From Ethiopia, by way of Costa Rica
The Gesha variety traces back to coffee plants collected in Ethiopia. The plants that reached Panama arrived via CATIE, the agricultural research institute in Costa Rica that maintains one of the world's largest coffee variety collections. In 1963, Don Pachi Serracín of Boquete brought Geisha from CATIE to Panama — reportedly motivated by the variety's resistance to coffee leaf rust, not by cup quality.
The 2004 discovery
For decades the variety grew alongside others largely unnoticed. That changed in 2004, when Hacienda La Esmeralda entered its Geisha lots separately in the Best of Panama competition and the cup's distinctive character — perfumy jasmine florals with hints of tropical fruit — became unmistakable to judges and buyers. The variety went from an agronomic curiosity to the most celebrated coffee in Latin America almost overnight.
How it grows in Panama
Panama's producers now plant Geisha at extreme altitudes: Finca Sophia grows it at 2,130 meters, and Ninety Plus grows shaded Gesha on reforested land on Volcán Barú. Tasting notes vary by farm and processing, so on this site we attribute descriptors to the producer or seller who reported them rather than presenting them as our own tastings.