# On Geisha -- Over Valued? **URL:** \ **Category:** Q&A\ **Created:** [July 19, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/t/on-geisha-over-valued/824 "2016-07-19T01:02:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Truett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e19adc/32.png) [@Truett](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/u/Truett)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/t/on-geisha-over-valued/824/1 "2016-07-19T01:02:43Z")
Love this new blog post by James Hoffman. Would love to see some of the discussion of it. I think I’ve sampled about a dozen Panama Geishas trying to understand why third wave coffee values it so much, assuming my lack of understanding was just the lack of being a Q-grader or something. This post seems to validate my experience: maybe these coffees are not quite as tasty as we’ve hyped them to be. [http://www.jimseven.com/2016/07/18/on-geisha/](http://www.jimseven.com/2016/07/18/on-geisha/) > “Personally I’ve struggled to enjoy just about every lot of Geisha I’ve ever cupped and consumed. I’ve never had that “a-ha!” moment, it has never seemed revelatory to me. I think that many people roast to maximise a floral characteristic that leads to a heady cup that is great on the cupping table but I’m unable to finish a cup because it lacks real sweetness, and the astringency is just wearing me down. I’ll never say never – I would never refuse to buy or drink a coffee because it was Geisha, but I must confess I often feel disconnected from the excitement that surrounds it.” ---
**Author:** ![Chris\_Coughlin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Chris\_Coughlin](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/u/Chris_Coughlin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/t/on-geisha-over-valued/824/2 "2016-07-19T01:26:47Z")
Brandywine just sent out a Geisha from Costa Rica, and I’ve tried to brew it a few different ways with very little success. I’m getting a lot of raisin flavors, but the astringency is a killer. On the contrary I cupped this one Geisha that Intelligentsia had a while back that was just absolutely spectacular. ---
**Author:** ![MattPerger](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/baristahustle.discourse.group/mattperger/32/5_2.png) [@MattPerger](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/u/MattPerger)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/t/on-geisha-over-valued/824/3 "2016-07-19T03:29:05Z")
Most of the time it’s pretty “meh”. But there are certainly some Geshas that -when roasted well- are obviously superior. That said, I’ve had Kenyans for 1/5th the price that are just as good or better! ---
**Author:** ![homecafe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@homecafe](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/u/homecafe)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/t/on-geisha-over-valued/824/4 "2016-07-19T03:41:00Z")
Gesha rather underwhelming, however, there was “that one time” at Klatch where a Panama gesha was transcendent to use a big word. Unbelievable complexity all the way down to room temperature. But… the operative phrase is “that one time”. Otherwise… ---
**Author:** ![Eric\_Squires](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/baristahustle.discourse.group/eric_squires/32/71_2.png) [@Eric\_Squires](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/u/Eric_Squires)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://baristahustle.discourse.group/t/on-geisha-over-valued/824/5 "2016-07-19T13:43:31Z")
I had a geisha from La Colombe that was pretty spectacular. Complexity for days. Simply beautiful. Haven’t had a chance to roast any myself, but I think that more often than not the hype/marketing that surrounds a coffee is just that. There are plenty of reasonably priced coffees that shine equally well.