Hario V60 Colombian Geisha Pour-Over

Geisha, also spelled Gesha, is a variety famous for its floral, tea-like cup. Grown in Huila, Colombia and brewed on a Hario V60, it tastes of white jasmine, lemongrass and peach nectar with a hint of Earl Grey.

Origin & Story

Geisha has nothing to do with Japan. The name comes from Gesha, a place in southwestern Ethiopia, and the coffee is an Ethiopian landrace that British expeditions collected in the 1930s near the Gori Gesha forest. The spelling Geisha turned up early in colonial paperwork and stuck alongside the more correct Gesha.

From Ethiopia the seeds went to research stations in Kenya and Tanzania. In the 1950s the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization sent some to CATIE, a research center in Costa Rica, and from there seeds reached Panama, where they were planted around Boquete.

For decades it was a forgotten variety. In 2004 the Peterson family of Hacienda La Esmeralda entered their Geisha in the Best of Panama competition and won, and buyers around the world suddenly wanted it. The fame spread, and today Geisha is grown in Colombia and Ethiopia as well as Panama, with no single best origin for it.

Colombia's version here comes from Huila, the department that grows more coffee than any other in the country, on volcanic soil in the southwest Andes at roughly 1,200 to 2,000 meters. Farms in Huila are small, and many of their growers have turned to specialty varieties like this one.

Geisha is delicate, so a V60 suits it: the paper filter lets the jasmine and lemongrass come through clean, without heaviness. This recipe makes a 10 oz (300 ml) cup at 94°C.

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