What is the best coffee? What is the most expensive coffee variety in the world?

What is the best coffee bean in the world?

So what is the best coffee bean in the world? Some might say Kopi Luwak, others might say Blue Mountain coffee, and some might mention St. Helena coffee. But today, the best coffee in the world is arguably Geisha.

Wait, some might ask: what exactly is Geisha, and why do we call Geisha coffee the best in the world? Let us introduce this most expensive coffee variety of all: Geisha.

The Rise of Geisha Coffee

Geisha coffee beans can fairly be called the most famous and most expensive coffee variety of recent years. The story traces back to Panama's specialty coffee. Well before 2004, Panama's specialty coffee was not valued by the international coffee industry. After 2004, once "Geisha coffee" was discovered and gained fame, it repeatedly won championships in the Panama national competition for treasure beans, dominating until 2007.

So why did it not keep dominating after 2008? Because the flavour profile of Geisha coffee was so overpowering compared with other varieties that it was separated out to compete in a category of its own.

The Geisha Revolution

Geisha swept through the coffee world with hurricane force. This coffee revolution arrived with such momentum that the original king and queen of the coffee kingdom, Jamaican Blue Mountain and Hawaiian Kona, had to step aside. This wild variety, originating in Ethiopia, has after countless battles come to be cultivated across the major coffee-producing regions. Its finest ambassador comes from Panama's La Esmeralda estate.

According to reports, because Geisha trees grow taller than typical coffee trees, they were originally planted in a small area within the estate and used as windbreaks. To enter the annual Best of Panama competition, the owner's son searched through every coffee variety on the estate for something to test, giving Geisha its chance to debut. It went on to compete in various world coffee competitions, taking a total of eleven championships.

Championship Achievements

Champion: Best of Panama (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)

Champion: SCAA Roasters Guild Cupping Pavilion (2005, 2006, 2007)

Champion: Rainforest Alliance Cupping for Quality (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008)

Such outstanding achievements made Geisha shine like a green diamond, earning recognition in the international coffee auction market and repeatedly setting high-price records.

Best of Panama 2004 Auction: $21/pound

Best of Panama 2005 Auction: $20/pound

Best of Panama 2006 Auction: $50/pound

Best of Panama 2007 Auction: $130/pound

In the following two years, 2008 and 2009, Esmeralda held its first single-estate auctions. Simply put, it no longer took part in Panama's annual Best Coffee competition and auction. Instead, it classified the Esmeralda estate's products by harvest region or time and opened them directly to buyers from around the world for bidding, letting the market set that year's price. Interested buyers could purchase green bean samples in advance for testing, then bid online for the lots they wanted.

Below are the highest auction prices for 2008 and 2009, once again clearing the $100 mark.

Esmeralda Special 2008 Auction: $105/pound

Esmeralda Special 2009 Auction: $117/pound

La Esmeralda Estate Introduction

The official La Esmeralda website introduces the seven lots as follows.

(1) Reserva de la Señora

Overall balanced and sweet, with main notes of jasmine flower, orange, chocolate, blackberry jam, and rose tea. Grown in the newest production area within the Cañas Verdes administrative region, near the Baru Volcano National Park. This is also the highest-quality "Esmeralda Special" the estate produces.

(2) Caballeriza

Main notes feature wild strawberry, strong licorice, blueberry, and red currant, an exceptionally aromatic coffee grown in the new Jaramillo region.

Quick note: the Mario region, at 1,500-1,650 meters altitude, is classified by harvest time.

Previously award-winning "Esmeralda Special" coffee was grown in this well-known Mario region. This year, however, the north and south banks of the stream are no longer harvested separately but classified by harvest date and named after local festivals: Carnival, San José, and Easter.

(3) Mario Carnaval

Harvest season in February, during Panama's Carnival. Main notes include floral sweetness, blueberry, grapefruit, and passion fruit.

(4) Mario San José

Harvest season in March, named to commemorate the prophet San José born in this month. Bright and sweet acidity, with red berry and molasses as the main flavour notes.

(5) Mario Pascua

Harvest season in April, named for Easter in this month. Citrus, jasmine flowers, and sugarcane sweetness, showing distinct late-harvest characteristics in the cup.

(6) Naranjo

Featuring cranberry, citrus, strong vanilla, and milk candy flavours, balanced and clean, with quite comprehensive and complete notes. Grown in the new Jaramillo region.

(7) Colgá

Grown on lush green valley land in the new Cañas Verdes region, with cocoa and nutmeg as main notes, featuring complex and multi-layered floral aromas and an enchantingly fragrant nose.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Geisha represents the modern summit of specialty coffee, Jamaican Blue Mountain remains the classic benchmark of balance, and it is a natural next step for anyone chasing the "best coffee" question. FrontStreet's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 comes from the historic Clifton estate, which has grown and processed coffee since around 1750, on land averaging 4,300 feet (1,310.64 meters) where cool afternoon mist, steady sunshine, and mineral-rich soil stretch out the cherry's ripening. Roasted medium-dark, it opens with the layered notes of nut, dark chocolate, cream caramel, and gentle sweetness, with acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and aroma held in harmony. Traditional Blue Mountain still travels in the estate's characteristic wooden barrels at 15, 45, and 70 kilograms, and a certified, fully traceable bean tastes clean and complex with a soft, long fruit finish. Brewed at 1:15 with 15 grams through a Kono dripper at 87-88 degrees Celsius, it is one of the easiest premium coffees to please a whole table.