Geisha, a “superstar” coffee plant varietal, is well known for its intense fruit flavors, tea-like characteristics, and floral bouquet. It is also known to be a fussy coffee to grow, needing constant nurturing and care to bring forth all this ancient heirloom plant has to offer. Because of that, only the most skilled coffee farmers attempt to grow it.
Flavorful and dynamic with notes of pineapple, orange, mango, vanilla and jasmine tea—it is a great example of all this ancient coffee varietal has hidden within it.
What Makes Geisha So Special?
In 2004, a discovery was made in Panama. At the legendary farm, Hacienda la Esmeralda, it was noted that some of the plants looked (and tasted) different than anything they had ever seen. It turns out, these plants, whose coffee cherries had previously been combined with other plant varietals, traced their roots back to a wild coffee plant varietal from Mount Geisha, Ethiopia that had been collected and transplanted as part of an expedition back in 1936. When released, that harvest shook the world of coffee. It was coffee like no one had ever tasted before!
