Panama is a region known for its award-winning coffee. Honored for the rediscovery of a rare varietal known as the geisha (or sometimes spelled gesha), these coffees are known for being fruity, floral, and truly top-of-the-line. Each year, the country hosts a Best of Panama competition to search for and award the best geisha of the season. The winning lot from the Best of Panama competition goes to auction, and each year, the bid price creates and shatters new records. In 2025, the highest scoring coffee earned 98.00 points, and sold for $30,204 USD per kilogram. The second place coffee scored 97.00 points and sold for $23,608 USD per kilogram, and third place scored 92.88 points and sold for $8,040 USD per kilogram.
Klatch Coffee’s own founder, Roastmaster, and green sourcer, Mike Perry, has had the privilege of working as a judge for the competition for many years. It was through this connection to Panama that Mike had the opportunity to meet many of the producing families within the country. A vast majority of them have been producing coffee for generations, and each one has its own specialty. One of his longest standing relationships and friendships forged through his annual visits to Panama is with The Peterson Family, the founding family behind the award-winning Hacienda La Esmeralda Farm.
What makes a geisha coffee so special?
The geisha coffee varietal first originated in Ethiopia. From there, it began circulating through Tanzania, then Costa Rica, then across Central America by 1953. Nowadays, the geisha varietal mostly exists in Panama. These types of coffee must grow at higher altitudes. As our CEO and two-time U.S. Barista Champion Heather Perry likes to note, geishas and other high-end varietals like to struggle. “The harsher the conditions are for the coffee plants to grow, the longer it takes for the coffee cherries to ripen. The longer it takes for the cherries to ripen, the more time sugars have to develop within the cherry, making the coffee naturally sweeter, juicier, fruitier,” she shares. That’s what makes the terroir in Panama ideal—nutrient-rich volcanic soil, extreme altitudes, and several microclimates really allow the coffee cherries to slowly develop and age like fine wine.
Geisha coffees are also often hand-sorted. Growers and pickers will start by picking only the ripest cherries by hand, and once they’re hand-picked and hand-sorted, they’ll go through the same processing any other coffee can go through. There are natural geishas, honey processed geishas, anaerobic processed geishas, and more! Though this varietal already boasts fruit-forward, tea-like flavor profiles, these processing methods can also add even more complexity and range to their flavors and aromas.
The arduous growth process for geisha coffee, hand-picking and hand-sorting processes, and the complex flavor profiles of the coffees all contribute to its rarity, which then contributes to its specialty and value.
To learn more about geisha varietals, you can visit our geisha information page here!
Who are The Petersons?
The Peterson Family did not always own Hacienda La Esmeralda. In fact, this estate was first brought together by a Swede named Hans Elliot in 1940, as the land was originally made up of several hundred hectares from the Palmira and Cañas Verdes farms. However, in 1967, Rudolph A. Peterson purchased the land as a retirement venture. At the time, the land was predominantly used as pasture for beef cattle, with some small plots of coffee mixed in. However, by 1975, Peterson and his family had switched over from beef cattle to dairy cattle, which remains half of the farm land today. Wanting to diversify even more, they began to focus on their coffee growth as well. With its rich production history in the Boquete region, it was the perfect opportunity. In 1997, the Petersons purchased additional land—the land that became the Jaramillo Farm. From there, the rest is history.
What is Klatch Coffee’s Relationship with Hacienda La Esmeralda and The Petersons?
Klatch Coffee has been working with the Peterson Family for over a decade, but our first time making headlines with them was in 2017. In October of that year, we secured the award-winning Cañas Verdes Natural lot and offered it in our store locations for a record-breaking $75 per cup.
More than just that, though, we’ve worked with the Petersons for so long that Mike now sees them annually, and considers them family. “One of the wonderful things about having known them for so long is being able to go to the house and have lunch with Price, his wife, Daniel, Rachel, and everyone else, because it’s really like family time around the table. They also have dairy farms on their land, so there’s fresh coffee and fresh milk on the table, and there’s always all these wonderful fruit juices and great meals,” he shared. “It’s a chance to unwind and enjoy each others’ company, and it’s one of the highlights of every visit every year to be able to catch up comfortably together.”
Thinking back on those fond memories made at Hacienda La Esmeralda, Mike also recalls the first time he walked around the land. “I remember going around the farm, and it was so natural. Where the leaves had fallen, they let it turn into natural mulch, so as you’re walking on these steep hills, your feet are sinking two feet down through the crushed leaves and soil,” he recalled with a laugh. “Now, I get to go and cup with the family every year.”
What makes Hacienda La Esmeralda’s coffee so special?
Hacienda La Esmeralda revolutionized the industry in 2004 by rediscovering the geisha varietal, renowned for its vibrant aromatics and complex flavors. However, the farm has been around for much longer than just twenty years. Their legacy dates back to 1967, when Rudolph A. Peterson acquired the farm. In 1997, the Petersons expanded into Jaramillo, selecting its high-altitude slopes to cultivate coffees with exceptional complexity and nuance—an ambition that continues to define Esmeralda Geisha today.
In 2004, ahead of the submissions for the Best of Panama competition, the Petersons did something they had never done before—during processing, they separated production from different areas of the farm into individual lots. One of the lots they separated came from high up in Jaramillo, and when it landed on the cupping table, it blew everyone away. This was the first time that cuppers had gotten to taste a sample that was 100% geisha coffee, and when they did, it was clear that Hacienda La Esmeralda had something new on their hands. The explosion of juicy brightness and multi-layered aromatics they experienced from that high-altitude geisha coffee were more reminiscent of a coffee from Ethiopia than Latin America, and once the initial shock wore off, the cuppers couldn’t get enough of it. Hacienda La Esmeralda went on to win the 2004 Best of Panama competition with that coffee, and that year, they set a record for the highest price ever paid for a coffee at auction—$21.00 per pound, which was unheard of at that time.
Hacienda La Esmeralda’s coffee isn’t special only because of their award-winning pedigree and geisha varietal, it’s also because of the family’s dedication to their craft, and their farm’s terroir. The farm shifts from rolling hills to a steep 40 degree incline, making harvesting a challenging and laborious affair. However, the high altitudes also bring out the bright, floral aromatics of the geisha. Jaramillo boasts cooler temperatures and massive shade trees, the mountain air is wet and cold, and there are as many as 15 different sub-varieties of coffees planted along the mountainside.
Where can we try some of Hacienda La Esmeralda’s coffee?
We’ll be doing a limited roast of one of their newest crops, the Panama Esmeralda Reserva De Cabaña Geisha Natural, on July 13th, 2026. This coffee is extremely limited, and we only have a few available. Don’t miss out on the season’s best, and order yours today!