FrontStreet Coffee New Bean Introduction and All About That "Geisha Coffee"

The three newly returned coffee beans have been adjusted for roast level and are now available.

For the Adodo Natural Yirgacheffe and Ethiopia Natural Banchi Maji, we have departed from our usual light roasting for African naturals and settled on a medium roast. These two new medium-roast natural beans, alongside the two light-roast natural Yirgacheffe lots already in the store (Woka Cooperative and Shepherd), are meant to let everyone experience how natural beans from similar regions taste different at different roast levels.

The Costa Rican Geisha Situation

The natural Geisha from Costa Rica's Brumas Estate was delayed in reaching the shelves because, judging by the appearance of the green beans, this could not possibly be 100% Geisha. Yet the supplier's information made no mention of a blend, which left us puzzled.

Anyone who knows green beans will see from the pictures why we say this — Geisha's slender shape is relatively easy to pick out among beans. In the image above, the left side shows the beans as they arrived; the right side shows the Geisha varieties we picked out of them. We ran a first roast and cupping, and in the cup we could taste some Geisha character — citrus and its signature delicate aroma. In the end we decided to hand-select the Geisha contained within. Based on that hand selection, we calculated that this so-called Geisha actually contains about 30% Geisha. The supplier's information never indicated a blend, but our own hand selection confirms it is not a single variety and not 100% Geisha. So when the lot finally hit the shelves, we updated the variety information to state 30% Geisha content. That process delayed the launch, and we ask for your understanding.

We finally priced the bean at 158 RMB per half pound (227g), in line with the store's regular natural American beans. We paid a Geisha price for a Geisha blend — a silent loss we could only swallow ourselves, treating it as tuition. Still, we hope green bean suppliers will clearly label variety information going forward and not mislead buyers. Consider it a reminder to buyers everywhere.

About FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee

Store Address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Yandun Road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City

Contact: 020-38364473

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation: More Natural Ethiopian Character

If natural-process Ethiopians are your thing, try the FrontStreet Natural Red Cherry Yirgacheffe: only fully ripe cherries are dried whole on raised beds for three to five weeks, turned every 2-3 hours at first to prevent uneven fermentation, then milled and stored — yielding citrus acidity, berry-juice juiciness, honey sweetness, and creamy smoothness. For a washed expression of the same region, the FrontStreet Guodingding Cooperative from the Worka area, part of the Yirgacheffe Union's heritage, offers fresh citrus, lemon acidity, and jasmine fragrance with no traditional bitterness. Brew either on a V60: 15g of coffee, 90-91°C water, a 1:15 ratio, ground to fine granulated sugar (80% passing a #20 sieve), a 30-second bloom with 30g of water, then pours to 125g and 225g, drawing down by 2:00-2:10.