"Is Geisha coffee expensive?" Many friends may be "overwhelmed" by its unique name when they first hear about Geisha coffee. In fact, although the price of Geisha coffee is relatively high among many ordinary specialty coffee beans, not every Geisha coffee bean is so expensive.
If you want to buy the ration version of Geisha, you can try Front Street Grana Estate Geisha. It is sun-dried and has the flavor of apricot, berry, white floral, and orange. Because the medium-light roasting retains more floral and fruity aroma, it is very suitable for beginners to practice hand brewing or other methods, and it also allows everyone to quickly understand the flavor characteristics of this variety.
For those who want to use Gesha to make moka pot coffee and espresso, please choose Front Street Grana Gesha SOE, which is specially customized for medium roasting. While retaining the flavor of yellow peach and citrus, it also highlights a certain caramel aroma, making the coffee produced richer and with appropriate oils.
The Panamanian Gesha coffee beans sold on Front Street also have different prices. The price of a cup of Geisha coffee ranges from 30 to 75 yuan depending on the origin of the beans. The price of a pack of Gesha coffee beans also varies from 85 to 380 yuan depending on the origin of the beans.
Geisha coffee beans are not actually coffee beans grown in a specific region. Gesha coffee beans are one of the varieties of Arabica coffee beans. This variety was not originally discovered because of its unique fruity acidity and floral flavor. So what kind of opportunity did it take for Geisha coffee to become the “Hermès” in the specialty coffee world?
Gesha coffee originated in Ethiopia. It was discovered in the Geisha forest in Ethiopia in 1931 and then sent to the Coffee Research Institute in Kenya. It was introduced to Uganda and Tanzania in 1936, and to Costa Rica in 1953. In Panama, in the 1960s, Panama's Tang Pachi champion introduced CATIE seeds from Costa Rica and started planting Gesha coffee, and also distributed it to other estates. At first, everyone planned to use it to improve the disease resistance of other coffee varieties. Because of its low coffee yield, this variety was not taken seriously.
It wasn’t until the son of the owner of Emerald Manor noticed the charming aroma of this variety that he separated it, processed it separately, and sent it to the competition. In the end, he won the Best of Panama (BOP) Green Bean Competition in 2004. The outstanding performance of Geisha coffee beans immediately attracted the attention of the specialty coffee industry. From being discovered to becoming a blockbuster, Gesha coffee varieties have endured for nearly half a century. In every subsequent green bean competition, Geisha was able to defeat other varieties (such as Bourbon, Caturra, Kaduai, etc.). For the sake of fairness, the later green bean competition became an independent group, and it was also stipulated that Geisha varieties could only compete with Gesha varieties. Otherwise, it would be too unfair to other varieties of coffee.
After the Gesha variety became famous overnight, Jade Manor also said that this variety can only have a more charming coffee flavor if it is planted in areas above 1600m. The Gesha planted around 1500m also has a charming aroma, but lacks a sense of hierarchy. Most coffee estates in Panama have the advantage of high altitude, so they have planted Gesha varieties.
However, despite this, the flavor of Geisha coffee grown in different manors and regions in Panama varies to varying degrees, and the price of Geisha coffee is also determined by factors such as the manor's popularity, whether it has won awards, and overall flavor performance. The most expensive Geisha coffee beans at present are competition-grade red label Gesha coffee beans from Jade Manor in Panama, with an auction price of more than 20,000 yuan per kilogram.
At Jade Manor, Gesha coffee beans are divided into Jade Special Selection (Red Label), Private Collection (Green Label), and Gesha 1500 (Blue Label) (the blue label grade has been canceled in 2022, and the coffee beans defined as this grade were purchased in bulk by a green bean company and named Volcanic Geisha Coffee Beans. After Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet) Coffee) cupping comparison shows that the volcanic rock Gesha coffee beans have the tonality of the Emerald Manor Blue Label Gesha coffee beans and are close. Therefore, it is determined that the volcanic rock Geisha coffee beans are the Emerald Manor Blue Label Gesha coffee beans).
Among them, the red label has the highest price. Gesha's planting plots are divided very finely: Jaramillo plot, Kanas Vidweis plot, Veil plot, and each manor will be further refined to small plots. This plot has an average altitude of 1,700 meters. As the most original plot of Emerald Manor, it is famous in Gesha. The original Kanas Widweis plot is the center and the scale of Gesha coffee is expanded to the surrounding areas. The green label coffee beans are a mixture of Geisha coffee beans grown in several plots at an altitude of 1600-1700 meters. The blue label is a mixture of Gesha coffee beans grown in several plots about 1,500 meters apart.
Jade Manor’s red label, green label, and volcanic rock can all be purchased at FrontStreet Coffee’s Tmall flagship store/physical store. In addition to Emerald Manor Geisha coffee beans, Front Street 90+ Manor Geisha coffee beans, Front Street Hope Manor Gesha coffee beans, Front Street Pauquet Geisha coffee beans and the Gesha blend produced in the same production area - Front Street Butterfly coffee beans.
The coffee beans sold by FrontStreet Coffee are all freshly roasted and will be shipped within 5 days after the roasting is completed. Because Gesha coffee grows at high altitudes, the temperature difference between day and night allows the coffee beans to grow and develop flavor. Therefore, the beans of the Gesha variety are relatively hard and tend to sink to the bottom and block drain holes. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using a Chinese standard No. 20 sieve with a pass rate of 78% (about the size of fine sugar) for grinding coffee beans, and the brewing water temperature is recommended to be 90-91 degrees Celsius.
15g of coffee powder, paired with Hario's V60 small filter cup, and then brewed using a 1:16 powder to water ratio. After everything is ready, use the three-stage brewing method: start timing, first add water to 30g of water, and steam for 30 seconds; then start the second stage to add small amounts of water in a circle to 125g, wait until the water volume in the powder bed drops to half before adding water, and then continue to add small amounts of water in circles to 225g. After all drip filtration is completed, the total extraction time is about 2 minutes 10 seconds to 2 minutes 20 seconds.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
