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Is Panama Geisha Coffee Expensive? Which Panama Geisha Coffee Brands Are Better?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange For more coffee bean information please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style) Once rated by Forbes as one of the world's ten most expensive coffees Panama Geisha coffee beans There are only a few hundred cups worldwide, each costing over a thousand yuan, would you be willing to pay to try it? At the 11th Panama Coffee Bean Competition in 2007, the judges used their noses

Panama Geisha Coffee Beans

Panama Geisha Coffee Beans: Once Named Among "World's Top Ten Most Expensive Coffees" by Forbes

Would you be willing to pay over a thousand dollars for a cup of coffee that only produces a few hundred cups worldwide?

At the 11th Panama Coffee Competition in 2007, judges evaluated the aroma of each coffee sample using their sense of smell.

Panama Geisha Coffee Beans at Nearly $20,000 Per Pound

Hacienda La Esmeralda, located in the Boquete mountain region of Panama at an altitude of 1,800 meters, is renowned for cultivating various premium coffee varieties. In 2013, they set a coffee auction record at $350 per pound during the Panama Specialty Coffee Association competition. In August of the following year, their cultivated coffee beans broke the record again at nearly double the price - $601 per pound.

Editor's note: One pound equals 454 grams. If one cup of coffee requires 15 grams of beans, this yields approximately 30 cups.

Coffee Beans from Africa Gain Popularity in Central and South America

The winning coffee variety belongs to the Geisha coffee family (also known as "Geisha coffee"), specifically named Esmerelda Geisha. When Geisha coffee was introduced to Panama from Ethiopia over a decade ago, it was initially used as windbreaks on the estate until someone noticed its unique flavor profile, which catapulted it to fame.

A coffee merchant brews Geisha coffee beans from Kenya. Perry's coffee shop "Camong Ranch" is the only distributor in the United States authorized to sell Esmerelda Geisha coffee beans, and he mentions that he even has to insure these beans.

Possessing Flavors Unfound in Regular Coffee

According to descriptions, this coffee combines natural flavors of jasmine, lychee, and peach - tastes rarely found in ordinary coffee beans. This uniqueness earned it an exceptional score of 94.1 out of 100 from the "Coffee Institute."

"It's the King of Coffee"

Mike Perry, who participated in coffee scoring and founded the coffee shop "Camong Ranch," described his experience tasting this coffee to the media: "On the final day of judging, we tasted numerous Geisha varieties, but this one's flavor was incredibly intense and explosive. Its fruity aroma was mind-blowing... Among coffees with various characteristics, this one truly stands as the king of coffee."

Perry added that unlike black coffee, this coffee's color resembles melted caramel.

Never Tasted Anything Like It Before

BBC journalist Sharanjit Leyl conducted a blind tasting test between Esmerelda Geisha coffee and regular coffee, successfully identifying both samples. While Leyl didn't elaborate on the mouthfeel, she frankly stated that she had "never tasted coffee with such flavors before."

Perry noted that over 1,000 pounds of coffee cherries were hand-picked, but this weight only yielded about 100 pounds of Esmerelda Geisha coffee beans.

40 Times the Price of Regular Coffee

After the auction, only about 100 pounds of these coffee beans remained available for sale. The estate therefore limited distribution to select countries, with only dozens of cups per nation. Due to the limited quantity and exceptional value, a single cup commands a premium price.

Coffee Like Fine Wine

Regarding whether people would be willing to pay such prices, the CEO of the "Coffee Institute" believes that pursuing premium coffee is similar to appreciating fine wine - people pay attention to whether the crops are natural, farm cultivation methods, and other factors. She is confident that this top-tier coffee has its market. They also offer limited quantities of 15-gram coffee packages online, allowing curious consumers to experience it for themselves.

Recommended Panama Geisha Coffee Brands:

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Red Label Geisha coffee beans offer excellent guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they provide exceptional value - each 100-gram package costs only 350 yuan. Calculating at 15 grams per cup, one package yields 6 cups, costing approximately 60 yuan per cup. Compared to cafés that often charge over 100 yuan per cup, this represents a conscientious recommendation.

Related recommendation: What do the red, green, and blue labels mean for Panama Colombia Geisha coffee?