There is a moment in Panama when coffee stops being something you drink in the morning and becomes something almost scientific.
A tiny cup is placed in front of you. The coffee may look completely ordinary. You smell it. You take a sip. You let it cool. You taste it again. Suddenly someone is talking about jasmine, bergamot, peach, tropical fruit, acidity, body, sweetness and finish.
Then you look around the room and realize that everyone is doing the same thing.
Welcome to the fascinating world of coffee cupping in Panama.
For travellers visiting the highlands of Chiriquí, particularly Boquete, coffee can become much more than a farm tour or a cup of locally grown beans. Panama has developed one of the world's most competitive specialty coffee cultures, and at the center of that world is the legendary Best of Panama, organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama, or SCAP. The competition dates back to 1996 and has become one of the country's most important annual coffee events.
And the really fascinating part is that the competition isn't simply about drinking coffee.
It is about tasting it, measuring it, comparing it and trying to determine which tiny lots represent the very best coffee Panama can produce.
What Is the Best of Panama?
The Best of Panama, often abbreviated as BOP, is essentially Panama's premier specialty coffee competition.
Every year, producers submit exceptional coffee lots to be evaluated. The coffees go through a national judging process before the strongest lots advance to an international stage, where experienced judges and invited cuppers from around the world evaluate them.
The competition has become particularly famous for Panama's extraordinary Geisha coffees, although BOP also includes other varietals.
In 2026, for example, the competition's lots were divided into three principal categories: Varietals, Geisha Natural and Geisha Washed. The 2026 competition involved more than 100 submitted lots before the national and international evaluation stages narrowed the field.
By the time the coffees reach the international judges, you're no longer dealing with ordinary commercial coffee.
These are some of the most carefully produced coffees in the country.
What the Heck Is Cupping?
If you're new to specialty coffee, cupping sounds much more complicated than it actually is.
Essentially, cupping is a standardized way of tasting coffee.
Coffee is ground.
The grounds are placed into cups.
Hot water is added.
The coffee steeps.
The aroma is evaluated.
Then the crust of coffee that forms on the surface is broken and smelled.
Eventually, the coffee is tasted repeatedly as it cools.
The important part is that the process is standardized enough that judges can compare one coffee against another without simply saying, "I like this one better."
They're looking for specific qualities.
Aroma. Flavor. Acidity. Body. Sweetness. Balance. Aftertaste. Cleanliness. Complexity.
And that's when coffee becomes almost like wine tasting.
Why Do They Let the Coffee Cool?
This is one of the most interesting things for beginners.
You might assume that coffee should be tasted piping hot.
Professional cuppers don't necessarily agree.
As coffee cools, different flavors become easier to detect.
A coffee that initially tastes intensely floral might reveal citrus as it cools.
Then peach.
Then something resembling tea.
Then perhaps a sweetness reminiscent of honey or brown sugar.
This is why experienced cuppers can spend a long time with one coffee.
They're not just drinking it.
They're watching how the cup changes.
The Coffee Can Actually Taste Like Flowers
This sounds ridiculous until you try a great Panama Geisha.
One of the reasons Panama's specialty coffee has achieved such a legendary reputation is the extraordinary flavor complexity that can appear in certain high quality lots.
SCAP judges have described exceptional Panamanian Geishas with characteristics including jasmine, white flowers, peach, stone fruit, citrus and bergamot.
And this is where a traveller's expectations can get completely destroyed.
You take a sip of black coffee.
Someone says:
"Do you taste jasmine?"
You think they're insane.
Then you take another sip.
And suddenly...
Maybe you do.
Geisha Changed Panama's Coffee Story
The story of Panama coffee and Geisha is one of the most remarkable stories in modern specialty coffee.
Geisha became particularly famous through Panamanian producers who demonstrated just how extraordinary the variety could become when grown in Panama's high altitude environments and carefully processed.
Today, the word Geisha can command extraordinary attention in the specialty coffee world.
And extraordinary prices.
In 2025, Panama set a world record for coffee price per kilogram when a 20 kilogram lot sold for $32,204 per kilogram at the Best of Panama electronic auction.
That is not a typo.
For comparison, most people buy coffee by the kilogram without giving the number another thought.
At that level, you're entering an entirely different universe.
But It's Not Just About Geisha
This is important.
It would be easy to travel through Panama and think that coffee equals Geisha.
It doesn't.
The Best of Panama also evaluates other varietals, and producers work with numerous coffee genetics and processing methods.
SCAP's producer profiles include coffees such as Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Ethiopian varieties and numerous other selections. Producers also experiment with washed, natural, honey and increasingly sophisticated fermentation techniques.
So when you visit a coffee farm in Chiriquí, don't assume that every interesting coffee is a Geisha.
There is an enormous world beyond it.
Washed vs Natural: What Does That Mean?
This is another phrase you're going to hear constantly in Panama's coffee country.
A washed coffee generally has the fruit removed from the coffee seed before drying, followed by washing and controlled processing.
A natural coffee is generally dried with the coffee fruit still surrounding the seed before it is removed.
The difference can dramatically influence the character of the finished coffee.
Washed coffees can be extraordinarily clean, bright and precise.
Natural coffees can produce intense fruit characteristics, sweetness and a heavier, sometimes more fermented character.
Neither is automatically "better."
They're simply different ways of expressing the coffee.
And Panama's competition scene has become a fascinating laboratory for experimenting with these differences.
The Competition Starts Long Before the Judges Arrive
A coffee competition isn't won in the cupping room.
The work begins months and sometimes years earlier.
It starts with the farm.
The altitude matters.
The soil matters.
The microclimate matters.
The coffee variety matters.
The way the cherries mature matters.
Harvest timing matters.
Then comes processing.
Then drying.
Then storage.
Then roasting.
By the time a judge takes the first sip, there may have been hundreds of decisions behind that cup.
That's what makes specialty coffee so fascinating.
A tiny cup is the final expression of an enormous chain of decisions.
Panama's Mountains Are Part of the Equation
Much of Panama's famous specialty coffee comes from the highlands of Chiriquí, particularly areas around Boquete, Volcán, Cerro Punta and Renacimiento.
The elevation, volcanic landscapes, rainfall and microclimates create an extraordinary environment for coffee cultivation.
But even within one farm, conditions can vary.
One slope may receive different sunlight.
One area may be wetter.
Another may be cooler.
Different elevations can influence maturation.
That means a producer can sometimes find dramatically different expressions of coffee within relatively small geographical distances.
This is one reason Panamanian coffee can be so complex.
What Does a Judge Actually Look For?
When professional judges evaluate competition coffee, they're looking for far more than whether they personally enjoy it.
They examine the coffee systematically.
They consider things such as:
Fragrance and aroma
What does the dry coffee smell like?
What happens when water hits it?
What aromas appear as the coffee brews?
Flavor
What flavors are actually present?
Is it fruity?
Floral?
Citrusy?
Spicy?
Chocolatey?
Tea like?
Acidity
This doesn't mean sourness.
In specialty coffee, acidity can be a positive quality, providing brightness and structure.
A great coffee might have acidity reminiscent of citrus or stone fruit.
Body
How does the coffee physically feel in your mouth?
Light and tea like?
Silky?
Creamy?
Heavy?
Sweetness
Does the coffee have a natural sweetness?
Does it remind you of honey, caramel, sugarcane or ripe fruit?
Finish
What remains after you swallow?
Does the flavor disappear immediately?
Or does it continue for a surprisingly long time?
And perhaps most importantly:
How well does everything work together?
This Is Why Cupping Can Look So Strange
Walk into a professional cupping room and you may see people doing things that look absolutely ridiculous to someone unfamiliar with specialty coffee.
They might loudly slurp.
They might smell the same cup five times.
They might scribble notes.
They might compare two coffees side by side.
They might wait several minutes.
Then they taste again.
The slurping is deliberate.
It helps spray the coffee across the palate and introduce aroma into the nasal passages.
It isn't bad manners.
It's part of the process.
So if you ever attend a professional coffee tasting in Panama and suddenly everyone starts making loud slurping noises, don't worry.
Nobody has lost their mind.
They're working.
National Judges First, International Judges Later
The Best of Panama doesn't simply throw every submitted coffee onto a table and let someone pick a winner.
There are stages.
In 2026, the coffees went through a National Cupping before the strongest lots advanced to the international competition. The international stage involved judges from numerous countries.
In 2025, for example, SCAP reported 19 national judges and 21 international judges involved in the competition process.
The reason for this is obvious.
Panama wants the coffees judged not only by people who understand Panama's coffee industry, but also by experienced professionals representing international specialty coffee markets.
The coffee has to impress people who have tasted some of the best coffee on Earth.
Then Comes the Auction
This is where things get really crazy.
Winning the competition isn't necessarily the end.
The highest performing coffees can go to the Best of Panama electronic auction, where international buyers compete for extremely limited quantities.
And these aren't necessarily huge harvests.
Some competition lots can be tiny.
Imagine producing a coffee that is so extraordinary that buyers around the world are willing to fight over a small amount of it.
That's the economics of ultra specialty coffee.
Scarcity plus exceptional quality can create extraordinary prices.
Panama's Coffee Competitions Are About More Than Winning
There's another side to these competitions that is easy for tourists to overlook.
They help push producers to experiment.
New varieties.
Different elevations.
Fermentation.
Drying techniques.
Processing methods.
Harvest selection.
Traceability.
The competition effectively creates an environment where producers are constantly asking:
"Can we make this even better?"
And that pressure can raise the quality of the country's coffee as a whole.
SCAP itself describes Best of Panama as a tradition that has continually raised the quality standards pursued by Panamanian producers.
And There Are Other Competitions Too
The coffee world in Panama isn't limited to producers competing for the Best of Panama title.
During the broader BOP events, Panama has also hosted national Barista and Filtered Coffee Championships.
In 2025, SCAP held national competitions for both baristas and filtered coffee, with winners selected to represent Panama internationally.
And these competitions test something completely different.
The Best of Panama asks:
How extraordinary is this coffee?
A barista competition asks:
How well can you prepare and present coffee?
A filtered coffee competition focuses heavily on brewing skill.
The coffee itself matters, but so does the person behind the brewer.
A Great Coffee Can Be Ruined
This is one of the most important lessons.
You can have an incredible coffee bean and make a terrible cup.
Wrong grind size.
Wrong water temperature.
Poor extraction.
Bad ratio.
Poor technique.
And suddenly your expensive Geisha tastes ordinary.
That's why brewing competitions are so interesting.
They demonstrate that specialty coffee isn't simply about the bean.
It's about the entire process from farm to cup.
Could a Tourist Experience Cupping?
Absolutely.
And if you're visiting Panama's highlands, you should consider doing it.
You don't need to become a coffee expert.
You don't need to know what "bergamot" tastes like.
You don't need to understand extraction theory.
Just approach it with curiosity.
Taste two coffees side by side.
Try to identify what is different.
Let the coffee cool.
Smell it.
Take another sip.
Ask the person conducting the tasting what you're supposed to notice.
You may discover that your palate is much more sensitive than you thought.
The Best Part Is Realizing Coffee Doesn't All Taste the Same
For many travellers, this is the revelation.
They arrive thinking coffee is basically:
Coffee.
Maybe strong.
Maybe weak.
Maybe bitter.
Then they taste a high quality Panamanian specialty coffee and realize there can be enormous differences.
One coffee might taste like chocolate and nuts.
Another might be floral.
Another might have tropical fruit characteristics.
Another might taste like tea.
Another might have an almost wine like complexity.
Suddenly coffee becomes a world rather than a beverage.
And That's What Makes Panama So Special
Panama isn't simply a place where coffee is grown.
It has become a place where coffee is obsessed over.
Farmers are experimenting.
Judges are tasting.
Roasters are searching.
Baristas are competing.
Buyers are bidding.
Travellers are discovering.
And somewhere in the middle of all of this is a tiny coffee bean that began life on a mountain in Chiriquí.
The next time you're in Boquete, Bambito, Volcán, Cerro Punta or another coffee growing region, don't just order a coffee and drink it quickly.
Ask where it came from.
Ask what variety it is.
Ask how it was processed.
Ask whether you can try a washed and natural version side by side.
And if someone offers you the opportunity to join a cupping, say yes.
Because once you sit down with several tiny cups and start tasting them one after another, you begin to understand why Panama's coffee industry has become so famous.
You're no longer simply drinking coffee.
You're tasting altitude, climate, genetics, farming, fermentation, human skill and years of experimentation in a single cup.
And somewhere in that cup may be the next coffee that makes the entire world stop and say:
"What the hell did they grow in Panama?"