If a customer wants the most cost-effective coffee beans, then Oiran must be one of the most recommended beans on Front Street. But every time Oiran is mentioned on the street, some customers will say: "Oh, Oiran, I know, it is a variant of Geisha/a variety of Geisha!"It can be found that as of today, there are still many friends who have wrong views on the word oiran, thinking that "the oiran is Gesha". But in fact, oiran and gesha are two completely different concepts. An oiran is an oiran, and a Gesha is a Gesha! If we insist on saying what they have in common, it is that "all originated in Ethiopia."So why do many friends have such misunderstandings? Then what is the difference between an oiran and a geisha? Today Front Street will share again what kind of differences there are between them!What is the difference between an oiran and a geisha?Many friends’ misunderstandings about Oiran and Geisha mainly come from the misinterpretation of their names! "Gesha" refers to aCoffee varieties, it is a breed name. The so-called varieties refer to biological groups with stable genetic characteristics and common phenotypes. For example, speaking of Geisha(Panama T2722), we will immediately think of coffee beans with pointed ends and slender body, and then this variety will have a rich floral and fruity aroma."Oiran" is amerchandiseThe name, which does not refer to a specific variety, but refers to the coffee beans produced from Gujhambera, Ethiopia. More accurately, it should refer to the batch of award-winning sun-dried coffee beans produced in 2017 by the Buku Abel processing plant in Hambera, Ethiopia.In February 2017, Ethiopia’s DW Coffee Company sent a selection of sun-dried coffee beans to participate in the TOH(Ethiopian green bean competition), this coffee bean comes from the Buku Abel processing plant in Hambera, Gujizi production area. In the end, it won the crown in the sun-dried category with its extremely rich strawberry aroma and creamy texture.I believe everyone in Front Street is familiar with the next story. This batch of coffee beans that won the championship were spotted and photographed by a green bean trader in Beijing. Moreover, the green bean company named it "Oiran" based on its status as the champion, which means "the leader of a hundred flowers, the most beautiful one", and then started selling it in the domestic market.Immediately afterwards, this "Oiran" was brought to the competition field by a contestant in the coffee brewing competition to serve as the competition beans. It defeated many contestants who used Geisha and became the runner-up in that year's competition. And this made the oiran famous!With its outstanding flavor that can beat Geisha and its extremely affordable price, Oiran has quickly become a high-quality Ethiopian coffee widely recognized by people in the industry. Since then, the sales and reputation of courtesan have skyrocketed, and the market demand has surged. So DW Company began to add processing plants to increase the production of coffee beans. They have added four independent green coffee bean processing plants in the town of Dimtu, where Oiran was originally produced, to meet the soaring market demand by increasing the collection and processing of coffee beans harvested by surrounding small farmers.However, the subsequent "Oiran" produced is already different from the "original version". Not only because the scale of harvesting and processing has been expanded, but also because coffee beans are agricultural products, and their taste will be affected by various factors such as the annual climate environment. Therefore, since 2018, the taste of "Oiran" coming from the same production area and the same treatment plant has been somewhat different from the original.But at that time, the fame of the oiran was already at its peak in China. In order to prevent fans from not buying it, the domestic green bean trading company gave the oiran a suffix similar to apple. For example, Oiran "2.0", "3.0", "4.0"... are calculated backwards from 2017. The purpose is to distinguish it from the original Oiran, and at the same time to better let consumers know which year the Oiran they are buying is produced.
Then again, since Oiran is a trade name, what kind of coffee is it?Its varieties are native species. The so-called native species can be roughly understood as the mixed coffee varieties produced in Ethiopia, which are beans mixed from many varieties.Because most of the coffee in Ethiopia comes from the wild, or is grown by coffee farmers in their own backyards. When the coffee matures, coffee farmers will harvest the mature coffee grown in their own backyards and scattered in the mountains and forests, and then hand it over to processing plants or cooperatives for unified processing and sale. However, because there was no process to screen the varieties of these beans during this period, they could not be screened out. Therefore, when sold, these coffees that are blended with countless varieties will be labeled as "native varieties."To sum up, we can know that Gesha is a variety name, while Oiran is a trade name. They are completely different in terms of variety and taste. So why is there such a misunderstanding that the courtesan is Geisha or a variant of Geisha?Why is the oiran mistaken for Gesha?There are two reasons. The first one is the misinterpretation of the name mentioned before. The name Geisha is transliterated from Geisha, which was the translation it got after Geisha was introduced into the interior. Before that, Geisha had been introduced to Taiwan, our country's treasure island, where everyone called it Geisha's literal translation - "Geisha".Geisha is the name of an entertainment profession in Japan, and oiran is also the name of a similar entertainment profession there. Although the professional nature of the two is somewhat different, because they are relatively close, this has led to everyone’s understanding of Oiran coffee and Geisha coffee becoming that Oiran is a variant of Geisha or the same variety.Another reason stems from the brewing competition that made Oiran famous! Because the oiran defeated a group of Geshas in the competition, there were many comments at that time that "the oiran is better than the Gesha" and "the oiran is better than the Gesha". Then combined with the misinterpretation of the above name, it gradually promoted the formation and spread of misunderstandings. But in fact, there is not much correlation between the two.Oiran and Gesha in the Front Street bean list are both in the latest season. Friends who have tried them should know that the characteristics of the two are completely different. Then Front Street will use the same parameters to brew and compare them to see what characteristics they have. The parameters are as follows:Amount of powder used: 15gGrinding degree: 75%~80% screening rate of No. 20 screenBrewing water temperature: 92°CPink to water ratio: 1:15Extraction time: 2 minutesFront Street Esai Oiran:The new season of Front Street Essai Oiran has a very rich fruity tone. We can clearly taste the fruity aroma of guava, jackfruit, citrus, apricot, and preserved fruit, with a light floral aroma and the aftertaste of black tea. The overall taste is mellow, sweet and sour, with a long aftertaste.Front Street Panama Poquette Gesha:The performance of Geisha is more balanced, both in taste and aroma. In terms of flavor, we can clearly taste the white floral aroma, soft citrus and berry tones, and the final note is black tea. The overall taste is clean and soft, and the taste is balanced, just like drinking a cup of fragrant flower and fruit tea.So to sum up, everyone can know what is the difference between an oiran and a Gesha, and why the oiran is not a Gesha!
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
