Specialty Coffee

By Cafesba , 13 October 2025

Since 1996, the BOP, organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP), has brought attention to the high quality of Panamanian coffee.
An article by Price Peterson in SCAP describes this situation in the 2000s.
Geisha coffee beans submitted by Price Peterson's Esmeralda farm were sold for a then-record high price of $21 per pound (about 450g).
This was about 10 times the price of the standard high-end coffee at the time.
The Peterson family separated lots into sections of their large farm and submitted the best-flavored ones to BOP.

By Cafesba , 9 October 2025

After the founding of the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP), producers in the Boquete and Volcán regions of Panama, with the cooperation of the Specialty Coffee Association of the Americas (SCAA), began a movement to create a system for having their country's coffee evaluated using international cupping standards.

Then, with the cooperation of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Panama Tourism Board, the first Best of Panama (BOP) coffee quality competition was held in 1996.

By Cafesba , 5 October 2025

Panama is a producer of coffee beans known today as Geisha, a premium specialty coffee.
Coffee production in this country also had deep ties to the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA).
In 1989, the ICO price agreement collapsed, causing coffee prices to fall in producing countries.
For example, in Panama, the price was US$1.20 per pound (approximately 450g), but after the price collapse, it is said to have fallen to US$0.74.

By Cafesba , 4 October 2025

With the establishment of the SCAA in the United States, evaluation standards were established to define whether a coffee is specialty.

 1. Fragrance: The aroma of the coffee grounds and the liquid. 

2. Flavor: Evaluation upon sipping the liquid. 

3. Aftertaste: Lingering aftertaste after swallowing. 

4. Acidity: Pleasant brightness and juiciness. 

5. Body: Texture and weight on the tongue. 

6. Balance: Harmony of all elements.

By Cafesba , 4 October 2025

As the number of specialty coffee businesses increased, the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) was founded in 1982.
Led by Donald Schoenholt of Gillies Coffee in Brooklyn, New York, and Ted Lingle of California roaster Lingle Bros, the association was founded by a core of members including Waldenhauffer of Coffee, Tea and Spice in San Francisco, Peter McLaughlin of Royal Coffee, and coffee importer John Randall.

By Cafesba , 4 October 2025

Against this backdrop, a trend began where high-quality coffee was supported by a fan base that was particular about flavor.
The term Peetniks was even coined to refer to the core fans of Peet's Coffee in Berkeley, California.
Such coffee also focuses on the origin of the beans.
Because they are particular about the origin of the beans, they do not pursue quantity over quality like commodity coffee, but rather they are particular about beans imported from specific producing areas in order to pursue high-quality beans even if the production lot is small.

By Cafesba , 4 October 2025

Specialty coffee businesses sprang up one after another in the 1990s, but the foundations for this began in the late 1960s.
At the time, commodity coffee was traded in containers, which contained burlap bags filled with coffee harvested from various growing regions.
The idea arose to see if these burlap bags could be sold individually,
or if small-lot burlap bags could be sold to small-scale roasters.
From the late 1960s, a wave of small-scale roasters began to open in the United States.
Peet's Coffee, founded in Berkeley, California in 1966,

By Cafesba , 4 October 2025

After the coffee crisis of 1989, commodity coffee prices became a kind of financial product, leading to price instability. Furthermore, under the Doi Moi policy implemented in 1986, the emerging Robusta coffee producer Vietnam rapidly increased its supply through national policy, threatening even Brazil, the leading coffee-producing country. This led to a decline in export prices from Latin America and Africa.
When prices fell, farmers in coffee-producing countries were unable to sell their coffee, even if they lowered the price, and their incomes fell.