BeansNewsroom Panama· Aug 8, 2026
The 30th Best of Panama announced its 2026 winners on 1 August: Elida Estate took Geisha Washed at 96.25 points, Lérida Estate took Geisha Natural at 95.63, Altieri Specialty Coffee won Varietals at 93.63 and Hacienda La Esmeralda won the Copa Panamá for highest accumulated score. Forty lots are now held under external audit at the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama ahead of the international electronic auction on 23 September 2026. Last year's auction set the all-time record of $30,204 per kg for an Esmeralda washed Geisha.
Why it matters: The auction sets the price ceiling for the whole Gesha market; if you want a 2026 BoP lot, watch roasters like Proud Mary, Archers and Onyx in October to December when the winning lots ship.
ResearchBeverage Plant Research· Jul 7, 2026
Haohao Yu and Faguang Hu's team at the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences split one batch of Catimor cherries from Baoshan, Yunnan, into four treatments (washed, natural, anaerobic-then-washed, anaerobic-then-natural), ran untargeted metabolomics on the green beans and cupped the roasted coffee. Processing method reshaped the green-bean metabolome, and the anaerobic natural treatment showed the strongest enrichment of amino acids, nucleotides, organic acids, flavonoids and tannins; 75 metabolites (including D-mannose, D-glucose, L-lactic acid, GABA, caffeic and sinapic acid) correlated with sensory attributes and were flagged as flavour precursors. Anaerobically fermented lots scored higher than conventional ones on dry/wet aroma, flavour, aftertaste, acidity, body and balance, while washed coffee scored higher on cleanliness and lower on sweetness. Caveats: a single variety, farm and season; the article gives correlations, not causal links between named compounds and cup attributes; the journal is a newer, lower-profile title.
Why it matters: When a bag says 'anaerobic natural', expect more sweetness and body and a busier aromatic profile than the washed lot from the same farm, and treat 'clean' washed coffees as a different, not lesser, target; it also explains why anaerobic Catimor from Yunnan is turning up on specialty menus.
BeansSey Coffee
Sey's 2026 Colombia line-up from William Ortiz (La Cabaña, Pitalito, Huila, 1,700 masl) now includes a single-variety Aji lot, the first time Sey has offered this rare Colombian variety from him. Cherries are floated, held overnight, de-pulped, dry-fermented for 36 hours, washed and dried on raised beds to 10.5% moisture. Sey describes the cup as rose, açaí and ripe raspberry. Sibling lots from the same farm include Chiroso, Pink Bourbon and a second-harvest Chiroso.
Why it matters: Aji is one of the few Colombian varieties with a cup as floral and fruit-driven as Gesha; this is a rare chance to compare Aji, Chiroso and Pink Bourbon from one producer and one process.
BeansPerfect Daily Grind
Perfect Daily Grind reviews the 2026 competition season and finds a split: most finalists at the 2025 World Barista Championship and 2026 World Brewers Cup still used Gesha (often blended with other varieties), but at Cup of Excellence the winners were a Bernardina at Finca La Esperanza in El Salvador (91.95 points), a Parainema in Honduras and a washed Java in Costa Rica. Gesha still holds the most category titles overall, but locally adapted and landrace varieties are beating it on the cupping table.
Why it matters: If you buy competition lots, Bernardina, Parainema and Java are now the varieties to try; they cup at Gesha level and sell for far less at auction.
BeansSey Coffee
Sey's 2026 Peru release from Carlos Saenz (Machay Pata, in the valley around Amaybamba) is a washed lot of the SL9 variety, de-pulped on the day of harvest, wet-fermented for 32 hours and dried on raised beds to 10.5% moisture. Sey describes the cup as mango, jasmine and lychee. It joins other 2026 Peru lots from the Saenz family and Gilber Huayllas as the new Peruvian crop lands.
Why it matters: Peru is at peak freshness now and SL9 is a variety most drinkers have never tasted; this is a clean washed benchmark for the origin before the more common Typica and Caturra lots arrive.
ResearchCrop Science
A University of Florida IFAS team (Suela and colleagues, Tropical Research and Education Center, Homestead) planted 48 arabica seedlings of four cultivars (Fronton, Limani, Typica and Obatã) in May 2023 and tracked them through 2025, the first year the trees were mature enough for representative yield data. Average fresh-cherry yield ranged from roughly 3 to 6 kg per tree across cultivars, and the beans showed some favourable physical and chemical traits, while the paper flags climate, soil, labour and management hurdles for any commercial Florida coffee. Caveats: a single lowland subtropical site, a tiny plot, one harvest, and no reported cup scores from a calibrated panel.
Why it matters: Do not expect Florida coffee in your grinder soon, but this is the first peer-reviewed yield data for arabica grown at sea level in the continental US, and the cultivars chosen (rust-resistant Obatã, Puerto Rican Fronton and Limani) hint at what 'climate-adapted' specialty varieties may look like.