This Panamanian Coffee Just Set a Record for Most Expensive Coffee Beans at $10,013 per Kilogram

Looking to try some of the most exclusive coffee in the world? Get ready to shell out serious cash for it.

On August 7, coffee companies celebrated the Best of Panamá 2024 Auction, highlighting some of the nation’s top producers and their beans. This year’s event set a new record when the Elida Geisha Natural Torre coffee lot from the Lamastus Family Estate sold for an eye-watering $10,013 per kilogram. 

“Thank you to all bidders, and a special thanks to the lot winners, Saza Coffee from Japan,” the estate shared in an Instagram post following the auction. As the estate noted, a portion of the lot was also acquired by Grand Cru Coffee, OKLAO Specialty Coffee, Brew Boyy Crew, Ruber Roastery, Pebble Coffee for Simple Kaffa, Paradise Coffee Roasters, and Ruliweb. 

“We are humbled and honored to receive such recognition,” it added. “After 100 years of hard work and four generations dedicated to this product, achieving such greatness with a company 13,000km away in Japan feels unbelievable. We are beyond grateful and honored. On behalf of the Lamastus family and Panama, we cannot express our thanks enough.” 

Though really, this sale comes as little surprise to those who know Panamanian coffee best. 

“I think this was easily the most competitive year ever,” Manuel Barsallo, Panamanian coffee expert and head of quality control, processing, and sales for Café Don Benjie, says. “In Panama, we’re not going for quantity. We’re going for quality.” 

As Barsallo noted, Panama has certainly always been a player in the global coffee scene but can’t ever compete with the scale of larger national producers. Per the International Trade Administration’s data, Panama exports around 50,000 60-kilogram sacks each per year. Brazil, according to the International Coffee Organization, is expected to produce 59.1 million 60-kilogram bags between 2023 and 2024. 

“Panama is a little bit more focused on the quality of the cup, and year after year, producers have been pushing the limits a little bit more,” Barsallo adds. That’s why so many producers there focus on growing the high-quality Geisha bean, known both for being harder to grow due to the plant producing fewer cherries and for its rather specific climate needs. It’s also well known for its unique and intense floral flavors with notes of lemongrass and stone fruits that you don’t find in mass-produced coffee beans. Sipping it is almost more akin to sipping a cup of really strong tea, which Barsallo adds is likely why it’s become a favorite in Asian markets like Japan, China, and South Korea, where it’s especially popular with affluent millennials. 

“It’s a culture that celebrates the best of the best craftsmanship,” Barsallo says. “This is a generation that wants to enjoy quality and luxury.” 

However, it’s not just the coffee producers pushing for people around the globe to taste a cup of Panamanian luxury. Panama’s tourism board is also actively inviting people to come to taste it in person by exploring the Chiriquí province, home to three coffee regions where the Geisha coffee is grown. Travelers can see it through the official Coffee Circut route, which guides visitors through the coffee farms in Tierras Altas and Boquete, where they can stay overnight and enjoy a few tastings. 

But, if you can’t jet off to Panama right now, there are a few places in the U.S. that both participate in the annual Best of Panama auction and purchase a few kilograms of the good stuff directly from the farms. That includes Klatch Coffee, which has beans from Hacienda La Esmeralda, and Willoughby’s Coffee and Tea, which carries Elida Estate beans. Proud Mary has also purchased from the event in the past but is currently sold out of beans on its website, so you may want to bookmark it and check back often to see when the next batch comes up for sale so you can get in on this tasty luxury too.