Visit to Janson Coffee Farm
The Setting
The first visit of this Panama origin trip brought us to Janson Coffee Farm in the highlands of Volcán.
The cupping room and mill sit in what feels less like a processing facility and more like a carefully maintained tropical garden. The grounds are beautifully manicured, filled with birds and layered vegetation. From the garden, the property transitions naturally into nursery areas where seedlings are cultivated. Here, young Geisha trees grow alongside avocados and other tropical plants and vegetables, creating an agricultural ecosystem rather than a single-crop environment.
It is a setting that immediately reflects the philosophy of the farm: cultivation here is not only about coffee production but about maintaining balance across the landscape.
Gardens surrounding the mill and cupping room at Janson Farm — a cultivated ecosystem where coffee grows alongside other tropical plants.
Harvest Reality — 2025/2026
One of the key updates from the farm concerns this year’s harvest. Production for the 2025/2026 harvest is expected to be approximately 50% of last year’s output.
Two primary factors affected the crop:
- Unseasonal rain and wind at the beginning of the harvest period
- Uneven flowering across the trees
These conditions resulted in irregular cherry development and reduced yields. Such variability is increasingly common and highlights how sensitive high-altitude coffee cultivation can be to even small climatic shifts. Despite the reduced production, the farm expects very strong quality across the lots produced this year.
The Cupping
During the visit we evaluated 18 coffees, divided between:
- Washed Geisha
- Natural Geisha
- One honey process included within the washed table
All coffees were presented as micro-lots, each with a maximum production of approximately 60kg of green coffee. The naturals were particularly noteworthy this year. While natural processes can sometimes lean heavily toward fermentation notes, these coffees showed remarkable balance, with expressive fruit character while remaining clean and structured in the cup.
Cupping the 2025/2026 micro-lots at Janson Farm.
The Work Behind the Cup
A conversation with Michael Janson highlighted something often overlooked when tasting exceptional Geisha coffees: the complexity required to maintain consistent quality year after year.
Producing high-quality Geisha is not simply a matter of altitude or variety. It requires the coordination of many variables across the farm, including:
- careful tree pruning
- ongoing experimentation with processing technologies
- detailed nutritional programs, including the study and application of fertilisers and minerals
- continuous monitoring of tree health and soil balance
Rather than relying on a single method, the process involves constant adjustment and attention.
In that sense, “precision” may not even be the most accurate description. A better way to think about it might be a constant manicure — an ongoing process of care that keeps the trees, soil, and fruit in balance throughout the year.
The results of this attention are visible even before roasting. The Geisha beans themselves are striking: unusually large, uniform, and clean, reflecting the level of discipline applied long before the coffee reaches the mill.
Fresh green Geisha from Janson — notable for its large and uniform seed size.
Time × Terroir × Relationship
Visits like this reinforce a simple truth: exceptional coffees are rarely the result of a single factor. They emerge from the intersection of environment, agronomy, and time.
At Janson, the surrounding ecosystem, the careful cultivation of trees, and the disciplined processing all contribute to preserving the character of the variety.
One realisation from the visit is that great Geisha is less a product than a practice.
It is the result of years of agricultural attention — a continuous process of observing, adjusting, and caring for the trees and the land that sustains them.
Field Note
The beauty of the beans themselves offers a quiet reminder: the cup begins long before the harvest, with years of careful cultivation and attention in the field.