The head roaster of Café Unido, Francisco Flores, wants you to think about your coffee as you do your wine.

Like wine, coffee’s aromas and flavors are influenced by its variety (type of plant), terroir (natural environment), and processing (roasting). This is to say, not every cup of coffee tastes the same. (And it’s not just because of sugar, milk, or other add-ins.)

At Café Unido’s first standalone brick-and-mortar in D.C., located in Shaw, the Panama-based coffee company is hoping to demonstrate that, using Geisha beans, “the caviar of coffee beans,” and serving several distinct beverages made from them on an omakase-style menu. In Japanese, “omakase” means “I leave it up to you.” The team at Café Unido are asking you to trust them — just as you would a sushi chef — to select great coffee for you.

“The perception of coffee tends to be more like a commodity, right? Like something that you get in the morning to wake up,” says Flores. “Please give us the opportunity to try it in a different way, to rethink it. And for us, the journey of sharing food right next to it is even more exciting.”

You may recognize Café Unido because of its kiosk at Union Market’s La Cosecha. The new location, which opened in November, resembles Café Unido’s storefronts in Panama, where it all started.

Founded in 2014 by two friends, Benito Bermudez and Mario Castrellón, the company aimed to offer a space for fellow Panamanians to learn and appreciate coffee grown by local producers. Then, in 2020, they branched out to the U.S., bringing one of the world’s most exclusive (and expensive) coffees to D.C., the Geisha. (In 2021, Geisha coffee from one of the most biodiverse regions of the country went for over $2,500 a pound, according to a Panamanian news outlet.)

“When we opened our first shop in Panama in 2014, a lot of people in Panama were not used to drinking specialty coffee,” Bermudez told Daily Coffee News. “Most of our specialty lots are exported to Asia or other parts of the world, so when we first opened our doors, there was a lot of education, different brewing methods and all that. I feel we’re replicating that same thing here in D.C.”

Café Unido’s new Shaw location is a slick 69-seat café and bar. The open floor plan, decorated with stone and wood elements, give the location an airy, spacious feel. Two months into opening, and the cafe’s already garnered a crowd during the workday, with people sipping coffee as they type away on their laptops (there’s free WiFi).

The regular menu includes small bites like shrimp or shredded chicken empanadas ($7), as well as breakfast and lunch options like pumpkin spice pancakes ($12) and pork belly sandwiches ($15). Dishes are intended to showcase the ingredients and, of course, coffee of Panama.

As for coffee, patrons can order a classic drip for $4 or that sought-after Geisha (ask the barista for the market price that day). There’s milk on the premises, so patrons can order a latte for $5.25. Don’t want coffee? Café Unido also sells tea, from chai to matcha (ranging from $3.5 to $4.50, depending on if you get a latte).

“[Geisha] has put Panamanian coffee in the specialty market in a super high level,” explains Flores at the eight-seat bar. He met Bermudez because they are both musicians. Flores, who grew up on his family’s coffee farm in El Salvador, moved to D.C. during the pandemic to help his old friend, who is still in Panama.

Future plans include outdoor dining, brunch, food and artist pop-ups, and the omakase, a 40-45 minute four-course tasting menu that goes for $45 and pairs most beverages with Panamanian bites. The omakase menu will change every so often, but patrons who make a reservation soon could expect to start their experience with the Geisha cascara, a floral hibiscus-like tea that’s made out of the cascara (the skin of a the coffee cherry).

A member of the Café Unido team will walk patrons through the omakase menu to highlight the differences in how each farmer treats their coffee cherries. One course includes two cups of coffee of the same varietal, but from different farms prepared through different processes. (One smells closer to wine than coffee.) The cups of coffee are prepared at the counter and paired with a carimañola, a traditional Panamanian ground-beef fritter, prepared by Chef Jovana Urriola. The accompanying house-made ketchup is even made with the coffee husk. (DCist was gifted the omakase menu during the reporting of this story.)

“You get coffee from one country, but you will be experiencing different journeys, when you drink from one farm to the other, even with the same variety,” says Flores.

The omakase menu also includes a cold brew with a vegan ceviche and, the crowning jewel, a coffee-based old fashioned cocktail and chicharrón. The rum they use is from a local distillery, Cotton & Reed; Flores says they hope to feature more local companies at the location. Urriola cooked the chicharrón, or pork belly, in the oven for four to six hours, and used coffee husk and various spices. If patrons aren’t ready to leave after their omakase, Unido also offers a menu of natural wines, says Flores.

While Café Unido seems more like a coffeeshop nowadays, the team wants it to feel more like a bustling bar/restaurant. The omakase menu gets them closer, with reservations opening up this week.

Café Unido’s new brick-and-mortar is located at 908 W Street NW. Open weekdays between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., and weekends 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (soon to be 9 p.m.).