Panama La Flint Estate Honey Process Catuai SHB Specialty Coffee Beans: Origins, Development, History, and Cultural Introduction

Panama grows its finest coffee in the west of the country, close to the Costa Rican border and along the Pacific coast, and the honey process gives those high-altitude beans a sweetness that washed lots rarely reach.

Panama's premium coffee is grown in the west, near Costa Rica and along the Pacific coast. The most celebrated comes from the Boquete district of Chiriqui province, with Volcán, Santa Clara, and Candela also well known, alongside the David, Remacimeinto, Bugaba, and Tole districts. Only coffee grown between 1,300 and 1,500 meters qualifies as specialty coffee.

Cupping Notes

Dried fruit on the nose and rich fruit acidity, with pronounced sweetness on the palate, lemon, orange, cranberry, and green tea, a uniform and smooth texture that stays soft, a subtle floral undertone, and a long-lasting aftertaste.

Product Information

Manufacturer: Coffee Workshop
Address: 10 Bao'an FrontStreet, Yandun Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, FrontStreet Coffee
Contact: 020-38364473
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Panama
Roast Degree: Medium roast

Panama Jurutungo Honey Catuai

Country: Panama

Grade: SHB

Region: Piedra de Candela

Roast Degree: Medium roast

Processing Method: Honey process

Variety: Catuai

Mill: Piedra de Candela Estate

Flavor Notes: Lemon, orange, cranberry, green tea

Catuai

Catuai is a hybrid of Mundo Novo and Caturra, essentially a second-generation cross, and it inherits Caturra's compact stature. The name comes from an indigenous word meaning "very good." A member of the Arabica family, Catuai is a relatively high-yielding variety.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Panama's most famous coffee is, of course, Geisha, and FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete Washed Geisha is the place to start. The mountains of Boquete are regularly veiled in cloud, humid by day and cool by night, and the fertile soil carried down from Baru volcano creates ideal conditions for this demanding variety. The higher the trees are planted, the longer the fruit takes to ripen and the more nutrients it absorbs, and the more layered the flavor becomes. Grown at 1,600 meters, this estate-level Geisha opens into a rich aroma and a cup of jasmine, green tea, honey, citrus, and orange.

If you want the Geisha character at a more approachable price, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Washed Butterfly is a natural choice. It carries half of the prized Geisha lineage, blended from Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai, and it is planted in Boquete's Baru volcano area. Panama's particular microclimate brings generous rainfall and a wide day-to-night temperature swing, and the volcanic soils plus careful harvesting and meticulous processing give the coffee impressive body, citrus acidity, and the jasmine aroma that defines Geisha. It shines as pour-over and as cold brew.

For a lot built on the same Catuai variety as the coffee above, FrontStreet Coffee's Diamond Mountain comes from four separate farms under the Emerald Estate banner, with the green beans drawn from the Jaramillo and Canas Verdes plots. Caturra and Catuai dominate, and the volcanic soil and old-growth forest shade give the beans abundant fruit aroma and sweetness. It is one of the estate's best-loved independent labels outside of Geisha itself.