Panamanian coffee has a tremendously outsized role in specialty coffee relative to its production volume; the gesha of Panama, whispered about in awe as auction sites crash processing five-figure bids for prized lots, meanwhile it makes up only one tenth of one percent of global coffee production. Over the past two decades, the alluring Panamanian gesha has become the muse, the darling, the “draw me like one of your French girls” of specialty coffee. But it wasn’t always like that… After being introduced to the Americas in the 1950s, gesha was distributed across Panama in the 1960s as a rust-resistant variety. It did not catch on well with many farmers as it proved… difficult. Finicky to grow, low yield, a smaller harvest window, and particular about processing in a time where outstanding quality did little to line your pocket relative to simply producing in volume, it’s a wonder anyone kept growing the newly introduced variety. + Read More

Panamanian coffee has a tremendously outsized role in specialty coffee relative to its production volume; the gesha of Panama, whispered about in awe as auction sites crash processing five-figure bids for prized lots, meanwhile it makes up only one tenth of one percent of global coffee production. Over the past two decades, the alluring Panamanian gesha has become the muse, the darling, the “draw me like one of your French girls” of specialty coffee. But it wasn’t always like that… After being introduced to the Americas in the 1950s, gesha was distributed across Panama in the 1960s as a rust-resistant variety. It did not catch on well with many farmers as it proved… difficult. Finicky to grow, low yield, a smaller harvest window, and particular about processing in a time where outstanding quality did little to line your pocket relative to simply producing in volume, it’s a wonder anyone kept growing the newly introduced variety. + Read More