From Europe's First Geisha to Cañas Verdes: The Story Behind Our Most Exclusive Coffee

In the early 2000s, Panama was a small and obscure coffee-producing country. Production was low and steadily declining, representing only a fraction of the volume of its Central American neighbors. Most coffee lots were sold in bulk, without clear origin, and for the nascent wave of specialty coffee buyers, Panama was virtually invisible on the map.

Nevertheless, the country has deep roots in coffee. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, European settlers arrived in the mountainous areas in the west of the country, in the valleys around the Barú volcano, in the Chiriquí province on the border with Costa Rica. Here, they established small farms in Boquete and Volcán, surrounded by tropical forest and nutrient-rich volcanic soil – a climate that, on paper, was ideal for coffee production.

Among the first to settle was the Norwegian Tollef B. Monniche, an engineer who came to Panama in connection with the construction of the Panama Canal. He stayed and founded Finca Lérida, the first coffee farm in Boquete, in the early 1900s. Monniche introduced precise, technically based methods for drying and processing coffee – standards that laid the foundation for the region's quality orientation many decades later.

At that time, coffee from Boquete was considered clean and balanced, but rarely remarkable. It often disappeared into regional blends, and only a few producers sold their coffee under their own name.

The Breakthrough: Geisha from Boquete

The story took a dramatic turn in 2004.

The Geisha (also known as Gesha) coffee variety originated in Ethiopia and found its way to Panama via research stations in East Africa and a seed bank in Costa Rica in the mid-20th century. The variety was long forgotten – it yielded low harvests and was challenging to cultivate – but some bushes had survived in the higher altitude areas of Boquete.

When the Peterson family at Hacienda La Esmeralda discovered that some of the trees on their Jaramillo farm stood out in taste, they decided to separate and refine the lot. The result was submitted to the Best of Panama competition in 2004 – and changed coffee history.

The judges were overwhelmed. In the cup, they encountered aromas of jasmine, bergamot, and tropical fruit – with a clarity and intensity no one had ever experienced from coffee on the American continent. The lot won decisively and was sold at auction for over 20 dollars per pound (equivalent to almost 500 Norwegian kroner per kilo) – an unheard-of price at the time.

In the years that followed, Hacienda La Esmeralda won repeatedly, and more farmers in Boquete and Volcán discovered that they had the same variety on their own farms. The quality competition became increasingly fierce, prices rose to over 1000 dollars per pound (equivalent to over 24,000 Norwegian kroner per kilo), and Panama became synonymous with precision, distinctiveness, and extreme quality.

A New Economy and a New Ideal

The breakthrough of Geisha coffee became more than a taste sensation – it became an economic and cultural paradigm shift.

Panamanian farmers began separating lots by variety and parcel, establishing micro-mills, and experimenting with new fermentation and drying methods. The Best of Panama auction became a global reference point, and Boquete developed into a laboratory for taste and innovation.

Farms such as Hacienda La Esmeralda, Lamastus Family Estates, Janson Estate, Hartmann Family, and Kotowa became known worldwide. In just a few years, Panama went from being an overlooked country on the sidelines to becoming a role model for the entire modern specialty coffee movement – a place where agronomy, precision, and narrative meet in the cup.

KAFFA's Entry

Among the first to discover the scope of what was happening in Boquete was Robert William Thoresen – a Norwegian architect, founder of the JAVA and MOCCA coffee shops in Oslo, the world's first barista world champion (2000), and founder of KAFFA Kaffebrenneri.

Shortly after the Geisha coffee breakthrough, Thoresen traveled to Panama to understand the phenomenon up close. He established contact with the most influential producers – including the Peterson family at Hacienda La Esmeralda and the Lamastus family – and became the first European buyer of Geisha coffee.

As early as 2005, KAFFA brought Geisha coffee from Esmeralda to Norway – an event that marked the beginning of a long-term collaboration and a professional relationship that has lasted for almost two decades.

For KAFFA, it was never just about trade, but about understanding – of the variety, the terroir, the processes, and the people behind it. Thoresen wanted to build bridges between producers and roasters, and between the professional cultures in Panama and Norway.

Judge, Mentor, and Bridge-Builder

Thoresen's commitment eventually led to him being invited as an international judge in Best of Panama, and later as head judge. His presence helped strengthen the competition's professional credibility and develop a common language for taste and quality.

For many coffee farmers, the encounter with the Scandinavian approach, with its focus on light roasting, transparency, and sensory precision, was an inspiration. Thoresen, on the other hand, learned a great deal from the producers' professional depth and experimentation. The interplay between these two attitudes became an important part of the development on both continents: Panama taught the world what a coffee could be, and Norway taught how to understand and communicate taste.

The Legacy of Geisha – and KAFFA's Contribution

Today, more than twenty years after its breakthrough, Panama stands as a beacon of quality and innovation. Geisha has become an icon – not only because of its price, but because it symbolizes all that coffee can be when craftsmanship, science, and culture meet.

For KAFFA and Robert William Thoresen, Panama has been both a professional compass and a personal anchor. His presence as a buyer, judge, mentor, and friend has helped shape how specialty coffee is understood – not just as a product, but as a cultural project.

When Geisha is referred to today as the world's most famous coffee, it is also a result of this long dialogue between the farms in Boquete and the roasteries in Oslo – a collaboration founded on shared values: quality, curiosity, and respect for the craft behind every cup.