Best of Panama 2026: Celebrating the Heart of Panama’s Coffee Community

By Cafeistmo Journal

For three decades, Best of Panama has shone a spotlight on the extraordinary coffees grown in Panama’s mountains. What began as a national competition has grown into a global gathering, bringing together producers, judges, buyers, and coffee professionals from around the world to discover what each new harvest has to offer.

The 2026 edition concluded with remarkable results across three competition categories: Varietal, Natural Geisha, and Washed Geisha. Different farms rose to the top in each category, reflecting the diversity, creativity, and depth of Panama’s coffee-producing community.

There were many individual winners this year. Together, however, their achievements tell a larger story about Panama's strength as a coffee origin.

Ultimately, the greatest winner of Best of Panama 2026 was Panama itself.

Three Categories, Three Outstanding Winners

In the Varietal category, Altieri Coffee earned first place, followed by Hacienda La Esmeralda and Finca Santa Teresa.

The eight highest-ranked producers were:

1. Altieri Coffee
2. Hacienda La Esmeralda
3. Finca Santa Teresa
4. Gissin Aguilar
5. Santa María Estate Coffee
6. Finca Candela
7. Black Moon Farm
8. Mamá Cata

The Natural Geisha category was led by Lérida Estate Coffee. Hacienda La Esmeralda placed second, while Elida Estate Coffee completed the top three.

The full top eight were:

1. Lérida Estate Coffee
2. Hacienda La Esmeralda
3. Elida Estate Coffee
4. Los Lajones Estate
5. Finca Los Cenizos
6. Nuguo
7. Totumas Coffee
8. Finca Pergamino

In the Washed Geisha category, first place went to Elida Estate Familia Lamastus, followed by El Pergamino and Hacienda La Esmeralda.

The eight highest-ranked producers were:

1. Elida Estate Familia Lamastus
2. El Pergamino
3. Hacienda La Esmeralda
4. Finca Los Cenizos de Estela Pitti
5. Umbe Farm
6. Bambito Estate Coffee
7. Lérida Estate
8. Mil Cumbres

These results celebrate exceptional lots and the producers behind them. They also show that Panama’s reputation is not built on the work of a single farm or family. It comes from a wider community of producers who continue to experiment, learn, and refine their methods while bringing out the best in the land they cultivate.

The Panama Cup Goes to Hacienda La Esmeralda

One of the most meaningful distinctions presented at Best of Panama is the Panama Cup.

Rather than recognizing a single lot, the award goes to the producer who accumulates the highest total number of points across all competition categories.

In 2026, the Panama Cup was awarded to Hacienda La Esmeralda, which earned a total of 16 points through consistently strong performances:

• Second place in the Varietal category: 3 points
• Second place in Natural Geisha: 7 points
• Third place in Washed Geisha: 6 points

Placing near the top in all three categories is a remarkable accomplishment. It reflects not only the quality of individual lots, but also a broader and sustained commitment to producing exceptional coffee in different styles.

Hacienda La Esmeralda’s achievement deserves to be celebrated. At the same time, the range of farms represented across the rankings is equally meaningful. It shows that exceptional quality extends well beyond a small group of established names.

Every Winning Coffee Becomes an Ambassador

When a Panamanian coffee earns recognition at Best of Panama, the impact reaches beyond the farm that produced it.

Each winning lot introduces buyers and coffee lovers to a particular place: a mountainside, a microclimate, a variety, a processing method, and the people whose knowledge shaped the final cup.

In that sense, coffee becomes an ambassador.

It carries the story of Panama’s highlands, volcanic soils, changing mountain weather, and the patient work required to produce coffee at this level—from selecting ripe cherries to carefully processing, drying, and sorting each lot.

A victory for one producer does not overshadow the accomplishments of others. On the contrary, every outstanding coffee helps the world understand just how much Panama has to offer.

Today, the name Panama Geisha is recognized throughout the specialty coffee world. That reputation was not created overnight, and it does not belong to a single producer. It has been built over decades through the collective work of farmers, processors, cuppers, researchers, exporters, judges, and organizations committed to improving quality and sharing Panama’s coffees with the world.

Thirty Years of Building a Reputation

The 2026 edition marked thirty years of Best of Panama.

Over those three decades, the competition has helped transform the way the international coffee community views Panama. A relatively small coffee-producing country has become one of the world’s most respected origins for rare and distinctive specialty coffees.

Best of Panama has given producers a platform to present their finest lots, connect with buyers, and demonstrate the possibilities found across Panama’s farms, elevations, varieties, and processing traditions.

It has also encouraged producers to keep exploring.

The 2026 rankings reflect that ongoing journey. Familiar names performed strongly once again, while the range of farms represented in the top eight reminds us that exceptional quality can be found throughout Panama’s coffee community.

That matters because the long-term strength of an origin cannot depend on a single famous coffee. It grows when many producers are encouraged to pursue quality, when knowledge is exchanged, and when buyers remain curious about what different farms and harvests have to offer.

A Shared Effort

Competitions naturally focus attention on first-, second-, and third-place. Those distinctions are important because they recognize the skill, care, and risk involved in producing an exceptional lot.

But every coffee presented to the judges is also the result of a wider effort.

Behind each lot are the people who care for the trees, pick the cherries, oversee processing, monitor fermentation and drying, sort the beans, evaluate the cups, prepare the coffee, and bring it to the international market.

That is why the impact of Best of Panama reaches throughout the coffee value chain.

The competition creates recognition for the winning producers while also drawing attention to Panama as an origin. It gives buyers more reasons to explore Panamanian coffee, encourages conversations about quality and progress, and helps create opportunities for producers across the country.

Looking Ahead

As Panama prepares to welcome the international coffee community for World of Coffee Panama 2026, it does so with a reputation built patiently over three decades.

Best of Panama has shown what is possible when producers combine an extraordinary natural environment with knowledge, collaboration, curiosity, and a genuine respect for quality.

The 2026 results gave us many reasons to celebrate: Altieri Coffee’s victory in the Varietal category, Lérida Estate Coffee’s first place in Natural Geisha, Elida Estate Familia Lamastus’s success in Washed Geisha, and Hacienda La Esmeralda’s consistent performance across all three categories to earn the Panama Cup.

Each achievement belongs first to the people who worked for it.

Together, however, they represent something even larger.

They strengthen the reputation of an entire origin. They invite more people to discover Panama’s farms, landscapes, and coffees. And they remind the world that Panama’s place in specialty coffee has been earned through decades of dedication.

There were many deserving winners at Best of Panama 2026.

But above all, the greatest winner was Panama.