Panama

Drop in Production

According to the USDA, production in Panama has been steadily declining since a peak of around 200,000 bags a year in the mid 1990’s. Many of the country’s most prominent farms are thriving, however.  Panama’s volcanic soil, altitude and climatic conditions offer an ideal environment for producing specialty coffee. Indeed, it is because of this ideal environment and reputation for quality that farmers chose to plant great tasting cultivars such as Caturra, Typica, Bourbon, Catuai, San Ramon and of course, Geisha, which has helped place Panama on the map when it comes to specialty coffee.

One of the leading drivers of the excitement surrounding Panamanian coffee is this attention to detail throughout the whole process from the picking, maintenance of the farms through to the processing. Panamanian coffees are also well known for the production of small lots, this is both a result of the small scale of individual farms and the end-cost of the coffees that the farms receive.

The Famed Varietal Story

The cultivar that is synonymous with this outstanding quality is Geisha, which has an Ethiopian heritage and was first brought to Panama from the CATIE agricultural research station in Costa Rica in 1963 by Pachi Serracin (known as Don Pachi) in hopes that it would be resistant to two strains of coffee leaf rust that were affecting crops in Central America at the time. Early attempts to grow this temperamental varietal, which thrives at high altitude, were not a success. Planting the trees at low altitudes where rust was most likely to appear produced poor-tasting coffee. The varietal fell into obscurity for decades – although some trees survived on a handful of farms in Costa Rica and Panama, their cherries were mixed together with the rest of the harvest and so their distinctive flavour was lost.

It was only in 2004 that the Geisha was ‘rediscovered’ when an enterprising Panamanian farm (Finca Esmeralda) isolated the production from its Geisha trees and entered the beans in that year’s Taste of Panama coffee competition. Not only did the Geisha lot win, but its extraordinary cup profile – more reminiscent of a fine Yirgacheffe than a Central American – completely blew the judges away. Since then, Panama has been known for its high-quality Geisha/Gesha due to the inspiration and support provided to other farmers by the team at Finca Esmerelda.

Historically and today, Panama is known for having people from all over the world come to invest in coffee farms. It is an attractive investment not only because of the delicious coffee the land promises but also because of the breathtaking natural scenery. However, this investment also threatens the specialty coffee industry as land prices rise and new developments extend into the countryside the pressure on coffee farms grows.