Toby’s Estate coffee roaster Deaton Pigot, previously with Intelligentsia Los Angeles, mailed me two bags of premium Panamanian Geisha coffee. Hacienda La Esmeralda is the best known example of the prized coffee varietal, but the Peterson family isn’t the only family to grow coffee in Panama.

I brought the bags to Scoops Westside, a Palms ice cream parlor that also houses specialty coffee aficionado Matthew Kang, and he prepared both Geisha coffee beans via Clever. I preferred La Batista, a coffee with a bag that predicted “hibiscus, dried peach and Bergamot” qualities. I enjoyed my bright, smooth sips and the cup’s floral aroma. La Cabaña’s bag anticipated “jasmine, rose and gooseberry,” but I didn’t get the tart, floral qualities in the cup. I enjoyed the coffee pretty well, but the brew I experienced leaned more toward bittersweet chocolate, further proving tat tasting notes aren’t always positive, since they can plant expectations in people’s heads long before actual tasting ever begins.