The Geisha variety originated in the 1930s from coffee forests in Ethiopia. From there, it was sent to the Lyamungu Research Institute in Tanzania, and in 1953 was brought to the Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Central America, where it was finally recorded as T2722.
It was recognized because of its resistance to coffee leaf rust. It was distributed throughout Panama by CATIE in the 1960s, but it was never widely adopted because of its brittle branches, which made it unpopular among farmers.
Decades later, in 2005, Peterson from the Boquete region of Panama entered Geisha at the "Best of Panama" auction.
There, for the first time, the coffee was recognized for its quality and sold for more than $20 per pound, setting a record for green bean auction prices at the time.
This variety is known for its delicate floral, jasmine, and peachy aromas that, when carefully cultivated at high altitudes, leading to very high cup quality.