Panama Eleta Estate Premium Coffee Beans SHB Caturra Imported Single Origin Freshly Roasted Grindable

Panama MC Santa Clara Eleta SHB Washed

Coffee Details

Country: Panama
Grade: SHB
Region: Santa Clara
Altitude: Average 1,600 meters
Processing method: Washed
Variety: Caturra
Estate: Hacienda Eleta
Flavor notes: Creamy bread, apricot kernel sweetness, rounded acidity

History of Panama Coffee

Coffee was introduced to Panama in 1780, when Europeans brought the first Typica coffee trees. This mysterious and fascinating beverage soon conquered the senses of Panamanians, and locals began widespread cultivation. Panama coffee is exceptionally smooth, with full, light beans and perfectly balanced acidity. Its premium beans offer pure, distinctive flavors, and thanks to their popularity, most of Panama's premium coffee is exported to France and Finland.

Main Coffee Growing Regions in Panama

Boquete Region

This region produces abundant, high-quality coffee, making it the area with the highest production and best quality in Panama.

Volcan Region

Coffee from this area is characterized by mild, balanced flavors and has gradually gained attention from international experts and coffee enthusiasts; it is believed to soon rival Boquete in prominence.

Santa Clara Region

Fertile coffee plantations here are irrigated by the clear waters of the Chorerra waterfall, and proximity to the Panama Canal allows fresh, pure Panama coffee to be shipped conveniently around the world.

Piedra de Candela Region

This region is considered to hold the greatest potential for developing high-quality specialty coffee.

Panama has been the most talked-about coffee country in Central America over the past 5-6 years, primarily thanks to the Peterson family's Hacienda La Esmeralda and its Geisha varieties, which have driven coffee enthusiasts wild; Geisha is acclaimed as the world's finest coffee bean. For this reason, Panama's Best of Panama auction runs independently of the Central and South American cupping competitions - Panama was the first country to hold such auctions, and they take place every May. Panama impresses not only with its Geisha but also with its continuously innovative processing methods: beyond traditional washed processing, it features the honey process popularized by neighboring Costa Rica, and the country also produces small quantities of natural-processed beans that are drawing attention from coffee professionals worldwide.

Hacienda Eleta

Hacienda Eleta is located in the Santa Clara region, a small area just one kilometer from the Costa Rican border, near La Amistad International Park, a major primary forest reserve that forms part of the Central American ecological habitat. The estate began acquiring land in the 1970s, covering roughly 130 hectares initially used for vegetable cultivation and livestock. Coffee planting began in 1995 under the name Cafe de Eleta S.A., and the estate kept expanding; today it spans 420 hectares, making it one of Panama's large-scale coffee plantations and one of the country's most renowned premium coffees. With abundant water resources, the estate operates a private 530KW hydroelectric power plant that not only covers its own electricity needs but also sells surplus power to Distribucion de Electricidad Chiriqui S.A. for grid connection.

Flavor Profile

This batch offers the purest, most original flavors. Because Hacienda Eleta's SHB washed coffee is harvested from high-altitude Caturra trees, it carries intense fruity and floral notes. The flavor profile includes creamy bread, apricot kernel sweetness, cane sugar sweetness, rounded acidity, complex aroma, balanced sweet and sour notes, and a pleasant mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Panama's growing zones - Boquete, Volcan, Santa Clara, and Piedra de Candela - sit in the country's west, with Boquete and Volcan the most familiar specialty regions, blessed with fertile volcanic soil and old forest. If you are tasting Panamanian specialty coffee for the first time, FrontStreet recommends the Boquete washed Geisha, an estate-level entry Geisha grown at 1600 meters, whose volcanic-ash soil produces a fragrant cup of jasmine florals, green tea, honey, citrus, and orange.

For a taste of Geisha heritage at a gentler price, FrontStreet's Panama washed "Flower Butterfly" carries half Geisha bloodlines, blended from Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai on the Volcan Baru slopes; the area's abundant rain, big day-night temperature swings, and volcanic rock soils give it excellent body, citrus acidity, and jasmine aroma, and it suits both pour-over and cold brew. At the top of the range sits FrontStreet's Esmeralda Red Label Geisha, harvested from a single plot above 1700 meters with a cupping score of at least 91, showing the classic refined orange-blossom honeyed character.

Beyond Geisha, FrontStreet also offers Esmeralda Diamond Mountain, a star brand built mainly on Caturra and Catuai from the estate's Jaramillo and Canas Verdes farms, whose volcanic soil and forest shade yield beans rich in fruity aroma and sweetness - a popular pick alongside the estate's Geishas.