PANAMA
*click here to buy our current offering from this origin*
Finca El Burro Gesha Natural
When I visited Panama in 2012, it turned out to be a pretty good trip and I ended up meeting some of the big names in specialty coffee, even though I had no idea at the time. When I came back I thought this would be a great place to live someday because you could go surfing, drink gesha all day at the farm and sleep on a deserted island.
The first day I arrived I had no real plan for how to visit a coffee farm, but I accidentally walked into this cafe called “Bajareque”, named after the cool mist that glides over the mountainside coffee farms and slows cherry ripening. It turned out to be Wilford Lamastus’ cafe. Wilford is the owner of Finca Elida, one of the most famous gesha-farms out there, and even though I had no idea who Wilford or Elida were, he was kind enough to show me around. Wilford has two other farms in the same area around the Volcan Baru National park in Boquete. One of them is where this coffee is from, Finca El Burro, where he grows Gesha and Catuai at an altitude of 1575 - 1800 masl.
This area in Panama is where gesha trees thrive, the cold, the altitude, the volcanic soil, the mist that keeps the humidity up even in the dry season and extends the ripening time. All of this adds to the unique cup quality of this coffee. Ok cool, so what does it taste like then?
Abu Gesha Washed
As you might have noticed, we’re doing more geshas than we used to do. No specific reason for this other than that we’re tasting coffees from Panama that are just too good to pass up.
Panama has always been known for their high quality coffees. They don’t produce big volumes (only about 100.000 bags a year) so their way of standing out has always been quality. The main regions Boquete and Volcán have good infrastructure and well-run wet and dry mills. It was here where the gesha variety became famous. Gesha trees are not easy to grow, but they thrive in the microclimates of the areas situated around the three volcanos in the Chiriqui province.
The Abu farm is named after grandfather Jose Guillermo Luttrell Tedman and is situated in the Cañas Verdes region at 1550 masl, which is relatively low for Panama-gesha-standards. But this coffee tastes amazing, so who cares!
The cherries are hand collected and sorted according to the right maturation point and then pulped and macerated for 24 hours in tanks. The cherries are thereafter hand-washed with mountain spring water. Once the coffee has been fully washed, it is dried on raised beds for 15 days.
Ok cool, but what does it taste like?
It’s a washed coffee, so expect a very clean cup with a delicate silky mouthfeel. The farms in this region benefit from a cool mist called Bajareque that slows down the maturation process, making this coffee taste very sweet indeed. It has a light body but with very clear flavor notes of mandarin, apple juice, warm honey and peach. It finishes with a bouquet of delicate florals that keeps lingering until you take a next sip.
Notes: Floral, sweet, delicate, mandarin, apple, honey, peach
Variety: Gesha
Farm: Abu
Farmer: Jose Lutrell
Region: Cañas Verdes, Chiriqui
Country: Panama
Altitude: 1550 masl
Process: Washed
Last year’s Carmen Estate offering was one of our favourite Panama’s of last year - tropical with notes of bergamot and jasmine, a really good Gesha. This year’s offering is laced with what feels like an expensive rose water, warm honey, and peach - delicate and beautiful.
Carmen Estate takes its name from Mrs Carmen Franceschi, the estates’ first owner along with her husband Efrain. For almost 20 years now the estate has been producing exceptional quality coffees and consistently scoring high in the Best of Panama competition. Sitting at an altitude of 1800 masl within the Volcan Valley of Chiriqui, the farm is now owned and managed by Carmen and Efrain’s grandson Carlos, the third generation to take the helm.