Geisha Coffee

Geisha, or Gesha, came from a forest in southwestern Ethiopia by way of research stations in Kenya and Costa Rica, and it sat in Panamanian farms for decades as an unremarkable disease-resistant variety until a family at Hacienda La Esmeralda separated out a high plot in 2004 and entered it in the national competition. It won by a distance, tasting of jasmine, bergamot and stone fruit in a way judges struggled to describe, and it has since broken the world auction record repeatedly, at prices per pound running into four figures. It only performs this way at altitude on these slopes, which is why nobody has replicated it.

What you actually see

• The high plots - the altitude bands where the variety performs.
• A cupping session - farms run tastings comparing Geisha with other lots.
• The harvest - hand picking from November to March.
• The Best of Panama auction - where the record prices are set.

When to go

The harvest runs from November to March and is the interesting time to visit a farm. December to April is the drier season generally. Farm tours book ahead, particularly at the well-known estates. Tastings are the point rather than the walk.

Honest expectations

Geisha at origin is still expensive, and the cheap bags sold in Panama City as Geisha are frequently blended or mislabelled; buy from the farms or from named roasters. Tours vary from serious agronomy to a walk and a cup. Boquete has become expensive. The flavour is genuinely unusual but divides opinion, and not everyone thinks it is worth the price.

Nearby

Boquete is the centre; Volcán and Cerro Punta are on the other side of Barú.