What is the connection between Gorie Gesha and Gesha 1931 from Ethiopia's Gesha Village and Panama's Gesha?

The Rise of Geisha: From Ethiopia to Panama

Geisha coffee rose to fame in Panama, but its origins trace back to Ethiopia. Consequently, people often compare Geisha varieties from these two regions! "Geisha 1931" and "Gori Gesha" have emerged as representative Ethiopian Geisha varieties, often compared with their Panamanian counterparts!

However, online discussions frequently claim that "these are not true Geisha varieties"! This naturally sparks curiosity among coffee enthusiasts: if they're both called Geisha, why would people question their authenticity? Let's explore the origins of these two Geisha varieties!

The Origins of Geisha 1931 and Gori Gesha

In 2004, after Hacienda La Esmeralda gained renown with a coffee variety featuring rich floral notes and citrus-honey undertones, coffee producers worldwide became captivated by these extraordinary flavors. Everyone wanted to cultivate coffee with such remarkable characteristics.

When people discovered that these exceptional flavors originated from the noble "Geisha" lineage, attention turned to Geisha's birthplace. Producers hoped to find the same "Geisha variety" in its origin that was flourishing in Panama. Thus began the quest to trace Geisha's origins. Remarkably, researchers successfully traced the Panamanian Geisha to its source! In 1931, British border patrols collected it from Ethiopia's Geisha Forest along with other native varieties, and after several decades of journeying, it eventually arrived in Panama.

When this news spread, many attempted to find homologous varieties in that region. However, Ethiopia hosts thousands of native coffee varieties, making the probability of finding genetically identical varieties extremely low! Then in 2007, Adam Overton arrived in Ethiopia as director of a coffee documentary. As filming progressed, he developed a fascination with coffee and cultivated a keen interest in it! Consequently, in 2009, he returned to Ethiopia!

This time, however, he was guided by Willem Boot, owner of Donkey Estate. Their mission was clear: enter the forest where Geisha was originally "discovered" and find the same variety that made Hacienda La Esmeralda famous! Ultimately, through plant morphology analysis and cupping evaluations, they identified a variety remarkably similar to Geisha in both flavor profile and genetic comparison. Therefore, they named this variety "Geisha 1931"!

In 2011, Adam and Rachel established their estate in southwestern Ethiopia. Since the estate was located within the Geisha Village area, they named it "Geisha Village Estate."

That same year, Adam discovered a Geisha-like variety in the Gori Forest near the estate. He brought it back to cultivate on the estate. Since this Geisha-like variety was discovered in the Gori Forest, they named it "Gori Gesha"!

As readers have likely noticed, neither Geisha 1931 nor Gori Gesha are genetically identical to Panamanian Geisha. They were identified using Panamanian Geisha as a reference template to find similar varieties from Geisha's birthplace, but this doesn't prove they share the same genetic lineage as Panamanian Geisha. However, they do originate from the same Gesha Forest region, so using the Geisha name for both is entirely reasonable. Therefore, how one interprets these two Geisha varieties from Geisha Village is a matter of personal perspective!

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