Before Geisha became one of the most sought-after coffees in the world, it passed through Costa Rica — a part of the story that is easy to miss because Panama gets most of the credit.
From Ethiopia to CATIE
Geisha (also spelled Gesha) is an Ethiopian landrace variety, first documented in the Gori Gesha forest in the 1930s. In the 1950s, seedlings were sent to CATIE — the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center, based in Costa Rica — as part of international research and distribution programs. From CATIE, seeds were later supplied to Panama, where they were planted on farms in Boquete.
A Novelty for Decades
For years, Geisha was treated as little more than a curiosity — grown in small amounts, valued more for disease resistance than for what it did in the cup. That changed in 2004, when Hacienda Esmeralda entered a Geisha lot in the Best of Panama competition and won with a score of 94.1, on the strength of a jasmine, bergamot, and tropical fruit profile that judges had not seen from the variety before. That result is what turned Geisha into a global name.
Geisha in Dota Today
We grow our own Geisha above 1,600 meters in Dota, in the same country the variety passed through decades before it became famous elsewhere. It is the smallest harvest of the five varieties on our farm, and the one with the most floral, delicate profile — jasmine, orange blossom, bergamot, and peach. See current availability or contact us about a lot.