Geisha coffee is a speciality coffee grown in the Northern Panama region of Boquete. This coffee bean is considered to be the most expensive in the world. In 2019, this coffee bean broke all records by selling at auction for $1,029 a pound.
Whilst the Geisha bean is cultivated in several Central and South American countries, no other coffee is considered to be of the same high quality as Boquete’s.
Coffee Review, a specialist publication, awarded the beans from this small area of Panama 98 out of 100, making it the best coffee in the world.
It’s believed that the unique climate created in Northern Panama between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans produces the unique taste.
Justin Boudeman is a speciality coffee producer in the Boquete area. Justin Boudeman: “We’re never going to compete on a commodity level. We’re a…we’re blessed by this terroir. We’re a specialty and a luxury item and that’s our niche, that’s our niche in the market.”
With coffee now a luxury business, it’s believed that the Panamanian harvest of Geisha beans could command even higher prices in 2020.