reliable. For other Geishas, you'll have to rely on luck.

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