I have been addicted to coffee since my midnight study breaks in college.

But it wasn't until my first vacations to Italy and France that I discovered truly great-tasting coffee. Ever since those European caffeinated discoveries, I have been searching for the best cup of coffee in the world. I think I found it by accident while on a walking tour of the historic Casco Viejo district of Panama City.

As he led a straggling group of some 20 tourists along the 15th-century cobblestone streets, our tour guide made a passing reference to the oldest coffee store in the city, noting that it allegedly serves the best and most expensive coffee in the world. He and the group kept walking as I came to a dead stop. “Wait a minute, gang,” I shouted ahead. “I absolutely positively must see this potential shrine.”

The group begrudgingly followed me into the tiny store even though I was the only one to order a cup of this highly touted brew, Geisha.

As I happily waited for the meticulously prepared pour-over, the barista told me the Geisha beans are primarily grown in high-altitude volcanic regions like Boquete. She was also proud to note that the very best Geisha beans were once sold for a record-breaking price at auction, more than $30,000 US per kilogram. She warned me in advance that my cup would cost $15. I told my patient fellow travelers who were anxiously awaiting my verdict that the price was worth every penny. And I brought home a pound of beans to share with a few fellow coffee lovers.

Upon returning to Chicago, I researched Geisha beans and have to keep telling coffee friends that they’re from Panama, not Japan.

I also learned that Geisha’s beans often have slightly lower caffeine compared to some lower-altitude Robusta varieties; it is still an Arabica coffee and generally falls within the standard, moderate range of 1.2% to 1.5% caffeine by weight. However, its value is derived entirely from flavor, not caffeine content.

True coffee aficionados describe Geisha as a delicate tea-like body, and distinct floral/fruit notes like jasmine and mandarin. I simply describe it as the best cup of coffee I’ve ever had. And I’m still looking for something that tops it. 9.8 out of 10 stars.