[DMCC Auction] Royal Bean Geisha Estate Gesha Washed

From Coffee with Dongze

Origin: Tefuye, Alishan, Chiayi County, Taiwan Producer: Tseng Fu Sen Elevation: 1200 masl Variety: Gesha Process: Washed Dongze's Notes: Passionfruit, Citrus, Green Tea Roast Approach: Balanced/Slow Coffee grows all over the world, and every location it grows at brings something unique to the cup. Earlier this year at the DMCC auction, a really special washed Gesha from Royal Bean Geisha Estate in Alishan, Taiwan really caught my attention. The cup was super clean yet tropical and juicy. At hot, I tasted passionfruit, lemon citrus. At warm, there was more yellow peach and a lot of passionfruit in each sip. At cool, the acidity persisted and a super elegant green tea note showed up, alongside with a bit of longan or lychee after taste. Think of a passionfruit green tea you get at a Boba place - this is not that far apart. Its grower - Royal Bean Geisha Estate - is located in the Tefuye area of Alishan, Chiayi, Taiwan at approximately 1,200 meters above sea level - an environment widely recognized as one of the finest for coffee cultivation. The farm is carefully integrated with the surrounding forest, with intentionally low planting density to maintain ecological balance. The owner Tseng Fu Sen not only grows and processes the crops meticulously, but he also collaborate closely with the academia - via a joint R&D project with Dr. Shao from National Tainan Junior College of Nursing’s Molecular Biology Laboratory, to conduct DNA and chromosomal selection and purification on every harvest to better understand and control the delicate and refined characteristics of every cup produced. They won CoE 25’ at second place, CoE 24’ at 4th place, and CoE 23’ at first place. I had a brief chat with Tseng, and he says the R&D initiative is not just about restoring the Gesha varietal grown at the farm to 100% match what it looked like before (T2722), but more about identifying the right Gesha varietal with the right mix of DNAs that grows best in his farm and highlights the terroir. Roast approach wise, in order to preserve the intense juicy notes and blend it well with the herb/green tea notes, I chose the Slow profile, similar to how I would approach a cold fermentation washed coffee, to highlight the delicate note composition.