In the cool highlands of Boquete, coffee is more than a morning ritual. It is part of the landscape, the local economy and Panama’s identity on the international stage. Every year, this mountain town in the province of Chiriquí becomes a focal point for the specialty-coffee world during Best of Panama, an influential competition in which the country’s finest lots are evaluated by expert cuppers before the highest-scoring coffees reach a global online auction.
Best of Panama is sometimes described simply as a coffee tasting, but that understates its importance. It is a rigorous quality competition, a meeting point for producers and international buyers, and a platform that has changed how exceptional coffee is recognized and valued.
What Is Best of Panama?
Best of Panama is the annual competition organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama. Established in 1996, it was created to identify outstanding Panamanian coffees and connect local producers with the international specialty market.
The process begins with a national cupping. Coffees that advance are then assessed by an international panel of experienced judges. The leading lots are separated into three principal categories:
- Washed Geisha
- Natural Geisha
- Varietals, which includes exceptional non-Geisha coffees
The best-scoring lots are later offered to buyers through an online auction. This structure gives producers something far more valuable than a medal: independent recognition, international visibility and direct access to roasters willing to pay for traceable, distinctive coffees. According to the organizers, the event has served as a platform for Panamanian estates since 1996 and continues to connect growers with the global specialty-coffee market through its annual auction. Best of Panama
Why Is the Competition Held in Boquete?
Boquete lies on the slopes surrounding Volcán Barú, where altitude, volcanic soils, rainfall, cloud cover, cool nights and a varied mountain topography create an extraordinary collection of microclimates. Coffee from one slope or elevation can taste noticeably different from coffee grown only a short distance away.
This environmental diversity is only part of the equation. Panama’s success also comes from precision: selective hand-picking, separation of small lots, careful fermentation, controlled drying and constant experimentation. The result is not one uniform “Panamanian flavor,” but a range of clearly differentiated sensory profiles.
That is the real strength of Boquete. The region does not produce excellence through volume. It creates value through scarcity, traceability and the ability to express the identity of a particular farm, plot, harvest and process.
How Does a Professional Coffee Cupping Work?
During a professional cupping, each coffee is roasted and prepared under standardized conditions so that judges can compare the samples fairly. The beans are ground, their dry fragrance is assessed, and hot water is poured directly over the grounds. After a crust forms at the surface, the cuppers break it, evaluate the released aroma and taste the coffee with a spoon.
The characteristic slurping sound has a practical purpose: it spreads the liquid across the palate and helps the cupper perceive its aromas and structure. Judges consider qualities such as fragrance, flavor, aftertaste, acidity, body, sweetness, balance, clarity and overall impression. The coffees are tasted without knowing the producer’s identity, reducing the influence of reputation or branding.
In this setting, acidity does not mean an unpleasant sour taste. In a high-quality coffee, it can describe brightness and liveliness—qualities that may recall citrus, stone fruit or tropical fruit. Likewise, floral notes do not indicate that anything has been added to the beans. They are aromatic compounds developed through genetics, terroir, ripeness, processing and roasting.
The Coffee Varieties to Know
Panama Geisha: The International Icon
Geisha—also written Gesha—is the variety most closely associated with Panama’s rise to coffee prominence. Although its genetic roots trace back to Ethiopia, Panama demonstrated its extraordinary potential when it is cultivated at high elevations and handled with exceptional care. World Coffee Research describes Panama Geisha as having exceptional quality potential at high altitude. World Coffee Research
The variety became an international sensation at Best of Panama in 2004, when a lot from Hacienda La Esmeralda surprised the judges with a profile unlike the conventional coffees they expected. The Specialty Coffee Association of Panama identifies that moment as a turning point for both the competition and the country’s industry. Specialty Coffee Association of Panama
Depending on the farm and processing method, a fine Panama Geisha may express jasmine, orange blossom, bergamot, peach, mango or other tropical-fruit notes. It is usually valued for its aromatic intensity, elegant structure and tea-like character rather than for the heavy, roasted flavors many people associate with traditional coffee.
Laurina: A Rare Variety Gaining Attention
Geisha may dominate the headlines, but it is not the only variety capable of representing Panama at the highest level. Laurina is a rare, delicate coffee that has gained attention for its sweetness, refined aromatics and distinctive cup profile. Its importance was reinforced in 2025, when a Laurina from Hacienda La Esmeralda led the Best of Panama Varietals category and later achieved the highest auction price in that division.
Laurina matters because it proves that Panama’s future cannot depend on a single famous variety. The Varietals category rewards genetic diversity and gives producers an incentive to experiment beyond Geisha.
Typica and Bourbon: Classic Elegance
Typica and Bourbon belong to two of the most historically important Arabica lineages. At high elevations, carefully produced Typica can deliver a clean, sweet and elegant cup, while Bourbon is often appreciated for sweetness and balance.
These varieties generally produce less than modern high-yield cultivars and can be vulnerable to disease. That makes them commercially demanding, but their sensory quality keeps them relevant among specialty producers.
Caturra and Catuaí: The Foundations of Many Panamanian Farms
Caturra and Catuaí are frequently found in Panama and remain essential to the country’s coffee landscape. They may not command Geisha’s luxury prices, yet dismissing them as ordinary would be a mistake. When they are cultivated at the right elevation, harvested at peak ripeness and processed carefully, they can produce sweet, balanced and complex coffees.
Their importance is also economic. A coffee industry built only around tiny, record-breaking micro-lots would be fragile. Productive varieties such as Caturra and Catuaí help farms maintain a broader and more sustainable commercial base.
Pacamara, Maragogipe and Other Experimental Coffees
Visitors may also encounter Pacamara, Maragogipe, Java, SL selections and newer experimental plantings. Pacamara and Maragogipe are known for their unusually large beans, although bean size alone is never a guarantee of quality. Their value comes from what happens in the cup.
The range is real, not theoretical. Best of Panama auction selections have included non-Geisha lots such as Pacamara, Catuaí, Laurina, Typica, Maragogipe, SL-34 and Bourbon, showing how much diversity exists behind Panama’s best-known variety. Best of Panama auction results
Washed, Natural and Experimental Processes
Variety is only one part of a coffee’s identity. Processing can dramatically influence the final cup.
Washed coffee has most of the fruit removed before drying. This method often emphasizes clarity, floral detail and a clean expression of acidity. In the Washed Geisha category, judges frequently look for precision, transparency and elegance.
Natural coffee is dried with the fruit surrounding the seed. It can produce greater fruit intensity, sweetness and a fuller sensory impression, but it requires careful control to avoid fermentation defects.
Producers may also use honey processes, anaerobic fermentation, temperature-controlled fermentation or other experimental techniques. These methods can create extraordinary results, but innovation alone does not guarantee quality. The process should reveal or enhance the coffee’s character—not bury it beneath excessive fermentation flavors.
Why Panamanian Coffee Matters to the World
Panama is not a major coffee power because of the amount it produces. Its influence comes from demonstrating how a small origin can create exceptional value through quality, differentiation and direct connection with buyers.
Best of Panama helped shift the conversation away from coffee as an anonymous commodity and toward coffee as a traceable agricultural product. A winning lot can be identified by producer, farm, plot, variety, processing method and harvest. In that sense, the competition brings coffee closer to the logic of fine wine: origin and craftsmanship are central to its identity.
The results have transformed international perceptions of value. In the 2025 auction, a 20-kilogram Washed Geisha lot from Hacienda La Esmeralda sold for US$30,204 per kilogram, after receiving a score of 98 points. The total price reached US$604,080, while the full auction generated more than US$2.8 million. Global Coffee Report
That figure is extraordinary, but it should be interpreted carefully. It does not mean that all Panamanian coffee—or even all Geisha—has a similar market value. These are rare competition lots sold in a highly visible auction. Their greater significance is symbolic: they establish Panama as a benchmark for quality and influence what growers, roasters, baristas and consumers believe coffee can become.
Experiencing Coffee Culture in Boquete
Travelers do not need to be professional judges to appreciate Boquete’s coffee culture. Farm tours and guided tastings can introduce visitors to the full journey from seed and coffee cherry to fermentation, drying, roasting and brewing.
For a more meaningful experience, compare at least two varieties or processes side by side. Try a washed Geisha beside a natural Geisha, or compare Geisha with Typica, Catuaí or Pacamara. Ask about the farm’s elevation, the harvest date, fermentation and drying method. Most importantly, taste before reading the flavor description. A tasting becomes far more interesting when you form your own impression instead of searching for the notes printed on the package.
It is also important to understand that Best of Panama itself is a professional competition, not simply a public coffee tour. Visitors should not assume that they can enter the judging sessions. However, Boquete offers many farm visits and curated tastings that make the region’s coffee knowledge accessible throughout the year.
A Small Country with an Outsized Coffee Legacy
Panamanian coffee matters because it offers a compelling alternative to the logic of mass production. Its international position was built by treating coffee as a product of place, genetics, science and human judgment.
Geisha remains the undisputed icon, but the deeper story includes Laurina, Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Catuaí, Pacamara, Maragogipe and many other coffees shaped by Chiriquí’s mountain microclimates. Best of Panama gives these lots a global stage, but the experience begins in the landscape—in the volcanic soil, cool air and carefully managed farms surrounding Boquete.
For coffee lovers visiting Panama, a tasting in Boquete is not merely another activity. It is an opportunity to understand how a small agricultural region changed the language, expectations and economics of specialty coffee around the world.
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