Gesha — 100% Kaʻū Coffee

The coffee from this block scored 96 points at Coffee Review and took second place in the state. This is the first time we are roasting it ourselves.

Gesha — also spelled Geisha — was collected in the Gori Gesha forest of Ethiopia and is now grown by a small number of farms in Panama, Ecuador, Colombia and Kona. It is famously difficult. The trees are tall and brittle, they yield less than half of what a Typica block gives, and they only reward you if the elevation and the climate cooperate. That is why so few farms plant it, and why it costs what it costs.

Ours grows in Nāʻālehu at 2,100 feet, the highest ground we farm, in deep volcanic soil on the south slope of Mauna Loa. Cool air, sunny mornings, misted afternoons. In Hawaiʻi this variety is associated almost entirely with Kona. In Kaʻū it is close to unheard of.

Champagne yeast, and why it matters

This lot is a natural — the cherry dries whole, with the fruit still on the bean — fermented with champagne yeast rather than left to the wild yeasts already on the skin. A cultured yeast gives us control over a step that is otherwise a gamble, and it pushes the cup toward effervescence: a sparkling, wine-like acidity that a washed Gesha does not produce.

It is slow, it is risky, and a batch can be lost. It is also the reason this coffee tastes the way it does.

What the judges said

Green coffee from this block, champagne-fermented and roasted by Paradise Coffee Roasters in Hilo, was scored by Coffee Review in September 2025 at 96 points, and took 2nd place at the Hawaiʻi Coffee Association the same year.

“Exuberant, exquisitely articulated. Notes of concord grape, lychee, star jasmine, honeycomb, and cocoa nib in aroma and cup. Bright yet seamless structure, with sparkling acidity and plush, silky mouthfeel. The finish is long and perfumed.”
— Coffee Review, September 2025

We want to be precise about what that score belongs to. It was awarded to a lot that we grew and processed and that Paradise roasted. The 96 points describe that cup. What you see on this page is our own roast of the same block — same trees, same elevation, same champagne fermentation, our roaster instead of theirs. When we have our own cupping panel, we will publish it here in full.

Tasting panel

• Expected notes: concord grape, lychee, star jasmine, honeycomb, cocoa nib
• Body: Silky, plush
• Acidity: Sparkling, wine-like
• Varietal: Gesha
• Origin: Kaʻū, Hawaiʻi — 100% single family farm
• Elevation: 2,100 ft (Nāʻālehu)
• Process: Natural, champagne yeast fermentation
• Harvest: 2025/26
• Lot size: 250 bags

Light or medium — and why there is no dark

Light is where this coffee shows what it is: the jasmine and the grape stay intact and the effervescence stays articulate. This is how we recommend trying it. Medium gives up some of the top notes for more body and sweetness, and is the friendlier cup if you usually drink darker coffee.

We do not offer this one in a dark roast. A dark roast burns off exactly the aromatics you are paying for — it would turn the most distinguished coffee on this farm into an ordinary dark cup. If you want dark, our Typica and Red Catuai are built for it.

Choose your size

• 4 oz — about 8 cups. The standard size for a coffee like this, and the right way to meet it.
• 8 oz — about 16 cups, at a better price per cup. For when you already know.

There is no 16 oz or 5 lb of this coffee, and there will not be. The lot is 250 bags.

How to brew it

Do not put this one in an auto-drip machine. 15 g of coffee to 250 ml of water at 200 °F, in a pour-over — a V60 or Chemex — ground medium-fine. The whole argument of this cup is aromatic clarity and sparkle, and immersion brewing muddies both. Choose Whole Bean and grind right before you brew. With this coffee the difference is not subtle.

Why it costs what it costs

A Gesha tree yields roughly half of what our Typica gives on the same ground, and it is more work at every step. Pickers go slower, the cherry is selected harder, and a champagne-yeast natural has to be watched daily for weeks. In 2019 a Panama Gesha sold at auction for $1,029 per pound green, which is $2,522 per pound roasted. We are nowhere near that. This is what a small Kaʻū lot of a low-yielding variety costs when one family grows it, ferments it, roasts it and packs it.

Freshness and shipping

Roasted the day we pack it, and out of Hawaiʻi within 1–2 business days. Free shipping on orders over $75 — applied automatically, no code needed.