Don Pachi — Gesha Arrives in Panama in 1963

Historical milestone, not our tasting review

These profiles describe events, farms, varieties and notable coffees. Numbers reported by competition organizers or other reviewers are not our tasting scores; we do not convert those numbers into five-star ratings. Where a precise historical result cannot be matched to a specific lot, year and primary record, we leave it unscored.

What the evidence cannot establish: This is a seed-introduction milestone, not a single tasted coffee lot. The producer dates the Hacienda La Esmeralda competition breakthrough to 2004; World Coffee Research's retrospective account refers to 2005.

Our evidence and rating standards →

Era

1963 → 2004

Country

Panama

Region

Boquete

Farm

Farms across the Boquete region

Producer

Francisco "Don Pachi" Serracín and the farmers he shared seeds with

Variety

Gesha (Geisha)

Process

Washed

TagsBREAKTHROUGH VARIETY Panama Boquete Gesha Washed

What was it?

World Coffee Research traces Panama Gesha from Ethiopian collections through research institutions to CATIE in Costa Rica in 1953, then to Panama in the 1960s. In a 2019 interview, the Serracín family identified 1963 as the year Don Pachi brought the seeds to Panama.

Who grew it?

Francisco Antonio Serracín Colón, known as Don Pachi, brought Gesha seed into Panama, according to his son Francisco Serracín. Other Panamanian farmers subsequently planted the variety. Hacienda La Esmeralda separately isolated a Gesha lot that won Best of Panama in 2004.

Where?

The highlands of Boquete, Chiriquí, Panama.

What made it important

Francisco Serracín, known as Don Pachi, introduced the Gesha variety to Panama in 1963 after obtaining seeds from the CATIE research station in Costa Rica. He initially sought the variety for its potential resistance to coffee leaf rust, a significant threat to regional crops at the time. Although the plants were initially overlooked due to their low yields and brittle branches, they were preserved by Serracín and shared with neighboring farms in the Boquete region. This preservation allowed the variety to eventually reach the 2004 Best of Panama competition, where its unique cup profile gained international recognition and transformed the global specialty coffee market.

How was it processed?

A seed introduction has no coffee processing method. Washed, natural and other process descriptions apply to particular later harvest lots, not to the imported seeds.

What did reviewers say?

Variety histories identify Gesha's floral sensory potential when cultivated and processed well. No primary sensory record of the seeds brought to Panama in 1963 was found, and they have no review score.

What did it change?

The introduction of Gesha to Panama shifted the industry focus toward high-quality, distinct varietals and established the country as a premier origin for luxury coffee. Its success at the 2004 Best of Panama auction fundamentally altered market dynamics, leading to record-breaking prices and a sustained global demand for the variety.

Where is that producer today?

Gesha continues to be cultivated in Panama and elsewhere. World Coffee Research warns that not every coffee called Geisha or Gesha has the same genetic lineage as the Panamanian accession.

Sources & further reading

External articles and records support specific historical details; a source does not independently verify every statement on this page. Unlinked research notes are identified separately, not presented as citations.

← All legendary coffees Explore Panama as an origin →Coffee history →