Geisha
Geisha (often spelled Gesha) is a coffee variety of Ethiopian origin, famous for an intensely floral, tea-like cup — jasmine, bergamot, stone fruit. It is the variety behind nearly every coffee price record of the last two decades.
The journey
- 1931 — botanists collect wild coffee seeds in Ethiopia’s Gori Gesha forest region.
- The seeds move through research stations (Kenya, Tanzania/Uganda); in the 1950s the FAO sends accession VC496 to CATIE in Costa Rica.
- 1963 — Don Pachi Serracín brings seed (remembered as “Geisha 2722”) from CATIE to Boquete, Panama — mainly because it resisted coffee leaf rust, not for its taste.
- 2004 — the Peterson family of Hacienda La Esmeralda enters a separated Geisha lot in Best of Panama. It stuns the judges and sells for a then-record $21/lb — the moment that created the modern ultra-premium coffee market.
The name
The spelling split — “Geisha” vs “Gesha” — traces to different romanizations of the Ethiopian place name. “Geisha” is the spelling that stuck after Panama made it famous. SCAP is now moving to trademark “Panama Geisha” as a protected brand.
Related
- Hacienda La Esmeralda — the farm that made it famous
- Don Pachi Serracín — who first carried it to Panama
- Best of Panama — where its records are set