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Where is Ethiopia's Gesha Village? What are the characteristics of Gesha Village's Gesha?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, When it comes to Geisha, everyone naturally thinks of Panamanian Geisha. Initially, Geisha was not favored due to its fragile plants, difficulty in cultivation, and low yields. Later, Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama introduced the Geisha variety to the global market through the Best of Panama (BOP) competition and auction, then it spread to surrounding estates and neighboring areas.

When it comes to Gesha, everyone will naturally think of Panamanian Gesha. Initially, the Gesha variety was not well-regarded due to its fragile plants, difficulty in cultivation, and low yields. However, Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda later introduced the Gesha variety to the global market through the Best of Panama (BOP) competition and auctions, leading to its adoption by surrounding estates and neighboring countries for cultivation.

In fact, Gesha originally comes from Ethiopia, which is widely recognized as the birthplace of coffee. It was discovered in the 1930s in the Gesha region near the Kaffa forest in southwestern Ethiopia. During this period, due to its resistance to leaf rust disease, it traveled through several countries before being cataloged by Costa Rica's Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) as the "geisha T2722" variety, and finally arrived in Panama.

As the Gesha variety gradually gained fame, it attracted many estates and other countries to introduce and cultivate it. Among those attracted was Adam Overton, a director, and his photographer wife Rachel Samuel. In 2007, this couple was commissioned by the Ethiopian government to shoot a documentary about coffee. During filming, they visited the Bench Maji region and discovered the Gori Gesha Forest, which sparked the idea of establishing a coffee estate.

In 2009, the couple met Willem, the owner of Panama's Don Pachi Estate, and together they returned to Ethiopia to search for the birthplace of Gesha. They came to a place in Bench Maji known as Gesha Village, which they identified as the most likely area where the original Gesha originated. After finding wild Gesha, they collected seeds from native Gesha trees, screened them, and planted them in Gesha Village. They later decided to establish their estate here and named it Gesha Village Coffee Estate.

Ethiopia's Coffee Regions

Currently, Ethiopia is divided into 12 states and 2 autonomous administrative regions, with 10 coffee regions. Many of these are globally renowned coffee-producing regions, such as Sidamo, Jima, Harrar, Guji, and Yirgacheffe. Among these, Guji and Yirgacheffe were originally part of the Sidamo region but became independent coffee regions due to their unique flavor profiles.

However, when mentioning Ethiopian coffee, people often think of regions like Sidamo, Guji, and Yirgacheffe. But coffee was originally discovered in the Kaffa Zone in southwestern Ethiopia, where countless wild Arabica coffee mother trees still grow today.

Now, the Kaffa Zone belongs to the South West Ethiopia Peoples' Region (this state was originally part of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region but became independent through a referendum in 2021) and is located in the northern part of the state. The Kaffa Zone is primarily a humid and moist rainforest area, with its most famous feature being the Kafa Biosphere Reserve, which is rich in natural resources.

The Origin of Gesha

To the west of the Kafa Biosphere Reserve lies the Bench Maji region (called Bench Sheko in some local areas), which is also the Gesha National Forest Reserve. The Gesha variety originates from here. In coffee region classification, Bench Maji belongs to the Bebeka coffee region. Bebeka is also the capital of the Bench Maji Zone, and due to its remote and underdeveloped location, coffee here is still primarily grown using primitive forest cultivation methods.

However, according to research by French biologist Jean-Pierre Labouisse, the original batch of coffee beans labeled as Gesha came from different local coffee trees. Therefore, Gesha is not just a single variety—there are many different "Gesha types" in Ethiopia, with Panamanian Gesha being just one of them.

Gesha Village Coffee Varieties

Therefore, the Gesha grown at Gesha Village in Bench Maji today is not the same variety as Panamanian Gesha. Gesha Village currently cultivates Gesha 1931 and Gori Gesha.

Gesha 1931 is the native Gesha variety that the owners of Gesha Village found in the Gesha forest. It was named Gesha 1931 because its genetic makeup closely matches the Panamanian Gesha variety found in 1931. Gori Gesha was discovered in 2011, after the establishment of Gesha Village, when the owners found a coffee variety very similar to Gesha in the Gori forest, 12 miles from their estate, hence the name Gori Gesha.

Additionally, Gesha Village collaborates with the Ethiopian Research Center to cultivate Illubabor Forest 1974, a disease-resistant coffee variety developed by the center. This variety was discovered in the Illubabor forest in 1974, hence its name.

FrontStreet Coffee also offers Red Label Gesha coffee from Gesha Village. This Gesha belongs to the Gori Gesha variety and is processed using the natural method. When brewed, it reveals jasmine and mature fruit aromas, with citrus, grape, and wild ginger flavors on the palate. It has delicate fruit acidity and a sweet, fruit-like aftertaste, with a clean and balanced mouthfeel.