Panama Coffee

Quality coffee grows mainly in Chiriquí province, in the west of the country, on the slopes of Volcán Barú. Barú stands at about 3,475 meters and is the highest point in Panama.

The Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP) names two main areas, on either side of the volcano: Boquete and Volcán-Candela.

SCAP credits the quality to the volcanic soil, regular rainfall, altitude, and cloud cover.

In the 2024–2025 harvest, Panama produced about 7,660 tonnes of coffee, according to agriculture ministry data quoted in the press. Almost two thirds of it comes from Chiriquí. Part of this is robusta, grown at low altitudes.

The harvest depends heavily on the weather. In 2026, the president of SCAP said the country had produced about half its usual amount of specialty coffee. That is why prices and availability can change from year to year.

Gesha has an Ethiopian genetic origin. The first records of it date from the 1930s. In the 1950s it reached the CATIE research center in Costa Rica, and in the early 1960s Don Pachi Serracín brought seed to Panama.

For a long time it was a variety like any other. Everything changed in 2004, when a lot from Hacienda La Esmeralda won Best of Panama and sold for 21 dollars a pound, about 46 dollars a kilogram, a record at the time. In 2025, a lot from the same farm was reported at 30,204 dollars per kilogram of green coffee.

These are extreme cases. They explain the country's reputation, not the usual price of a coffee from Panama.

Read about Gesha

Understand competition coffee

In Panama you can also find Caturra, Catuaí, Typica, Bourbon, Pacamara, and Java. At Best of Panama, these varieties compete separately from Gesha and usually sell for much lower prices, even at very good scores.

For you, this means you can explore coffees from the same areas without paying only for a name.

Read about Java

It depends on the farm, the variety, and the processing, but specialty coffees from Panama can bring:

• flowers, such as jasmine;
• citrus and stone fruit;
• tropical fruit and berries, especially in natural and anaerobic lots;
• medium body and clean acidity.

Processing varies: washed, natural, honey, and controlled fermentations, including anaerobic ones.

Understand processing

Don Pepe Java comes from Don Pepe Estate, a family farm in Volcancito, Boquete, which says it has grown coffee since 1898. It is a Java processed Anaerobic Natural, with notes of pineapple, mango, berries, and jasmine, a winey character, and a syrupy body.

It shows another side of Panama: not Gesha, but a less familiar variety with plenty of fruit.

See Don Pepe Java

Choose a coffee from Panama if you like floral and fruity profiles and want to understand why the country is so well known. It works very well as filter, where the fine notes are easy to taste, but that is not a rule: choose the method you enjoy.