Front Street believes that many coffee lovers' wish is "Gesha freedom", including Front Street itself. As the saying goes, the drunkard's mind is not on the wine; the meaning of Gesha freedom is of course not only about drinking Gesha coffee endlessly, but also about financial freedom. As for why... well, naturally because Gesha coffee is famously expensive.

When it comes to the characteristics of Gesha, besides its flavor that doesn't taste like coffee, many friends immediately think of its price. As Front Street said, Gesha coffee is famously expensive. How expensive exactly? Last year's auction first-place Gesha, one cup(15g)had a cost price of over 5000+.

And even for regular non-auction Gesha coffee, its price is many times higher than ordinary varieties. The Gesha and Catuai sold by Hacienda La Esmeralda are a good example. So Gesha's jaw-dropping price makes many friends curious: Gesha coffee, why is it so expensive?

Many friends may think the answer is flavor when pondering this question. It is undeniable that Gesha's flavor does have certain advantages, but this is only one reason, and not a large proportion. The main reason for Gesha's high price actually comes from its "rarity" — its yield is lower than other varieties.

The number of branches on a Gesha plant is relatively sparse, and the internodal spacing of the plant is longer than that of ordinary Arabica plants, which means the fruit-bearing rate per Gesha plant is lower than other Arabica varieties; moreover, Gesha plants are also relatively large, so the number that can be planted per unit area is even fewer. With both factors combined, Gesha's yield is much lower than regular Arabica.

In addition, Gesha is also very delicate and requires a suitable environment and meticulous management to survive and bear fruit, so caring for it comes with higher costs. Plus, this variety hasn't existed for that long, hasn't yet begun large-scale widespread cultivation, and the market has a high demand for it. With various factors stacked together, Gesha coffee's price is naturally much higher than ordinary coffee beans.

And if Gesha is sent to competitions and then wins an award for auction, the price will increase significantly on top of the original basis.Because a successful auction bid not only gets you the winning beans but also increases brand exposure. For example, the BOP auction list not only shows the winning bid price but also announces the bidder, so many brands scramble to bid on winning coffee beans.

So everyone can understand why the Gesha variety is more expensive than regular coffee varieties. Of course, Gesha's flavor is not to be underestimated either: elegant jasmine floral aroma, bright citrus fruit notes, fresh and clean green tea, and a honey-like texture. This bunch of descriptions is not talking about a cup of fruit-flower tea, but describing Gesha coffee. It tastes like fruit-flower tea — a cup of coffee that doesn't taste like coffee. This is the "Gesha flavor" that coffee enthusiasts pass on by word of mouth.

But not all Gesha has this flavor, because the flavor of a cup of coffee comes from many factors, such as the coffee bean variety, the terroir where the coffee beans are grown, and its processing and roasting methods.

And not all Gesha named Gesha is the Gesha variety mentioned above. The Gesha we're talking about is mainly the Panama Gesha variety with the variety number "T2722", which was discovered in Ethiopia in 1931, then passed through many countries, and finally became famous in Panama. But some Gesha on the market is not Panama Gesha and not T2722; they merely share the same name. Then even if the variety is the same, differences in coffee-growing terroir and processing methods will change the coffee's flavor. So this is why many friends have reported to Front Street that the Gesha they drank didn't have the Gesha flavor.

If you also want to taste classic Gesha, Front Street would recommend giving priority to Gesha from Panama, washed processed, medium-light roasted. Coincidentally, Front Street Coffee's Tmall Taobao flagship store has several coffee beans that meet these conditions: Front Street Boquete Gesha, Front Street Hacienda La Esmeralda Red Label/Green Label Gesha. They all come from the Panama region, are washed processed, medium-light roasted, and are the very standard Panama Gesha/T2722 variety.(The appearance of the Panama Gesha/T2722 variety is described in«Как с одного взгляда определить сорт кофейных зёрен»this article where Front Street has detailed information. Interested friends can go take a look~)

Front Street Boquete Gesha is a very cost-effective Gesha that Front Street found among many Panama Geshas. It comes from the same region as Hacienda La Esmeralda, also Boquete, Panama. It also has a rich Gesha flavor(jasmine floral aroma, citrus, honey, green tea)and the price is relatively affordable. If you haven't tried classic Gesha coffee, it will be a very good choice;

And Front Street Hacienda La Esmeralda Green Label/Red Label Gesha is Gesha produced by the estate that discovered Gesha back then and made it famous. It can be said that without Hacienda La Esmeralda, Gesha wouldn't have its current popularity, or wouldn't have been discovered by people. So the Gesha produced by this estate is also very worth trying. Likewise, the flavor has jasmine floral aroma, citrus, honey, green tea. In addition, we can also taste some berry, melon and other flavors from it~ The mouthfeel is clean, the layers are rich, very good!

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