Coffee varieties are important to us, but we don’t often talk about variety when we talk to you about coffee. Variety refers to the type of coffee tree that is being planted. In the same way that we differentiate between grape varieties (ex. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc) when talking about wine and apple varieties (ex. Pink Lady, Macintosh, the ever-fashionable Honeycrisp) when talking about apples, we can talk about coffee varieties like Caturra, Bourbon, and Pacamara* when talking about coffee.
So why then, considering that variety is one of the first things we look for in wines and apples, doesn’t the average barista (or coffee website) tell you about the variety of the coffee you’re drinking immediately? In my experience as a barista, I definitely knew a lot less about variety than many other factors that contribute to the flavor of a coffee. Even now, it’s a lot easier for me to describe how washed coffees tend to be cleaner than naturally-processed coffees than it is to describe the difference between Caturra and Catuaí. Origin is another talking point that makes it easy to get by without referring to varieties. I learned pretty early on that all Kenyan coffees don’t taste alike, but region-specific traditions and enforced similarities (varieties usually planted in that country, processing most often used, similar climate), along with the ease of using the names of countries most people know makes origin the most obvious way to refer to coffees and explain why they taste the way they do.
I’ve been thinking a lot about all of this because we are finally about to start selling a coffee which we very much will be discussing the variety of: a Geisha. Specialty coffee roasters will often identify the variety of coffee on a bag and occasionally, when the variety is separated from others in a way it usually wouldn’t be separated or grown in a place it usually wouldn’t be grown, they will make the variety a part of the coffee’s name. But Geisha** is the only variety that is almost always invoked as a selling point in and of itself. That’s partly because Geisha has a story that’s easy to tell. It made a journey through East Africa, to Costa Rica, and eventually to Panama where, after decades of being used in blends and under-appreciated for its flavor, it was processed and cupped on its own at Hacienda la Esmeralda in 2005 and took off as a specialty coffee phenomenon***. It has won prizes and fetched very high prices for its farms ever since.
Good Geisha coffees are really sweet and complex. They take a lot of what I love about coffee and ramp that up to a higher level. Next week, we’re going to finally start offering the long-awaited La Batista, which is definitely one of those good Geishas. I’ll bring you more specific information about that one in our next post. I am very, very excited.
Maciej
Director of Coffee
Gregorys Coffee
*The development of Pacamara in El Salvador, much like the development of the Honeycrisp Apple in Minnesota, is well-documented and pretty interesting. The human influence in the development of varities has caused many to argue for the use of the work "cultivar" instead of "variety," both in coffee and apples.
** or “Gesha”. Some people have very strong opinions on which is correct. We will, in this case, defer to our roasters.
*** Geisha history summary with help from the fine folks at Toby’s Estate.