Gesha 1931
The variety that reset what specialty coffee could sell for, traced to material collected in Ethiopia in 1931.
- Also known as
- Geisha
- Lineage
- Collected near Gesha, Ethiopia in 1931, moved through Kenya, Tanzania and Costa Rica to Panama
The 1931 in the name is the collection date. Material was gathered near the town of Gesha in western Ethiopia, moved through research stations in Kenya, Tanzania and Costa Rica, and eventually reached Panama.
It sat there unremarked for decades. Gesha is a poor yielder with a tall, brittle, awkward tree, and nobody had a reason to favor it until Hacienda La Esmeralda separated a lot in 2004 and it won everything it entered.
Grown at real elevation it gives jasmine, bergamot and stone fruit at an intensity that makes it legible to people who don't taste coffee for a living. Grown low it gives a thin, ordinary cup, which is why the variety alone is never the whole story.
It sat there unremarked for decades. Gesha is a poor yielder with a tall, brittle, awkward tree, and nobody had a reason to favor it until Hacienda La Esmeralda separated a lot in 2004 and it won everything it entered.
Grown at real elevation it gives jasmine, bergamot and stone fruit at an intensity that makes it legible to people who don't taste coffee for a living. Grown low it gives a thin, ordinary cup, which is why the variety alone is never the whole story.
