A lot of people think the name of Geisha coffee has some connection with geishas from Japan…Actually, Geisha coffee seed is from Ethiopia, from village Gesha but by the time, in Spanish language, people started to call this variety Geisha not Gesha.
Today Geisha coffee is one of the most expensive in the world. In 2004. Geisha coffee, which won the competition ‘‘Best of Panama’’ in 2004, was sold for 21$ (at that moment really high price for coffee). In 2020, coffee with the best price was sold on auction for 1300$ per pound (2866$ per kilo). In coffee shops of countries where is exported (Japan, USA, South Korea…) it can cost up to 100$ if you order Panamanian.
In coffee shops in Panama City, the price is around 10$ and it is something that for sure you have to try. Flavors are aromatic unique, the way of preparation is pour over so the coffee is light. Never put sugar or milk into coffee, just order and enjoy!
I have just released your post from the spam filters. I would like to apologize for your post being marked as spam. Our filters run 24/7 and they can be a little harsh at times.
Also, if you haven’t already, take some time to introduce yourself to the local guides community and get to know other local guides by commenting on this post.
very nice post, I love coffee and I’m always interested in discovering new things around it … wow 2866$ per kilo is indeed very expensive! I never tried it but curious to try it once, I normally drink espresso being Italian and from Naples as well where coffee is a very deep culture, however happy to drink any type of coffee .
Thank you for sharing it with us!
Btw since you are quite relatively new here on Connect perhaps you might want to introduce yourself to the community and the other Local Guides by writing something about yourself in our monthly introduction post: Introduce Yourself February 2021.
Hola @_p_a_l_i gracias por la información sobre el café Geisha. Me queda claro que no se relaciona con Japón y que la semilla del café es de Etiopía. Lo que me confundió fue su relación con Panamá. Es decir, el café Gesha recibió un premio de calidad en Panamá ¿Cierto?
Hi @LuigiZ , I completely understand you for espresso, I started to drink espresso a lot in Italy from the bar in just 2-3 sips . In the past 20 years market of coffee has been completely transformed. Producers and people that love coffee have experimented with the method of extracting, roasting, the temperature of water, type of coffee seed…but also some other factors helped that Gaisha coffee from Panama came to the point to be sold for almost 3000$ per kilo
Hola @BeatrizAguilar , gracias para su pregunta. Esta semilla de Geisha / Gesha café llegó primero a Costa Rica hace muchos años en un centro de investigacion de semillas. No era muy popular porque productividad de esta semilla de café es bajo. Por muchas decadas era más importante para tener cantidad pero calidad no era importante. Cuando llegó Geisha café en un campeonato de cafés especiales en Panama (desde una finca panameña), ganó primer premio por su sabor y otras fincas empezó plantar este tipo de café.
Ultimos 20 años, el mercado de café se cambió y ahora más importante es calidad. También, ultimos años café es más popular entre jovenes en China, Japon, Korea de Sur… Porque Geisha café de Panama tiene sabor único (más aromatico en comparación con café tradicional, es como ´´té´´ pero es café). Jovenes de estos países prefieren sabor Geisha de Panama (Geisha / Gesha café de Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Columbia… no tiene el mismo sabor porque la tierra es diferente y no tiene el mismo precio). Produción es limite por condiciones que Geisha cafe necesita. Los mejores cafés despues de anual campeonato ´´Best of Panama´´ van a subasta. Estos son rasones para precio que es muy alto.
Café geisha se puede probar también en Panamá, pero es importante para cafetería tener barista que sabe todos los detalles para preparar este café. Yo he tomado muchas veces en Panamá y es increible.
This is very nice and interesting @_p_a_l_i , coffee is something known everywhere and there are indeed many ways of treating and using it. It seems a very simple thing but there is a full history behind. Btw when have you been to Italy and was it a short or long stay, and where? Curious about it .
Let me tag here @HiroyukiTakisawa , he is huge coffee lover! Maybe he will like to know about this special one .
Awesome post about coffee! Thank you for sharing this, @_p_a_l_i . And thank you for tagging me, @LuigiZ . Of course, I love Geisha coffee and I have roasted it before. Geisha coffee is one of the really popular coffee beans in Japan, actually it is a bit expensive but its clear and characteristic flavor is loved by many coffee fans here. Have fun
@LuigiZ Specialty coffee is something that definitely changed the market of coffee in the past 20 years. I am not sure if you speak Spanish or maybe you can understand with the Italian language, but there is a great short movie about history of Panamanian Geisha coffee ‘‘Documental café de Panamá - Geisha, una historia de altura’’ .
Well, I have worked as a tour guide for more than 11 years. My tours to Italy have been from 3 to up to 7 days…I have been to Italy more than 50 times and for sure I have visited 50-60 cities/places. All of them are in central and north of Italy so my big wish is to visit the south!
@HiroyukiTakisawa Exactly, actually, in both auctions in the last two years, the most expensive Panamanian Geisha coffees were sold to coffee shops in Japan
The video is very interesting @_p_a_l_i , thank you for sharing. I do understand a little bit but overall nice to see it.
Wow, that’s very nice to read about your travel guide experiences in Italy and you should definitely visit the south . I live in Tuscany so whenever you might be passing by there drop a text and we can have an espresso together .
Please remember to tag the person you are replying to with the @ symbol followed by the name here on Connect, I’m referring to your last comment. In this way the person will receive a notification of your reply and the conversation in the post will look like more clear.
Hello @_p_a_l_i I want to thank you for posting this excellent post on Geisha. This is an exceptional coffee bean. Here on Connect, I think we have a responsibility to spread the knowledge of food and coffee as well as accessibility to the world. Keep up the good work.
@user_not_found Thank you very much Tony. For sure I will try to do more posts about Panama, Panamanian culture, food…because Panama is still not well-known place for vacation. More popular countries in region are Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia…so people don’t know a lot about Panama and what are you able to do / try here.
.
.
. I live in Tuscany so whenever you might be passing by there drop a text and we can have an espresso together 
.