How Did Panama Gesha Become Famous, and What Is Gesha Village?

Gesha is a coffee variety first collected from Ethiopia's forests in the 1930s, sent to Tanzania's Lyamungu Research Station, registered at CATIE in Costa Rica in 1953 as T2722, and distributed to Panama in the 1960s for its leaf rust tolerance. Panama gesha became famous after Hacienda La Esmeralda entered it in the 2005 reliable of Panama auction and scored remarkably high.

Ethiopia's Gesha Village Coffee Estate, founded by Adam Overton and his wife after finding the Gori Gesha Forest in 2007, grows three varieties: Gesha1931, Gori Gesha, and Illubabor. These map to eight blocks, and each gesha coffee bean lot is graded as Auction, Gold, Red, Green, or Chaka, with corresponding flavor and purchasing differences.

Geisha is one of the most sought-after varieties in today's specialty coffee scene, yet the market is flooded with products labeled "Geisha," while few truly understand its origins and evolution. From Front Street's perspective, this article first traces Geisha's journey from Ethiopia's coffee forests to Panama, and its rise to fame through the BOP auction. It then focuses on Ethiopia's Gesha Village Coffee Estate—recounting how Adam Overton and his wife found the Gori Gesha Forest and established the estate, introducing the three varieties Gesha1931, Gori Gesha, and Illubabor and their correspondence with the eight blocks, and finally explaining the grade differences between Auction, Gold, Red, Green, and Chaka lots, along with flavor and purchasing information for Front Street's three Gesha Village products: Gold, Red, and Chaka.

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In the world of specialty coffee, Geisha has long been a variety that countless enthusiasts chase after. However, there are simply too many coffees on the market flying the "Geisha" banner. What exactly makes this variety so captivating? Today, Front Street will start from its place of origin and slowly tell this story clearly.

According to materials reviewed by Front Street, the Geisha variety was first collected from Ethiopia's coffee forests in the 1930s. It was later sent to the Lyamungu Research Station in Tanzania, and in 1953 it made its way to the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Costa Rica, where it was registered under the number T2722.

After it was discovered that this variety could tolerate coffee leaf rust, CATIE distributed it to Panama for planting in the 1960s. But Geisha's branches are relatively fragile, and farmers did not think highly of it, so it was never widely promoted. It was not until 2005, when Hacienda La Esmeralda entered Geisha in the BOP competition and auction, that its astonishingly high score made this bean famous overnight.

Of course, Panama is not the only country that grows Geisha; Costa Rica, Colombia, and other places do as well. But when talking about Geisha, Ethiopia's Gesha Village Coffee Estate is an unavoidable stop.

Gesha Village Coffee Estate

In 2007, director Adam Overton and his photographer wife Adam Samuel came to the Bench Maji region in the westernmost part of Ethiopia, near South Sudan, while filming a coffee documentary for the Ethiopian government, and it was there that they discovered the Gori Gesha Forest. It was this experience that inspired them to create their own coffee estate and brand.

In 2009, they met Willem Boot, owner of Finca La Mula and a BOP judge. Willem Boot's thinking also opened up new possibilities for the Overtons—to return to Ethiopia and search for the birthplace of Geisha. They eventually came to Bench Maji, where there are several places called Gesha Village, very likely the most original Geisha-producing area. The couple searched the forests around the estate and indeed found wild Geisha, later learning that this was exactly where Geisha was first discovered. So they collected seeds from the native Geisha, selected them, and planted them in Gesha Village, and decided to build the estate there—a 475-hectare coffee farm about 12 miles from the Gori Gesha Forest, named Gesha Village Coffee Estate.

Gesha Village grows three varieties: Gesha1931, Gori Gesha, and Illubabor.

The origins of Gesha1931 (G31) can be traced back to 1931, when a British border expedition collected it in Ethiopia's Gesha forest, after which it passed through several hands and eventually reached Panama. Later, the native Geisha that Adam Overton and Willem Boot found near the estate was genetically compared and found to be very close to Panama Geisha, so it was named Gesha1931.

Gori Gesha (GG) was discovered in 2011. After Adam and his wife established Gesha Village Coffee Estate, they found in the Gori Gesha Forest 12 miles away a bean variety that looked very much like Geisha. Because the discovery site was in the Gori Gesha Forest, it was named Gori Gesha.

Illubabor Forest 1974 (IF) was discovered during a survey of the Illubabor Forest in 1974, and later the Ethiopian research center developed a resistant variety from it.

Gesha Village is divided into eight major blocks, and each block grows only one variety, so the variety can be determined by the block. The oma, surma, and narsha blocks grow Gesha1931; the bangi, shewa-jibabu, and shaya blocks grow Gori Gesha; the remaining gaylee and dimma blocks grow Illubabor.

In the past, Ethiopia had almost no large estates. When running Gesha Village, Adam and his wife brought the operating model of Panamanian coffee estates here. Therefore, Gesha Village Coffee Estate also implements block-based management, with detailed block numbering for easier later management and traceability. In terms of grading, the estate has an auction lot, accounting for 3.7% of Gesha Village's annual production, which can only be obtained through the global auction of Gesha Village Coffee Estate.

The Gold lot is the grade second only to the auction, accounting for 5% of the estate's annual production. The Red lot ranks below Gold and requires a cupping score above 88; it is also a single-lot grade with relatively high value for money. There is also the Green lot, which only provides traceability information and has no cupping score requirement. Finally, there is the Chaka lot, which is a Geisha blend using three Geisha varieties from the estate and mixing blocks, namely Gori Gesha, Gesha1931, and Illubabor.

For Gesha Village coffees, Front Street separately acquired three grades: Front Street Gesha Village Gold Geisha, Front Street Gesha Village Red Geisha, and Front Street Gesha Village Chaka, all using natural processing and medium-light roasting. Front Street Gold Geisha has obvious chamomile and orange flavors, accompanied by a note of tangerine pu'er tea; Front Street Red Geisha leans more toward a fresh citrus profile with a rounded mouthfeel; and Front Street Chaka is the most cost-effective single product, with soft berry flavors. All three Gesha Village coffees above can be ordered from the Front Street flagship store and Front Street Taobao store.

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