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Panama La Esmeralda Estate History Geisha Flavor Awards and Brand Recommendations

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional barista exchanges follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account cafe_style). Panama La Esmeralda Estate is located at a corner of Baru Volcano, so coffee beans produced in this region were often named after Baru Mountain before becoming famous. The surrounding areas of Boquete feature beautiful scenery with numerous leisure hotels, villas, vacation estates, and even developments along the important Rio Caldera River

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La Esmeralda Estate: A Coffee Legend

La Esmeralda Estate is located on a corner of Baru Volcano, so coffee beans produced in this region were mostly named after Baru Mountain before they became famous. The surrounding area of Boquete features beautiful scenery with many leisure hotels, villas, and vacation estates built along the important Rio Caldera River. La Esmeralda Estate is situated in Jaramillo on the right side of this river, and later expanded to grow coffee in the higher altitude Cañas Verdes area on the left side of the river. We must thank Rudolph Peterson for his decision back then to purchase this property.

The Accidental Discovery of World-Renowned Geisha

The reason why La Esmeralda's Geisha became world-famous coffee was quite accidental. Rudolph A. Peterson, a retired Swedish-American banker, purchased La Esmeralda Estate in Panama to spend his later years in peace. Unexpectedly, this casual decision led to remarkable success—the coffee trees on the estate bore fruit, and he casually sent them to participate in coffee competitions. The result was immediate fame, winning first place in the 2004 Panama Specialty Coffee Competition.

From Skepticism to World Recognition

This coffee variety, which had never appeared in coffee competitions before, began to attract attention. However, most people held a wait-and-see attitude, with some even considering it a fluke. Unexpectedly, it won the championship again the following year, making it impossible to ignore. Due to limited production, people turned to other countries to buy Geisha coffee beans. However, La Esmeralda Estate continued to win championships year after year, practically becoming a Panamanian national treasure. But recognition from Panama alone wasn't enough. In 2005, La Esmeralda Geisha defeated outstanding competitors from around the world in the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) competition, winning the title of World's Best. It won world championships again in 2006 and 2007. At this point, La Esmeralda Geisha had become a sensational topic in coffee circles worldwide.

Record-Breaking Auction Prices

To date, La Esmeralda Estate has won 12 championships in various coffee competitions and has set three highest bidding records in online public auctions: $21 per pound in 2004, $50.25 per pound in 2006, and $130 per pound in 2007! Of course, other countries have also seen excellent coffee reach nearly $50 per pound (Brazil's 2005 CoE champion Fazenda Santa Inês, Guatemala's 2008 CoE champion El Injerto at $80.20), but note the timeline—before La Esmeralda set its record prices, no auction prices exceeded hers, and afterward, when others did, she would surpass them again. She is truly a record creator, not by accident!

The Peterson Family Legacy

La Esmeralda Estate was purchased by Price Peterson's father, Swedish-American banker Rudolph A. Peterson, who once served as President of Bank of America and was a major figure in the financial world of his time. Rudolph bought Hacienda La Esmeralda just for vacation and later retirement use, probably not expecting that this estate would become world-famous and even become representative of Panama's specialty coffee estates. After Price took over, he divided the market into three major brands based on altitude, microclimate, cupping performance, and coffee varieties. (The Geisha variety was discovered in the Geisha forest of Ethiopia in 1931, then sent to Kenya's Coffee Research Institute; introduced to Uganda and Tanzania in 1936, and Costa Rica in 1953. Geisha didn't receive much attention until one day when Don Pachi first brought it from the small town of GESHA in southwestern Ethiopia to Costa Rica, after which Geisha entered Panama along the southern route. Panama's Esmeralda Estate separated it from other varieties and it won the National Coffee Competition championship.

Panama: A Crucial Region in World Coffee

Panama is one of the most important regions on the world coffee map. Coffee beans from its annual auctions regularly fetch prices exceeding hundreds of dollars.

Award Records

The following are the award records of Esmeralda Estate:

Champion, Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Annual Cupping Competition

1st Place Specialty Coffee Association of America

Roasters Guild Cupping Pavilion

Second Place, Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) Annual Cupping Competition

2nd Place Coffee of the Year

Champion, Best of Panama

1st Place "Best of Panama"

Champion, Rainforest Alliance Coffee Quality Cupping Competition

1st Place Rainforest A for Quality

Brewing Instructions

Hand-poured Blue Label. 15g of coffee, medium-fine grind (3.5 on Fuji's ghost tooth grinder), V60 dripper, water temperature 91-93°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level drops to half, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g. Avoid the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Panama Geisha (Hacienda La Esmeralda)

Country: Panama

Grade: Blue Label

Region: Slopes of Baru Mountain

Roast Level: Light Roast

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: Geisha

Estate: La Esmeralda Estate

Flavor Notes: Oolong tea fragrance, peach aroma, honey sweetness

Panama La Esmeralda Estate Geisha Coffee Beans

Origin: Panama

Region: Located on the slopes of Baru Mountain, the highest peak in western Panama

Estate: Esmeralda (La Esmeralda Estate) / Hacienda La Esmeralda

Grade: Blue Label

Growing Altitude: 1450m

Processing Method: Fine washed processing

Special Certification: Green Rainforest Certification

Roast Level: Light roast city-

What is the Panama Auction?

In 1996, during the lowest period of international coffee prices, seven coffee estates in the Boquete and Volcan regions saw the dawn of the specialty coffee era. They organized and formed the famous Panamanian Association of Special Coffees of Panama (SCAP). In 2013, the highest bid for washed Geisha in the BOP exceeded $160 per pound, while the highest bid for natural Geisha was won by a natural Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda at over $350 per pound.