Unveiling Panama Geisha: The Legendary Story Behind the World's Most Expensive Coffee! What's the Difference Between Panama and Ethiopian Geisha?

The Deep Connection Between Geisha and Panama

Many people have noticed this phenomenon: whenever we chat about Geisha coffee, even without mentioning the specific region, Panama's Geisha often comes to mind first; or when discussing Panamanian coffee, we automatically assume it's the Geisha variety; some even directly add parentheses after the name Geisha to emphasize Panama. It's as if the Geisha variety and the Panama region are deeply intertwined.

But this is indeed the truth! Not only because Panama was the region that made Geisha famous worldwide, but also related to the emergence of Ethiopian Geisha! So today FrontStreet Coffee will share why the Geisha variety always emphasizes Panama, and what relationship this has between Panama and Ethiopia! First, let's review how Geisha became famous in Panama!

Geisha and Panama

Although Geisha became world-famous in 2004, it was actually discovered as early as 73 years ago in 1931. In 1931, searching for coffee varieties suitable for large-scale commercial cultivation with disease resistance, border garrison Colonel Richard Whalle and his team ventured deep into the Kaffa forest in southwestern Ethiopia to collect samples for research. Geisha was one of the varieties they collected from a nearby forest, named with the incorrect translation "Geisha" of the local name "Gesha."

Subsequently, Geisha was transferred to research institutes in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and other places for trial cultivation, and in 1953, it arrived at CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) in Costa Rica. There, it was cataloged as a fungus-resistant variety and given the designation "T2722," with multiple local farms having related cultivation records. Unfortunately, Geisha's potential was not discovered at that time - it could be said to be unfortunate timing. Although the Geisha variety has strong disease resistance, its yield is not high, only half that of conventional Arabica varieties. In an era where quantity prevailed, the low-yield characteristic was not favored by coffee farmers, so Geisha was not widely cultivated at that time.

It wasn't until the 1960s when CATIE gave Geisha to Panamanian coffee farmers that Geisha officially entered this promised land. But merely entering this land was far from enough. As the saying goes, only with a Bole (talent scout) can a thousand-li horse (exceptional talent) be discovered, and Geisha's potential also needed a Bole to be unearthed. And that Bole was Hacienda La Esmeralda, which made Geisha shine at the BOP competition in 2004 and brought it great fame!

Hacienda La Esmeralda didn't start growing Geisha particularly late, but in the early days, Geisha was just mixed with other varieties in the estate. It wasn't until the 1990s when leaf rust arrived that Geisha got the chance to be noticed. Because most coffee in the estate at that time was infected with leaf rust, only Geisha was not greatly affected. This made Daniel Peterson notice this special variety and develop a strong interest in it. So he transplanted Geisha to more high-altitude areas while establishing separate plots for cultivation.

The superior growing environment allowed Geisha to break through its limits, and then in 2003 during Hacienda La Esmeralda's cupping, it amazed the Peterson family with its exceptionally outstanding flavor performance: intense white floral aromatics, clean green tea aftertaste, with berry, citrus, and bergamot's rounded acidity - these were the amazing flavors that Geisha displayed. As a result, everyone amazed by Geisha immediately decided to send it to compete in the 2004 BOP (Best of Panama). What happened afterward is as we all know - Geisha shone brilliantly at BOP, not only making itself and Hacienda La Esmeralda famous but also establishing white floral aromatics, citrus, honey, and other flavors that dominated BOP that year as Geisha's classic flavors, known as the "Geisha flavor."

After 2004, Geisha won the BOP championship for three consecutive years and became the variety with the highest auction price in history, making more and more people want to own Geisha. Some of them then began their journey of pursuing dreams, going to the place where the British expedition team discovered Geisha, trying to find this variety. Adam Overton, the owner of Geisha Village Estate, could be said to be the first to achieve this vision. After going through countless hardships, he finally found "Gori Gesha" and "Gesha 1931" in the surrounding forests - two varieties relatively close to Geisha (T2722), and subsequently established Geisha Village Estate in Ethiopia's Bensa, Gera region for specialized cultivation and sales.

With the great success of Geisha from Geisha Village Estate, many people saw the business opportunities. As long as the same method was used to name the varieties, basically all varieties from that forest could be named Geisha. And after obtaining the name Geisha, their fame and sales would multiply. The result, as we can see, is that many various Geishas appeared on the market. They are not the T2722 fungus-resistant variety that was "tamed" in Panama, and their flavors are vastly different, but the same naming method allowed them all to obtain the Geisha title, with fame and sales climbing steadily.

To distinguish the T2722 Geisha variety that was purified and shone in Panama from the others, people began adding notes to Geisha, for example, FrontStreet Coffee often adds (T2722) after Panamanian Geisha when Panamanian and Ethiopian Geishas appear together. The World Coffee Research organization also added Panama after T2722 Geisha to indicate it's the variety purified in Panama. So now everyone can understand that the reason why the Geisha variety emphasizes Panama is not to say that Panamanian-grown Geisha tastes better, but to indicate that this Geisha is the variety purified in Panama.

In addition to name suffixes, we can also distinguish their origins through the spelling of Geisha. Geisha from Ethiopia is spelled "Gesha," while the T2722 variety is spelled "Geisha" - the difference being the presence or absence of the letter "i."

If you want to taste the legendary "Geisha flavor," then FrontStreet Coffee suggests prioritizing Geisha from the Panama region. Because although other regions now grow Geisha, we need to understand that coffee is an agricultural product, and its flavor is influenced not only by its genetic variety but also by the terroir where it's grown. Flavor characteristics from different regions are completely different, and even the same variety will have different flavor expressions due to different origins. Therefore, compared to Geisha grown in other regions, the Panama region that made Geisha famous will better allow you to experience the "legendary Geisha flavor." For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Boquete·Geisha from our bean selection is an excellent choice~

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