Overlooking Volcán Barú, Agricola Geisha is a farm shaped by altitude, curiosity, and a deep partnership with the land. The story began 17 years ago, when Gonzalo and Yrma Palenzuela stepped into coffee farming during their retirement — an unexpected passion that earned recognition within their first two harvests.
Today, their daughter Delia, her husband, and her siblings have further refined their farming practices and embraced innovative processing methods. Each change adopted has strengthened the legacy they inherited. With Process and Quality Manager Manuel Barsallo joining the team, Agricola Geisha reached a new milestone: their first Geisha-category award at the 2025 Best of Panama, placing 8th in Geisha Natural.
Set in the misty elevations of Alto Jaramillo and rising from 1,380 to 2,100 masl, the farm is a living ecosystem. Coffees grow beneath forest canopies, nourished by natural fertilizers, and guided by the rhythms of the mountain. Every cherry is hand-picked at peak ripeness and slowly sun-dried to preserve its purest expression.
Panama Geisha is a rare, delicate, and complex variety well-loved for its sweet florality and citrus highlights. Since its debut win at the Best of Panama auction in 2004, it has kept specialty coffee lovers everywhere captivated by its endless possibilities, delicacy, complexity, and clarity of flavors.
As such, it is often showcased on coffee competition stages by a great number of coffee champions, and it also continues to fetch the highest prices.
While a coffee’s truest intrinsic qualities are still largely believed to be showcased best by traditional washed processing due to the demucilaging, washing, and scrubbing steps removing all traces of fruit from the bean, the expertise of seasoned and passionate producers like Palenzuela Family / Manuel Barsallo allows them to direct the flavor character of the Panama Geisha towards a seemingly endless diversity of delightfully surprising trajectories.
They do this through the purposeful implementation of traditional methods like the natural and honey processes, as well as intentional and innovative processing styles.
HOW TO BREW:
Before the first pour
• Prepare a dose of 15 grams of coffee.
• Heat water to around 90 - 93 degrees Celsius.
• Pre-wet the paper filter on the dripper & dispose of the water in the server.
• Grind the coffee to about 700 to 800 microns.
• Place the coffee grinds onto the pre-wetted paper filter on the dripper.
For the first pour and bloom.
• Pour 40 ml in a circular manner.
• Let the coffee bloom until 30-40 seconds.
For the second pour.
• Continuing in a circular manner, pour 70ml more, until 110 ml, by 1 minute and 10 seconds.
At the third pour and onto the last & fourth pour.
• Still in circles, pour the next 70 ml to make 180 ml within 2 minutes.
• For the last pour, focus at the center until 225 ml.
• Dripping should complete within 2 minutes to 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
After the last pour.
• If the water drains either slower than 3 minutes or faster than 2 minutes and 30 seconds, consider adjusting your grind size.
• Dispose of the coffee grounds & the paper filter responsibly.
• Pour the brew into your favorite cup — and enjoy your coffee!
