What is Intelligentsia Honduras La Tortuga Geisha?
A Geisha lot from La Tortuga in Honduras, released to mark thirty years of the growers behind it.
Geisha is the variety that changed what specialty coffee could charge. Its reputation was made in Panama, where the best lots sell at auction for hundreds of dollars a pound, and the Honduran versions are the ones most people can actually buy.
Marysabel Caballero and Moises Herrera have been growing coffee together for three decades, and Intelligentsia frame this release around that anniversary rather than around the variety alone. It is $30.00 for 10 oz, roasted Comforting and filed for pour over.
Intelligentsia Honduras La Tortuga Geisha Taste: What It Actually Tastes Like
Geisha at a middle roast, pointed at a pour over rather than a machine.
Geisha is a floral, tea-like variety, and roasting it dark destroys everything it was bought for. The Comforting profile here is a middle setting rather than a light one, which is a slightly conservative choice for the variety and will suit a drinker who finds most Geisha too delicate.
It is filed for pour over, which is the only sensible way to brew it. A drip machine will make it, and will make it taste like an expensive ordinary coffee.
How fresh is it when it arrives?
Roasted in Chicago and shipped direct, in two sizes with a subscription.
The 12 oz bag is the sensible choice for a household. A 5 lb bag opened on a counter is losing ground for weeks, and a subscription answers freshness better than bulk buying for anyone drinking a bag a fortnight.
Whole bean holds far longer than ground and costs the same, so it is the default unless there is no grinder in the house.
Where the coffee comes from
One farm, two named growers, and a thirty year relationship stated on the listing.
This is the most specific sourcing on the whole site: not a country, not a region, not a cooperative, but two people and their farm, named. Intelligentsia have bought from Marysabel and Moises long enough to build a release around the anniversary of their partnership.
That is what Direct Trade is supposed to produce, and a lot like this is the argument for it. A relationship of that length is also why a Honduran farm is growing Geisha at all, since it is a difficult, low-yielding variety nobody plants speculatively.
Intelligentsia Honduras La Tortuga Geisha vs Intelligentsia Summer Solstice Blend
Against the Anacafe 14 from the same farm, this is the famous variety and that is the unusual one.
Both come from Marysabel and Moises at La Tortuga. The Anacafe 14 is $25.00 for 7 oz, which works out at about $126 a kilo, and it is a Catimor and Pacamara cross almost nobody has tried. The Geisha is $30.00 for 10 oz, about $91 a kilo, and is the variety everyone has heard of.
Per gram the Geisha is the cheaper coffee, which is the opposite of what the shelf prices suggest.
Against Illumination at $20.00, that is a blend for everyday drinking. This is a coffee to sit down with.
Intelligentsia Honduras La Tortuga Geisha price per kilo: how it compares
About $91.27 a kilo in the 5 lb bag, which is genuinely cheap for Geisha.
Panamanian Geisha routinely sells at three to ten times this, and the record lots go far beyond that. Honduran Geisha is where the variety becomes a coffee you can drink on an ordinary weekend, and $30.00 for 10 oz is the price of that access.
Against Koa's Kona at about $171 a kilo this is well under half, and against the Anacafe 14 at $126 it is cheaper still. Within this site it is the mid point of the expensive end rather than the top of it.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Right for someone who brews by hand and wants to meet Geisha without auction prices; wrong as an everyday bag.
Buy it if you have a pour over setup and a scale, and you have wondered what the fuss about Geisha is without wanting to pay Panamanian money to find out. The farm and the growers are named, which is as good as sourcing gets.
Take Illumination or El Gallo instead if this is going in a drip machine every morning, because the variety will be wasted. Take the Anacafe 14 from the same farm if you would rather taste something almost nobody has.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Honduras La Tortuga Geisha?
A single farm Geisha from La Tortuga in Honduras, grown by Marysabel Caballero and Moises Herrera. Intelligentsia released it to mark thirty years since the two of them began working in coffee together. It is $30.00 for 10 oz, or about $91.27 a kilo in bulk.
Why is Geisha coffee expensive?
It is a low-yielding, difficult variety whose reputation was made by Panamanian lots selling at auction for hundreds of dollars a pound. Honduran Geisha is the version most people can actually buy, and at about $91 a kilo this is a fraction of the Panamanian rate.
How should I brew the Geisha?
Intelligentsia file it for pour over, and that is the only sensible answer. Geisha is floral and tea-like, and a drip machine flattens exactly what you paid for. Use a scale and a hand brewer, and treat the first bag as calibration.
Geisha or Anacafe 14?
Both are from Marysabel and Moises at La Tortuga. The Geisha is $30.00 for 10 oz, about $91 a kilo, and is the famous variety. The Anacafe 14 is $25.00 for 7 oz, about $126 a kilo, and is a Catimor and Pacamara cross almost nobody has tasted. Per gram the Geisha is cheaper.
Who are Marysabel and Moises?
Marysabel Caballero and Moises Herrera are the growers behind La Tortuga in Honduras, and this release marks thirty years of their partnership in coffee. A relationship that long is also why a Honduran farm grows Geisha at all, since it is not a variety anyone plants speculatively.
How much is a cup of the Geisha?
At about $91.27 a kilo and 15 grams a cup, roughly $1.37 from the 5 lb bag and nearer $1.59 from the 10 oz. That is around double the everyday blends, and a fraction of what the same variety costs from Panama.
