What is Geisha SOE Coffee? How Can You Make Espresso with Geisha?

Geisha's Rise to Fame

Thanks to its distinctive flavor profile, Geisha gained widespread fame and recognition at the 2004 BOP competition. Its intense floral aroma and citrus-honey notes have become the hallmark that people associate with Geisha coffee. Many coffee enthusiasts develop a special fondness for Geisha precisely because of this unique charm.

Like FrontStreet Coffee, many coffee lovers want to explore every brewing method when they find a coffee bean they particularly enjoy, experiencing how different extraction methods reveal its unique characteristics. Besides pour-over and cold brew methods for single-origin coffee, those with espresso machines at home might even brew it as espresso to experience the intense flavors at higher concentrations. This is why many devoted Geisha lovers will brew it as espresso, despite its premium price.

Understanding SOE and Geisha Espresso

As we know, when we use single-origin beans to make espresso, this espresso has a special name: SOE (Single Origin Espresso), which means espresso made from single-origin coffee beans. Most single-origin beans share a characteristic - they're not roasted as deeply! This is because we want to reduce the chemical reactions that occur during roasting, allowing them to better showcase their natural floral and fruity notes. However, this creates a problem - we cannot directly use our usual parameters to extract the coffee. Beans used for espresso are typically medium-dark to dark roasted, while single-origin beans are usually medium to light-medium roasted. Coffee beans at different roast levels have different densities and brittleness, so even at the same grind setting, the particle sizes will be completely different. This leads to significant differences in extraction parameters with the same dose, which frustrates many who want to try making Geisha espresso.

The Cost Challenge of Geisha Espresso

If we want to produce a Geisha espresso with outstanding flavor and balanced taste rather than something painfully sour or unpleasantly astringent, we need to adjust the extraction parameters, especially the grind size. But this brings up another issue - Geisha is expensive, which prevents most people from using it for espresso. This is not just because of its unique flavors but also due to Geisha's low production yield and high reputation, making its price 3-4 times that of regular coffee varieties. To dial in a good espresso typically requires at least 2-3 extraction attempts. For other coffee beans, this might cost just a few dollars. But for Geisha - the renowned Panama T2722 Geisha - a single extraction can cost around 20 RMB. And this is for a basic Geisha variety. If one extraction doesn't go well, you might need 2, 3, or even more attempts, which can be quite costly.

This discourages many who want to try Geisha espresso or Geisha latte, worried that a single bag of beans might only yield one good cup of coffee, making the cost prohibitively high. So the question arises: Is there a way to reduce the cost of dialing in the grinder?

Of course, there is, and the method is much simpler than you might imagine! What is it? It's using a "substitute" for grinder adjustment. Simply put, we can use beans with a similar roast level to Geisha, or even lighter-roasted beans, to adjust our grind size. For example, Ethiopian beans or other relatively inexpensive coffee beans from different regions. Once the extraction time falls within our target range, we can then switch to Geisha for fine-tuning. This way, we can minimize costs while making a delicious Geisha espresso!

FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Espresso Demonstration

Since we've come this far, let's have FrontStreet Coffee demonstrate the specific process of making delicious espresso with Geisha beans~ (Definitely not because FrontStreet Coffee wants to drink it )

Currently, many countries grow Geisha coffee. Although they all grow Geisha, differences in terroir, variety, and processing methods result in significant variations between Geishas from different regions. If we want to experience the classic white floral notes and citrus-honey flavors that define Geisha coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using Panama Geisha (for specific differences, you can check out our related articles). To experience the most classic Geisha flavors, FrontStreet Coffee has chosen the Panama Boquete Washed Geisha from our bean selection. Its roast level is perfect for SOE - being light-medium roast, the resulting espresso won't be overly acidic, preventing any jarring flavors when made into milk-based drinks.

Before extraction, we need to establish an extraction plan and then adjust our parameters accordingly. FrontStreet Coffee's plan is: 20g dose, 1:2 brew ratio, 35-second extraction time. Once the plan is set, we can begin dialing in. First, we remove the original beans and replace them with more affordable light-roast beans. Here, FrontStreet Coffee is using Yirgacheffe as a substitute, with a price of less than 0.25 RMB per gram. Since FrontStreet Coffee's usual blend is medium-dark roast, which isn't too different from light-medium roast, we adjusted the grind 2 settings finer to start. (The original grind setting on the Mahlkönig Q18 was 1.4, adjusted two settings finer to 1.2)

The result was that 20g of coffee extracted 40ml of espresso in 29 seconds, which is quite far from our target time. The coffee tasted quite sharp and acidic with a relatively thin body. So FrontStreet Coffee adjusted the grind one setting finer (grind setting now at 1.1) and tried again. This time it was much better - 20g extracted 40ml in 33 seconds, very close to our extraction plan parameters. So FrontStreet Coffee directly switched to Geisha beans, cleaned the grinder, and began extraction with the same dose.

Since the Boquete Geisha is roasted slightly darker than the Yirgacheffe, its extraction time was longer. 20g extracted 40ml in 35 seconds, exactly our target extraction time. FrontStreet Coffee immediately tasted it to see if any adjustments were needed. The results were surprisingly perfect - this Geisha espresso was outstanding! The acidity was rounded and not sharp at all, with clear flavor separation and distinct layers. We experienced citrus acidity and sweetness, delicate white flowers, honey-like texture, and a long green tea finish.

Although the Geisha used by FrontStreet Coffee was relatively fresh (7 days post-roast), as we can see from the image above, the resulting espresso didn't have particularly thick crema, which is due to the differences in roast level. However, it's important to note that crema richness is not the standard for judging coffee quality, as it's essentially just foam filled with carbon dioxide. So we shouldn't focus too much on crema - the most important thing is the coffee's flavor. As you can see, even with "paper-thin" crema, we can still create beautiful latte art.

Since Geisha's flavor profile is relatively delicate and can be easily masked by milk, FrontStreet Coffee appropriately reduced the amount of milk when making milk-based drinks. The ratio was 1:4.5, meaning 40ml espresso with 180ml milk. The result was exactly as FrontStreet Coffee expected - the addition of milk masked the coffee's acidity while enhancing the sweetness, creating a more balanced flavor. In terms of flavor profile, we could still taste the white floral notes and citrus characteristics, with even caramel biscuit notes emerging from the combination with milk. Although the flavor wasn't as rich as the black coffee, the body was more full-bodied with higher sweetness.

Alternative Options

The above are some techniques and details for making SOE with Geisha. If you still find this too costly and want to experience Geisha flavors at a lower price point, consider trying some non-single-variety single-origin coffees. For example, "Mariposa" or "Strawberry Candy" - these are blends with 70% Geisha mixed with other single-origin varieties (note: single-origin doesn't necessarily mean single-variety). Although their "lineage" might not be as pure, the characteristic Geisha flavors are still prominent, making them excellent alternative options!

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