What Makes Geisha Coffee Beans from Gesha Village Distinct?

Geisha coffee beans from Gesha Village in Ethiopia's Bench Maji zone trace back to the Gori forest, one of the variety's original sources. The estate, developed from 2007, applies strict grading, and its Red Label lots sit in the middle tier. The beans carry delicate floral and fruity aromas with a round, smooth mouthfeel in both natural and washed forms.

The variety's wider fame began when Panama Geisha won the 2004 reliable of Panama auction and set a green coffee bean price record. Modern testing shows Panama Geisha and Ethiopian Geisha are not closely related genetically, yet both remain prized. Gesha Village's consistent quality and processing help explain why its beans command high prices.

Geisha coffee is now revered by countless enthusiasts as a top-tier variety, but do you know the story of Gesha Village in Ethiopia? This estate, located in Bench Maji, is not only one of the birthplaces of the Geisha variety but is also renowned for its strict grading system. This article will take you back through the development of Gesha Village from 2007 to the present, explaining in detail the variety classification, grading standards, and flavor characteristics of Red Label Geisha, and sharing Front Street Coffee's roasting and brewing parameters for this bean. Whether you want to understand the price-to-value ratio of Gesha Village Red Label or are curious about the unique flavor of Gori Geisha, this article will provide a complete and professional answer.

When it comes to Geisha coffee, what most people picture is the bold white floral notes, alluring juicy quality, and honey-like sweetness of Panama Geisha. Those who have studied the history of the Geisha variety know that the currently recognized Geisha coffee variety was discovered in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia in the 1930s, then made its way as a sample to the Central American Agricultural Research Institute (CATIE) in Costa Rica in the 1950s and 1960s, where it was assigned the number T2722. In the 1970s, it was distributed to Panama for planting, and it was not until 2004, when it won the Best of Panama (BOP) championship and shattered the auction price record for green coffee beans, that it shot to fame overnight.

Although modern scientific instruments have shown that Panama Geisha and Ethiopian Geisha are not closely related at the genetic level, this does not stop us from tasting and comparing the differences between the two. After all, being open to all is what makes things enjoyable.

As a top-tier estate that brought Ethiopia back to the pinnacle of the world coffee scene, Gesha Village has always been a specialty coffee that Front Street would not want to miss. It enjoys absolute fame in the coffee community, and the estate owner's passion and dedication to coffee are also a guarantee of consistently stable quality. Gesha Village Coffee Estate grows precisely the Geisha variety, and this place is regarded as the birthplace of the top Panama Geisha variety. Superior growing conditions and post-harvest processing make Gesha Village coffee expensive yet still widely adored. Whether natural or washed, it presents delicate floral and fruity aromas with a round, smooth mouthfeel. What Front Street seeks is coffee beans with character and a backstory, and this coffee produced by Gesha Village Coffee Estate fits our standards perfectly. Today we are sharing the Red Label, which stands out for its value among Gesha Village offerings.

Gesha Village

In 2007, documentary filmmaker Adam Overton and his photographer wife Rachel Samuel, while filming a documentary on Ethiopian coffee for the Ethiopian government, came into contact with the Gera coffee forest in the Bench-Maji region. This experience not only gave them a new understanding of Ethiopia, this great land, but also gave rise to the idea of establishing their own coffee estate and brand.

In 2009, they had the good fortune to meet the famous owner of Hacienda La Esmeralda and BOP judge Willem Boot. Willem Boot's idea provided the Overton couple with an opportunity: to return to Ethiopia and search for the birthplace of Geisha. Eventually they came to Bench-Maji—the region in southwestern Ethiopia near South Sudan, where many places are called Gesha Village and which is the area most likely to hold the original Geisha. When they arrived in 2011, there was still nothing on the estate.

Adam followed Willem Boot on an "expedition" into the forests around the estate, and in a jungle magically enveloped by dense forest, they discovered many wild tree species, and what delighted them most was wild Geisha. Only later did they learn that this was the Gori Geisha forest, the place where the Geisha variety was first discovered. So they collected seeds from the original Geisha trees, selected them, and then planted them in Gesha Village. They decided to build the estate here and named it Geisha Village Coffee Estate, located about 12 miles from the Gori Gesha forest, a 475-hectare coffee farm.

Gesha Village Coffee Estate is completely different from the vast majority of Ethiopian farms. It is not a small farm but a 500-hectare large farm with its own washing station and laboratory, located in the southwest near the Sudanese border. What is most special is that the entire farm grows only the Geisha variety, rather than the usual Ethiopian heirloom varieties whose exact variety cannot be determined. Gesha Village divides the farm into 8 blocks, growing 3 main Geisha varieties, with all Geisha seeds collected from the nearby forest.

In October 2011, the farm broke ground; in 2015 it had its first harvest. Because of the enthusiastic response from all sides, with the assistance of Panama coffee estate owner Willem Boot, they held their first international auction on May 31, 2017, offering 21 micro-lots, 19 of which were 120 kilograms, with the remaining lots slightly smaller. Bidders from Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia responded with unexpectedly great enthusiasm, and the top lot finally closed at US$85 per pound, breaking the auction price record for all African beans in history!

Gesha Village Red Label Geisha

The coffee grading at Gesha Village includes: Auction, Gold Label, Red Label, Green Label, and CHAKA. Among these, the Red Label grade consists of fully traceable lots that must score 88 or above on the SCA evaluation system and possess the typical Gesha Village flavor. Through cupping, Front Street found that Gesha Village Red Label has the classic Geisha-specific complex fruit, honey, and floral notes, plus a somewhat brighter, more uplifting acidity characteristic of African coffee, but the overall flavor intensity and complexity are slightly weaker than the Gold Label lots. At Front Street's shop, you can taste this grade of Geisha flavor for just 30 yuan, making it a single-origin lot with very high value.

Front Street Coffee: Gesha Village Coffee Estate Red Label Coffee Beans

Region: Bench Maji, Ethiopia

Estate: Gesha Village Coffee Estate

Altitude: 1909 meters—2069 meters

Variety: Gori Geisha

Processing method: Natural process

This Gesha Village Red Label Geisha from Front Street uses the natural process. After the coffee cherries are picked, floating matter and impurities are first removed, and then they are sun-dried in thin layers under plastic sheeting on African-style raised beds. When drying on the sun beds, they are sorted again to pick out insect-damaged beans and greenish beans. The total drying time is 18 to 30 days.

When roasting this Gesha Village Red Label Geisha, Front Street Coffee used a medium-light roast in order to present its fruity flavors. Using a Yangjia 800N roaster (300 grams batch size), the specific operation is as follows:

The drum temperature was raised to 160°C for charging, the damper was opened to 3, and the gas was adjusted to 130; the turning point was at 1'40", and when the drum temperature reached 140°C the damper was opened to 4 and the gas was adjusted to 150; when the drum temperature reached 148.1°C the bean surface turned yellow, the grassy smell completely disappeared, and it entered the dehydration stage; when the drum temperature reached 166°C the gas was lowered to 120 and the damper remained unchanged; when the drum temperature reached 176°C the gas was lowered to 90 and the damper remained unchanged; at 8'03", ugly wrinkles and dark streaks appeared on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly turned into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack, and at this point you must listen clearly for the sound of first crack; at 8'25" first crack began, and the damper was adjusted to 5 (adjust the gas very carefully, not so low that there is no crackling sound); after first crack, develop for 1'45" and drop the beans at 197.5°C.

When brewing this Geisha coffee bean, Front Street Coffee's barista used a higher water temperature, a finer grind, and a faster-flow dripper, brewing with a three-pour method.

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 91°C

Dose: 15 grams

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: 80% passing through a Chinese standard No. 20 sieve

Bloom with 30 grams of water for 30 seconds, then pour with a small stream until 125 grams and pause; when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225 grams and finish; when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Start timing from the beginning of the bloom.) Extraction time: 2 minutes.

After brewing, this Gesha Village Geisha coffee from Front Street has flavors of coconut, licorice, cream, chocolate, toffee, citrus, almond, and strawberry on the palate, with a fermented aroma on the nose. The overall flavor is fairly balanced, with a full-bodied mouthfeel and relatively prominent nutty notes.

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.