Geisha is a very low yielding variety of coffee. You may have heard about it before – La Esmeralda from Boquete in Panama produced cup and price records around the world selling a small plot of it on an online auction – and it fetches a pretty $172 per pound. 

The first Colombian Geisha arrived to Café Granja La Esperanza through Carleida state farm, located next to Boquete's La Esmeralda. The best seeds of the Panamanian state farm were sown in experimental plots on the three volcanic mountain ranges of Colombia and the best Geisha bushes have been reproduced on commercial plots in Trujillo and Caicedonia area. Colombian Geisha is unmistakably floral, but with novel fruity notes and a notable acidity of Ethiopia’s caste. 

Cerro Azul

Cafe Granja La Esperanza manages 3 farms: Cerro Azul, Potosi, and Las Margaritas, across three mountain ranges in Valle de Cauca. What makes them so unique is their very distinct microclimates – one farm can have several different microclimates, which can make for a very complex cup.  

The team at Granja La Esperanza is driven by a combination of science, business, and an obsession with quality coffee. When we visited their farm it was evident how much work goes into every crop; varietal, processing and climate consideration have been factored in, tried and tested. The whole process is very slick, with processing and quality tightly monitored. This farm not only produces regional crops of Typica and Caturra but is focusing on a lot of experimentation with other varietals and processing methods. Sudan Rume and their honey processed Pacamaras are other incredible coffees they are producing.

To plant the Geisha in the first place, the locations and conditions were clearly considered at Cerro Azul. The team chose an elevated foothill of the Western Mountain range, whose Barloventos side receives a warm, minerally sea breeze that blows from the Pacific Ocean. The opposing face, Sotaventos, rises in front of the wide Valle (Valley) de Cauca and transforms the breeze into intermittent cloudiness.  

Cerro Azul's terroir is located between both faces of the Pacific Ocean, at heights of between 1500-2000 masl. It receives plenty of sunshine, interrupted by fog at sunrise and sunset which provides an excellent evapotranspiration rate. Due to its volcanic soils, rain and proximity to the equator, coffee cherries produce optimum amounts of sugar.

The staff are so dedicated to quality and research that they spent two years studying the Geisha varietal in Boquete Panama, before becoming the first producers to bring the varietal to Colombia. Their dedication to quality goes so far that coffee harvesters must demonstrate a level of excellence during a five month training period before being qualified to pick the Geisha cherries.

The Geisha variety is not only a special variety, the combination of picking and processing have an impact on the cup. Cherries are hand selected and any defects, no matter how small, are removed. Instead of picking every 15-20 days, this coffee is picked every 4-5 days to ensure only the best cherries are picked. Coffee pickers are carefully instructed to only pick the completely ripe, red fruits and are paid a premium to do so.