Panamanian coffee at $85 a cup

Starting in November, two cafés in Singapore will charge $85 for a cup of geisha coffee from Panama’s Hacienda La Esmeralda, according to the Straits Times.

The coffee, grown in the Boquete highlands of Chiriqui Province, is part of a 100-pound lot sold for $600 a pound, the highest price ever paid for green beans, according to the Daily Roast News.

Geisha or Gesha is an aromatic coffee produced in Panama and Costa Rica, after being imported from Gesha, Ethiopia, according to Wikipedia.

The record sale was one of 51 lots sold at an average price per pound of $62 in an auction of Panamanian coffees, held annually by the Specialty Coffee Association.

The average price per pound during the past five years of conventional arabica coffee on world markets was $4.

Asian buyers predominated in the Panamanian auction, with 37 lots going to buyers in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea.

Australians bought seven lots, and Saudi Arabians bought two, while one each went to buyers in France, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Geishas from Finca Sophia, and Finca La Mula sold for $255 and $165 per pound, respectively.

Geishas, mostly natural-processed, dominated the auction; however, Caturras, Catuais and Pacamaras varieties were also present.