With the evaluation of 62 batches of different varieties of coffees that are grown in Panama (called varietals), this Monday the national tasting of the twenty-eighth version of The Best of Panama (BOP) began.

The samples are evaluated by a group of 21 Panamanian judges, under the direction of Australian Judge Will Young.

This group of expert tasters has the responsibility of choosing the 24 best batches of coffee produced in the different regions of Chiriquí, which will then go to a round of tasting with international judges.

Judge Young said that at the first tables they found “very interesting cups where Panamanian producers again offer a coffee of the highest quality” at this annual event organized by the Association of Special Coffees of Panama (SCAP).

For his part, Hunter Tedman, president of that association, detailed that the presence of Judge Young as principal of The Best of Panama in the national round is due to “maintaining impartiality, the balance and guaranteeing transparency in the process of selecting the best lots that will go to international tasting.”

Tedman specified that there are coffees of very good quality, very clean, that can reach high scores and that in this varietal category there is a greater diversity of attributes and processes, therefore, “it is very difficult to evaluate.”

“In this national round, national judges must select 24 lots for each category that will move to a semifinal in the international round, and the international judges will be in charge of evaluating each of these samples,” he added.

The competition involves 57 lots in the category of Washed Geisha (2,394 kilograms), 61 lots in Natural Geisha (2,562 kilograms) and 62 lots in varietals (2,604 kilograms), adding a total of 180 batches of coffee in competition with a total of 7,560 kilograms (16,666.78 pounds).

For Rachel Peterson, of Hacienda La Esmeralda and national judge, the varietal lots present “all the flavors, all the processes and all the smells,” and considered that there are coffees that started very well with high scores.

“Panama sets the basis for the best coffees in the world and every year producers learn from each other and on the farms positive things are implemented,” said Wilford Lamastus, another national judge, after evaluating the first tasting tables, where he has found – he acknowledged – “surprising cups.”