Geisha Coffee from Panama – Americas Coffee Map

Geisha Coffee from Panama – Americas Coffee Map | Daklak Coffee Processing & Export – Helena., JSC: Since the early 2000s, since being recognized as a Specialty Coffee, Geisha coffee has represented Panama before the world coffee map. The incredible success of the Geisha has inspired other coffee farms in Panama and the Central American region, where previously only Caturra and Bourbon were grown.

Overview of Panama Coffee

Panama has long fascinated Europeans and North Americans searching for an idyllic life in a beautiful, tropical Latin American country. This high demand for real estate from the Northern Hemisphere has made land prices expensive. Land for coffee production is no exception. So, on the scale of world coffee production, Panama’s contribution is almost negligible and has been decreasing over the past few years (according to CafeImports statistics in 2017):

Scale production:

• Average farm size: 1 – 10 hectares
• Annual export output: 50,000 – 100,000 bags (60 kg)

Panama Coffee Farming

• Coffee growing areas: Boquete, Renacimiento, Volcán
• Popular coffee varieties: Catuai, Caturra, Geisha, Mundo Novo
• Processing method:  Wet processing  &  dry processing

Panama’s coffee came from European immigrants in the 19th century, some 50 years after the country gained its independence from Spain. However, it didn’t earn a real foothold until the last 20 years. The coffee-growing regions inherit the favor of a tropical climate and suitable soil (somewhat fat, like the volcanic land in Volcán) with an altitude (from 1,000–1650 meters) and freshwater availability. Rich sausages are always ready for processing.

History of Panama Geisha Coffee

The Geisha coffee plant is derived from wild coffee in Ethiopia (thus, it can be considered one of the Ethiopian Landrace varieties – along with its cousin Java ), discovered in the 1930s, then sent to the Limungu research station in Tanzania, then appeared in Central America in 1953, where this coffee tree is codenamed T2722. After being recognized as resistant to CLR (rust) in coffee, T2722 was distributed throughout Panama in the 1960s. However, the branches and branches of this coffee variety are pretty brittle. And is not supported by farmers, so it has not been widely developed. Until 2005 when the Petrova family of Boquete – Panama won the title of the best coffee of Panama. The new Geisha coffee tree is particularly appreciated and has broken the green coffee auction price record.

Coffee T2722 or Geisha coffee tree?

Geisha originated in Ethiopia, precisely from the Gesha Village of Ethiopia.

The name Geisha coffee itself has caused a lot of confusion, as many genetically distinct plants have been called Geisha, several species having similar geographical origins in Ethiopia. Recent genetic diversity analyses conducted by World Coffee Research have shown that Panama Geisha coffee from T2722 is a distinct pure coffee variety, with unique characteristics and uniform transmission. Geisha coffee gives very high quality when the plant is grown at the optimum height, with a characteristic floral aroma.

Reference source:

• Panamanian Geisha – World Coffee Research: www.varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org
• Cafeimports – https://www.cafeimports.com