What Does Geisha Taste Like? What's the Difference Between Ethiopian and Panamanian Geisha?

Before the millennium, Geisha was like most unappreciated coffee varieties—a mere "background actor" playing a minor role. When Hacienda La Esmeralda introduced it to the world at the 2004 Best of Panama competition, this long-running "supporting" variety suddenly became the object of universal admiration.

Jasmine, citrus acidity, and honey-like texture were the exceptional flavors that Geisha showcased on its debut stage. Because these flavors differed from all other coffees of the time, they left a profound impression. Consequently, these three flavor characteristics became the representative flavors of Geisha, commonly known as the "Geisha taste." However, we must understand that not all Geisha varieties possess this distinctive Geisha taste.

Just like oranges among fruits—navel oranges, blood oranges, and Sunkist oranges are different orange varieties. Although we collectively call them oranges, they exhibit completely different characteristics due to their different varieties!

Appearance, size, taste, or texture all vary due to different varieties. The same principle applies to Geisha coffee.

Different Geisha Varieties

Coffee flavor formation is 70% determined by the bean's genetics, and the Geisha taste is no exception. Although there are many Geisha varieties on the market, not all possess the genes capable of expressing floral and fruity notes!

After the Panama Geisha boom, people traced its origins and discovered that Panama's Geisha variety was collected from the Geisha forest near the Kaffa forest in Ethiopia back in the 1930s. Furthermore, according to research by French biologist Jean-Pierre Labouisse, the initial batch of coffee beans labeled as Geisha came from different local coffee trees. This means that Geisha is not just a single variety. In Ethiopia, there are thousands of different "Geisha types," and Panama Geisha is just one among many Ethiopian "Geishas."

Therefore, by returning to Geisha's place of origin, people successively found different types of "Geisha." This explains why, although all are Geisha, those from Panama display flavors of floral notes, fruity characteristics, and honey-like texture, while Ethiopian Geishas are characterized by full juice-like sensations and predominantly fruity flavors. This difference is largely attributable to the varieties themselves.

(Left: Ethiopian Geisha, Right: Panamanian Geisha)

Different Origins

Variety determines 70% of a coffee's flavor foundation, while the remaining 30% is determined by the growing environment. This is FrontStreet Coffee's favorite old saying: "When oranges grow south of the Huai River, they become sweet oranges; when they grow north, they become bitter oranges." Translated, this saying applies perfectly to coffee as an agricultural crop, meaning that even the same crop will produce significantly different flavors when grown in different places. The pursuit of terroir flavor in specialty coffee embodies exactly this principle.

Coffee flavor is influenced by many factors during cultivation, such as soil, rainfall, altitude, sunlight duration, and so on. Different regions have different climatic environments, so even the same Geisha variety, when planted in different soils, will exhibit distinct flavor differences due to environmental variations, ultimately deviating from your expected taste. For example, Geishas grown in the Costa Rican region often feature distinctive sweet orange flavors, while those from Ethiopian regions display lemon freshness, among others.

Different Processing Methods

Coffee bean processing is equally important in influencing coffee flavor. Even with the same Geisha variety and identical growing conditions, its flavor can vary significantly due to different processing methods.

The coffee bean processing process can be understood as a fermentation process. Different processing methods result in vastly different fermentation times, degrees of fermentation, and quantities of substances participating in fermentation. These differences all lead to changes in coffee flavor.

For example, even with the same Panamanian Geisha variety, conventionally processed Geishas will emit traditional Geisha flavors of white floral notes, citrus, and berries. However, if anaerobic processing is used, taking the 90+ Juliette Geisha as an example, it will exhibit unique flavors of champagne, muscat grapes, and spices. These flavors represent the changes brought to the flavor by processing methods. Therefore, even though they are both Panamanian Geishas, they can develop completely different coffee flavors due to different processing methods.

Now you understand why the same Geisha can have such different flavors! Variety, origin, and processing methods are all key to the problem. Of course, roasting is also very important for coffee flavor expression. However, it mainly adjusts already-stored flavors—to put it simply, it's responsible for controlling the expressiveness of each flavor, rather than directly adding flavors to the coffee. Therefore, the first three factors are more crucial for the formation of coffee flavor!

For those trying Geisha for the first time, FrontStreet Coffee usually recommends starting with Panama to get acquainted with it. Because FrontStreet Coffee believes that as the place where Geisha became famous, Panama's mature cultivation techniques and processing methods still ensure the industry's reputation for Geisha coffee. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee has specially launched a "daily Geisha"—Panama Boquete Geisha, processed using the washed method, hoping everyone can experience the classic Geisha taste at an affordable price.

The washed processing method involves first placing selected coffee cherries into a depulper to initially remove their skin and pulp; then placing coffee beans with remaining pulp and mucilage into water for about 24 hours of fermentation; after fermentation, placing parchment coffee beans into flowing water channels to wash away their pulp and mucilage; after washing, drying the coffee beans either by sun-drying or using drying machines until the moisture content reaches about 12%; finally, removing the parchment from the coffee beans.

As one of the most traditional raw bean processing methods, washing not only makes coffee production quality more stable but also allows Geisha to present a flavor profile with higher clarity and fresher characteristics. After roasting, FrontStreet Coffee detected Geisha's elegant white floral notes, uplifting citrus, lemon acidity, with a slight green tea aftertaste, reminiscent of drinking a cup of smooth Tieguanyin tea. How should such rich Geisha coffee be brewed to avoid waste?

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's flavor descriptions for each coffee are based on freshly roasted beans. If coffee beans have been stored for more than a month, some aroma may have been lost, making it difficult to restore the original flavor through brewing. FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands the importance of freshness, therefore ensuring only coffee beans roasted within 5 days are shipped, allowing everyone to enjoy the complete optimal tasting period upon receipt.

Geisha coffee is renowned worldwide for its rich floral notes and complex fruit characteristics. FrontStreet Coffee's roasters hope to preserve more of Geisha's quality acidity, therefore choosing light to medium roast (with slight adjustments for different batches). This roast level doesn't significantly change the high hardness of beans from high altitudes, therefore brewing requires increasing the extraction rate to present fuller flavor layers. This requires higher water temperature and slightly finer grind size to extract more aromatic substances. Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee hopes for clearer flavor expression in Geisha coffee, so will slightly increase the powder-to-water ratio, using 1:16.

To increase Geisha coffee extraction rate while avoiding over-extraction and highlighting sweet and sour flavor layers, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas use the V60 dripper. The V60 dripper's body features flow ribs connecting the top and bottom and a large circular hole at the center to accelerate water flow, while the spiral-shaped exhaust groove design extends the water flow path, increasing contact time between coffee grounds and hot water. Each water stream converges along the grooves toward the filter cup's center point, concentrating pressure on the coffee grounds and resulting in richer extracted coffee layers.

Below, FrontStreet Coffee demonstrates the brewing steps for the Esmeralda Red Label Natural Geisha served in our store. You can refer to this and compare it with your own brewing approach.

The parameters for hand-pouring Red Label Geisha coffee are: Dripper: V60, Water temperature: 91-92°C, Coffee amount: 15g, Powder-to-water ratio: 1:16, Grind size: Fine sugar size (80% passes through #20 sieve)

Three-stage extraction: First pour 15g of coffee powder into the dripper and zero the scale. For the first stage, pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, starting the timer simultaneously. Use a small water stream starting from the center point and moving outward in circles, ensuring the entire coffee bed is moistened.

For the second stage, use a slightly larger water stream to pour 120g of water, aiming to lift the entire coffee bed. The water stream needs to be poured vertically and evenly. At this point, the timer scale shows 150g, and pouring should be completed in about 55 seconds.

When the liquid level drops to halfway, start using a small water stream in small circles to pour the third stage of 90g. Try to control the water stream not to be too large, as it's easy to scatter the coffee bed and cause under-extraction. Finally, the total pour amount is 240g, with a completion time of about 2 minutes and 10 seconds for the drip filtration. Remove the dripper and shake the coffee liquid in the sharing pot evenly before tasting.

Hand-poured Panama washed Boquete Geisha coffee has distinct citrus, lemon, and bergamot clarity acidity, with a creamy smooth mouthfeel when swallowed, and green tea and honey sweetness in the finish.

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