How does Chaka at Gesha Village connect to Panama Geisha?

Chaka is a limited-edition line from Gesha Village Coffee Estate in Ethiopia's Bench Maji region, founded in 2011 and located about 20 kilometers from the native Geisha forest. It covers three varieties: Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931 and Illubabor. The estate narrowed its original six varieties down to these three, and the washed and natural lots cup differently.

Geisha seed left Ethiopia in the last century and reached Panama, where it became the variety that drew global attention in the early 2000s, so Panama Geisha and Chaka share a lineage. After cupping both Chaka lots, Front Street listed the natural one, roasted medium-light, and published brewing parameters for Ethiopian coffee drinkers to use as a starting point.

Located in the Bench Maji region of Ethiopia, Gesha Village Coffee Estate has been renowned for cultivating native Geisha varieties since its founding in 2011. Its limited-edition project brand Chaka grows in the Gori Gesha forest and mainly covers three varieties: Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931, and Illubabor. This article introduces the origin of Chaka, the connection between Gesha Village and Panama Geisha, and the differences in cupping performance between the washed and natural processing methods. After comparison, Front Street Coffee chose to list the natural lot and shares the brewing parameters and flavor description under a medium-light roast, which is suitable for reference by lovers of Ethiopian coffee.

Chaka belongs to a limited-edition project brand line under Gesha Village (Ethiopia · Gesha Village). In 2011, Gesha Village settled in Bench Maji, the gateway to Ethiopia's native Geisha forest, only 20 kilometers away. The team carefully tended the plants at the nursery stage, cautiously completed transplanting and planting, followed good agricultural practices, and began selecting varieties with more outstanding flavor, ultimately narrowing the original six varieties down to three: Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931, and Illubabor.

Chaka is precisely the original variety growing in the Gori Gesha forest. This quality-centered, quality-oriented planting approach allows the trees at Gesha Village Coffee Estate to reveal their inherent potential, bringing the advantages of the variety to a relatively high level and thereby producing coffee with astonishing flavor.

Gesha Village Coffee Estate Ethiopia Gesha Village Coffee Estate

Before meeting Willem Boot, Adam Overton had only one unclear dream—to buy a farm in Ethiopia and grow the world's most delicious Geisha.

Why lock onto Ethiopian coffee? Because Ethiopia is considered the birthplace of Geisha. In the last century, Geisha seeds were taken from deep within the local primeval forest and eventually made their way to Panama, only becoming a coffee variety that amazed the world in the early 2000s. Another reason is that his wife, Rachel Samuel, is Ethiopian.

Adam had no coffee-growing experience at all; his profession was documentary director, and Rachel was a professional photographer. In 2007, they were commissioned to go to Ethiopia to shoot a coffee documentary, and from then on they became tied to coffee, single-mindedly wanting to buy a coffee farm.

In 2009, they met Willem Boot. Three years before that, Willem Boot had just bought La Mula in Panama to grow Geisha. In order to learn from him, the couple flew from Ethiopia's capital to the Panama producing region and went to La Mula to seek advice and study with Willem Boot.

Since Geisha emerged at the Best of Panama (BOP) at the beginning of this century and became a hot local variety, Willem Boot had always hoped to find the origin of Geisha in Ethiopia's vast primeval forest. He had also organized teams to explore many times. Although the results were not ideal, he never gave up.

Learning from Willem Boot was a major turning point for Adam and his wife's dream, and their determination to establish their own Geisha estate became even firmer. Because they lived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, they initially wanted to find a place closer by, making it easier to recruit labor and convenient for transportation. But to satisfy the conditions for growing Geisha, they needed to comprehensively consider altitude, microclimate, and various other factors. Before they knew it, they looked farther and farther away, and finally arrived in Ethiopia's most remote southwest, bordering the Sudan frontier.

This region is Bench-Maji. It takes at least two days of driving from Addis Ababa to reach it. Nearby are several villages called "Gesha," and it is also the most likely legendary birthplace of Geisha. Bench Maji is isolated from the world, and outsiders rarely enter. Conditions only improved slightly after roads were opened a few years ago. The local Meanit indigenous people have their own language.

Compared with other western producing regions, Bench Maji is right next to Kaffa, the birthplace of coffee, and its greatest feature is its extremely high forest coverage. Coffee production in Bench Maji is supervised and managed by farmers. Out of respect for the natural ecosystem, they take measures to minimize interference with this forest as much as possible, such as occasionally removing old coffee trees or poorly growing plants and replacing them with new seedlings grown in the same wild forest.

Accompanied by local people, Adam and his wife climbed high among the mountains. As soon as they saw that place, they immediately fell in love with that land—an extremely high altitude of 1,900 to 2,100 meters, abundant rainfall, suitable temperature patterns, rich undeveloped primeval forest soil, and an already long-existing coffee-growing ecology with ancient coffee trees. After three years of searching, they finally found a foothold on this dream land. They gave it a simple name: "Gesha Village Coffee Estate."

In October 2011, the farm broke ground. Willem Boot flew to the estate as their consultant. What he saw was less a thriving farm than something more like a camping grassland. To guard against attacking lions, a watchtower was built on the farm so that alarms could be raised early. Entering the forest to investigate required being equipped with AK-47 rifles to defend against fierce wild animals, and indigenous people carrying spears accompanied them.

But almost at the same time, there was also a breakthrough in finding Geisha varieties suitable for planting. In a primeval forest not far from the estate, Willem Boot and Adam discovered wild Geisha very close in morphology to Panama Geisha. Whether in coffee cherries or branch growth shape, they were quite comparable. The growing environment was deeply covered by shade trees, thousands of coffee shrubs grew densely, coffee flowers were in full bloom, and the air was filled with an intense, unbelievable white fragrance. Willem Boot recalled feeling as if he were "in paradise"!

The forest they discovered is called Gori Gesha wild coffee forest, only 20 kilometers from the estate. Adam believes that this forest is the same source from which the famous Panama Geisha was collected in 1930. Willem Boot also believes that these tree types are very similar to the Geisha he planted at La Mula, and Geisha beans have two bean-tip colors: green and brass. In February 2012, Willem Boot returned to the estate again, and the estate's Geisha varieties were finally determined.

Not long after, Adam and his wife established their own washing station and laboratory near the forest. Only Geisha varieties are planted on the estate, and after referring to the standardized planting methods of some Panama estates growing Geisha, different planting plots were numbered and recorded in detail for later organization and flavor traceability.

What is the relationship between Geisha from Gesha Village and Panama Geisha?

According to information consulted by Front Street Coffee, the native coffee variety at Gesha Village is also called Gesha, but in fact it can only be regarded as "wild Geisha," which is different from the Panama Geisha we are familiar with. The two words differ by the letter "i," which can also be regarded as a detail deliberately used for distinction.

The difference between the two Geishas is that the Geisha planted in Central and South America, according to traceability inquiries, is the "geisha T2722" recorded by CATIE in Costa Rica that year as a fungus-resistant variety. After many years of artificial cultivation, and in order to adapt to the climate and its own growing environment, it developed various stable morphological expressions. Through cupping, Front Street observed that coffee beans of Panama's "geisha T2722" are generally larger, with a unique long, plump shape that bulges in the middle. When brewed, they often show refined fruit acidity and charming floral notes along with terroir.

Ethiopian Geisha, by contrast, is an untamed native variety, and its green bean characteristics and flavor expression are closer to Ethiopian native varieties (Heirloom). When brewed, it generally presents citrus acidity and almond notes, with an obvious tea-like body. In addition, as mentioned by Front Street at the beginning, Gesha Village grows three different varieties in total: Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931, and Illubabor Forest.

As for the first two, I believe everyone is relatively familiar with them. Gesha 1931 was selected by the estate owner from many varieties in the forest. Using Panama Geisha as the prototype, they screened the variety by observing plant morphology, bean shape, bean size, and cupping flavor from multiple aspects. Gori Gesha, on the other hand, is the Geisha seed harvested when the team entered the Gori Gesha forest for investigation in 2011, hence the name.

Regarding the last variety at Gesha Village, Illubabor was discovered and selected in the Illubabor forest in 1974, and it is also a coffee bean variety unique to Ethiopia. According to Front Street's review of Gesha Village's official website, as a naturally disease-resistant variety, Illubabor is mainly planted in two plots on the estate: DIMMA (altitude about 1,966-2,019 meters) and GAYLEE (altitude 1,916-1,982 meters).

Processing methods of Gesha Village Chaka coffee beans

Gesha Village's Chaka coffee beans come in two versions: one natural-processed and one washed. Front Street Coffee conducted a cupping comparison of the coffee beans from the two different processing methods. Compared with the natural processing method, washed coffee has higher acidity and better cleanliness, but its complexity and layering are inferior to natural. The natural lot of Chaka coffee has a heavier berry note and complex fruity sweetness.

Therefore, Front Street ultimately chose the natural-processed Chaka for listing and sale. Although washed Chaka has the obvious flavor characteristics of coffee from the Ethiopian producing region, natural-processed Chaka has a fuller, richer mouthfeel, leaves a stronger impression, and is also more suitable for a variety of daily extraction methods, such as pour-over and cold brew, which often both produce good flavor results.

Front Street Coffee: Gesha Village Coffee Estate · Chaka

Producing region: Ethiopia · Bench Maji

Estate: Gesha Village Coffee Estate

Altitude 1900-2100m

Processing method: Natural

Varieties: Gori Gesha, Gesha 1931, Illubabor

How to brew Gesha Village Chaka so it tastes good?

In order to preserve the unique bright acidity of coffee beans from the Ethiopian region, Front Street Coffee adopted a medium-light roast for the coffee beans. Coffee beans from high-altitude regions have a denser structure themselves, and because the roasting time is shorter, the bean structure does not change much, so the substances in the coffee are not easy to extract. Therefore, when brewing medium-light roasted coffee beans, Front Street Coffee recommends using a medium-fine grind / fine granulated sugar coarseness (80% passing rate on the Chinese No. 20 standard sieve).

Use 15 grams of coffee grounds, then brew with a V60 dripper, water temperature of 90-91°C, a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, and a three-pour pouring technique.

Use twice the amount of water relative to the coffee grounds for blooming, that is, 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom. The reason a blooming process is needed is to allow the coffee grounds to release internal carbon dioxide gas, thereby making the later extraction more stable. Pour in a small stream in circles until 125 grams, then pause; continue pouring until 225 grams and stop. After the water in the dripper has finished dripping, remove the dripper. Start timing from the beginning of pouring; the extraction time is 2'10". Next, pick up the whole cup of coffee and swirl it evenly, then pour it into a cup for tasting.

Flavor performance of Gesha Village natural Chaka coffee beans: lemon-like fresh acidity, berry-juice-like sweet and full acidity, honey-cream-like smoothness, and a finish with oolong tea-like sweetness.

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