Gesha (Geisha)
A variety originating from the Gesha area of Ethiopia, brought to prominence in the speciality coffee market after standout results from farms in Panama in the 2000s. Often associated with pronounced floral and tea-like character, though results vary considerably by farm and processing.
In short
Gesha, also spelled Geisha, is an arabica variety that descends from coffee collected in Ethiopian forests in the 1930s. It was grown without much notice in Central America for decades, then became the most celebrated variety in speciality coffee after a Panamanian lot won a national competition in 2005.
It is a tall, low-yielding plant whose quality at high altitude the World Coffee Research catalogue rates as exceptional, the highest category it uses. Low yield and high demand are why it is expensive.
Seventy years from forest to fame
Sourced
Ethiopia, 1930s
Seeds were collected from coffee forests in Ethiopia.
Tanzania
The collection was sent to the Lyamungu research station.
Central America, 1953
It was brought to CATIE, an agricultural research centre in Central America, from where it was distributed.
Panama, 1960s
It was distributed throughout Panama in the 1960s. The catalogue records that its branches were brittle and farmers did not favour it, so it was not widely planted.
Best of Panama, 2005
The Peterson family's lot won the competition and sold at auction for a record price of more than twenty dollars a pound.
The history as given in the World Coffee Research variety catalogue.
What kind of plant it is
Sourced
| Variable | Typical range | What moving it does |
|---|---|---|
| Genetic group | Ethiopian landrace | Not part of the Bourbon and Typica group. |
| Stature | Tall | |
| Yield potential | Low | |
| Quality potential at high altitude | Exceptional | |
| Bean size | Average | |
| Coffee leaf rust | Intermediate resistance | |
| Coffee berry disease | Susceptible | |
| Nematodes | Susceptible | |
| First production | Year 4 |
As listed in the World Coffee Research catalogue for Panamanian Geisha. The quality rating applies at high altitude and with good management.
Gesha or Geisha, and which Gesha
Accounts differ
Both spellings are in use. Geisha is the spelling that travelled with the variety through research stations and is the one the catalogue uses. Gesha follows the catalogue's account that the coffee was collected near a mountain whose name is most commonly rendered in English that way, and many in the trade now prefer it. Neither has anything to do with Japan.
The more important point is one the catalogue makes itself: the name is often applied to coffees that do not share the distinct genetics of the Panamanian variety. A coffee sold as Gesha from another country may be closely related, distantly related or simply named for the district. The name alone does not establish which.
What it is prized for
Tendency, not a guarantee
The catalogue describes delicate floral, jasmine and peach-like aromas when the variety is well managed at high altitude. Those are the qualities that made its reputation, and they are also conditional: grown lower or handled carelessly, Gesha can be unremarkable.
That conditionality matters when buying. The price reflects scarcity and reputation as well as quality, and an expensive Gesha is not guaranteed to taste better to you than a well-grown coffee of a humbler variety. It is usually roasted light and brewed as filter coffee to keep its aromatics.
Why it costs what it does
CoffeeHQ explanation
Three things compound. The plant yields little. It needs altitude to show its quality, and high land is limited. And demand has been driven by competitions and auctions in which small lots sell for prices far above the commodity market. A farmer growing Gesha is accepting less coffee per hectare in exchange for a much higher price per kilogram, which only works if the quality is there.
What to do next
- Coffee from Ethiopia — Where the variety, and arabica itself, comes from.
- Ethiopian heirloom — The wider population of Ethiopian landraces that Gesha was drawn from.
- Washed versus natural — Processing changes how a delicate variety like this presents in the cup.
- Tasting coffee deliberately — How to judge for yourself whether an expensive coffee is worth it to you.
- Become a coffee expert — A structured programme from the plant and its processing to roasting, water and tasting.
Where Gesha (Geisha) is documented in the atlas
Only countries CoffeeHQ has written an entry for, and only where a document it has read names Gesha (Geisha) there. This is not a list of everywhere it is grown.
- Ethiopia. The catalogue says the variety now grown as Gesha was collected from coffee forests in Ethiopia in the 1930s. It says nothing about it being grown there commercially today. Source: Coffee Varieties Catalog: arabica and robusta entries, with the histories of each.
- Panama. Collected in Ethiopia in the 1930s and brought to the CATIE centre in 1953, the catalogue records; CATIE distributed it through Panama in the 1960s for its tolerance of leaf rust, and it came to notice there through a competition the catalogue dates to 2005. No source read gives the area planted with it. Source: Coffee Varieties Catalog: arabica and robusta entries, with the histories of each.
Learn it as a course
The Coffee Expert lesson Species and varieties covers this ground in order, with exercises you can do at home.