Gesha – Colombia Specialty Coffee
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Colombian Gesha: The World's Most Celebrated Variety in the Andes
Gesha originated in Ethiopia's Gesha forest, transformed the global specialty market via Panama, and has found a second home in Colombia's high-altitude farms. Every Colombian Gesha lot is a genuinely rare experience.
At a Glance
Gesha: From Ethiopian Forest to Colombian Andes
Gesha (also spelled Geisha) is the most celebrated coffee variety in the world. Its story begins in the Gesha forest of southwestern Ethiopia, where seeds were collected in the 1930s–50s and deposited at CATIE in Costa Rica. For decades the variety was considered commercially unviable — low-yielding and disease-susceptible. Then, in 2002, Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama's Boquete region identified Gesha trees on their property and entered them at the Best of Panama competition. The lot sold for $21/lb — ten times the specialty market price at the time. Gesha's global reputation was born overnight.
Colombia began cultivating Gesha seriously in the 2010s, with farms in Quindío (Finca El Encanto — Blog #1), Huila, Antioquia, and Tolima establishing plants from Panama-verified seed stock. Colombian Gesha lots now compete on the same international stage as Panama's best — and in some assessments, match or exceed them thanks to Colombia's mineral-rich volcanic soils and precise processing infrastructure.
Roasters Carrying Colombian Gesha
Tasting Profile
Brew Guide
Filter
1:16–1:18
95–98°C · High temp releases full florality
Espresso
1:3 ratio
3+ weeks rest · long ratio
Rest
14–28 days
Gesha needs extended rest at all recipes
Shop Colombian Gesha at BrewFusion
The world's most celebrated variety from Colombia's Andean highlands. Shipped fresh worldwide.
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