How to Properly Brew Panama Eleta Coffee & Panama Coffee Bean Prices

Panama MC Santa Clara Eleta SHB Washed

Country: Panama

Grade: SHB

Region: Santa Clara

Altitude: Average 1,600 meters

Processing Method: Washed

Hand-pour Panama Eleta: 15g of coffee, medium grind (small Fuji ghost-tooth blade setting #4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89C, first pour 30g of water, 27 seconds of pre-infusion, pour to 105g then stop, wait until the water level in the bed drops to half before continuing, slowly pouring until 225g total, discard the tail section, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Eleta Estate

Eleta Estate (Cafe de Eleta) lies in a small part of the Santa Clara region, just one kilometer from the Costa Rican border and next to La Amistad International Park, a major primary-forest reserve that belongs to the Central American ecological habitat. Eleta began acquiring land in the 1970s, covering about 130 hectares, and first ran a vegetable plantation and livestock business. In 1995 it started growing coffee and took the name Cafe de Eleta S.A., continuing to expand until today, when it covers 420 hectares, making it one of Panama's large-scale coffee plantations and one of the best-known Panamanian coffees. Thanks to abundant water, it has a private 530KW hydropower plant that not only meets its own electricity needs but also sells surplus power to Distribucion de Electricidad Chiriqui S.A. for the grid.

Variety: Caturra

Estate: Eleta Estate

Flavor Notes: Creamy bread, apricot kernel sweetness, rounded acidity

Panama Coffee

Over the past 5-6 years Panama has become the most popular coffee country in Central America, mainly because of the Geisha variety the Peterson family cultivated at Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda estate, which sent coffee enthusiasts into a frenzy. Geisha has since been hailed as the world's finest coffee bean. For this reason the Panama Cup of Excellence auctions are independent of the Central and South American cupping competitions, and Panama was also the earliest auction country, holding its auction every year in mid-May. Panama coffee impresses not only with Geisha but also with constant innovation in mid-range green-bean processing, offering not just traditional washed processing but also the honey method common in neighboring Costa Rica. Panama also produces small quantities of natural-process beans that are gradually gaining prominence in Central America and drawing the attention of coffee professionals worldwide.

Coffee reached Panama in 1780, when Europeans brought the first Typica trees. This mysterious and extraordinary drink soon won over the senses of Panamanians, who began growing it widely. Panama coffee is remarkably smooth, with full-bodied, lightweight beans and perfectly balanced acidity. Its premium beans offer pure, distinctive flavors. Because it is so widely loved, most of Panama's premium coffee is exported to France and Finland.

Main Coffee Growing Regions in Panama

Boquete Region: This area produces abundant quantities of high-quality coffee, making it the most productive and highest-quality region for Panama coffee.

Volcan Region: Coffee from this region is characterized by mild, balanced flavor and has gradually drawn the attention of international connoisseurs and enthusiasts. It is expected to rival Boquete in prominence before long.

Santa Clara Region: Fertile coffee farms here are irrigated and nourished by the clear river water of the Chorerra waterfall, and with the Panama Canal nearby, fresh, pure Panama coffee can be shipped conveniently around the world.

Piedra de Candela Region: This region is considered the most promising for developing high-quality specialty coffee potential.

This batch carries the purest original flavors. Because Eleta Estate SHB washed coffee is harvested from high-altitude Caturra beans, it shows intense fruity and floral notes. Flavor characteristics: creamy bread, apricot kernel sweetness, cane sugar sweetness, rounded acidity, complex aroma, balanced sweet and sour notes, and a pleasing mouthfeel.

Caturra Variety

Caturra is a natural variant of the Arabica Bourbon variety, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant structure is shorter and more compact than Bourbon's. While it inherits the Bourbon lineage, it has relatively weak disease resistance but higher yields than Bourbon. Although it was discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not suited to Brazilian growing conditions and so was not widely cultivated there. Instead it became prevalent across Central and South America, with large-scale planting in countries such as Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

Compared with these botanical traits, people are probably more concerned with Caturra's flavor. The higher the altitude where Caturra is grown, the better its quality, though the yield falls accordingly. Lightly roasted, Caturra shows distinct acidic aromas and overall brightness. With proper processing its sweetness can be expressed exceptionally well, but its body is relatively lower than Bourbon's, and the cleanliness of the mouthfeel is somewhat lacking.

Caturra usually produces red cherries, but in very rare regions yellow Caturra can be found, such as the minimal planting of yellow Caturra in Hawaii.

Coffee Bean Grading Systems

Coffee bean grading systems are not standardized worldwide. Each producing country has its own system and grade names, so on coffee packaging you might see terms such as "SHB," "AA+," "Supremo," "Extra-Fancy," or "Peaberry/Small beans." These are bean grade names. Roasted coffee sold at retail sometimes states the grade of a single-origin coffee. The more detailed the grading information, the better the coffee quality usually is, though most everyday coffees do not show this information.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee

Ingredients: In-house roasted

Shelf Life: 30 days

Net Weight: 227g

Packaging: Bulk

Taste Profile: Neutral

Bean State: Roasted coffee beans

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Origin: Panama

Coffee Type: Other

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Panama lies in Central America, and its coffee-growing areas sit in the west of the country: Boquete, Volcan, Santa Clara, and Piedra de Candela. Of these, Boquete and Volcan are the specialty regions we hear about most. Both lie in Chiriqui, right in the middle of the coffee belt, with fertile volcanic soil and old-growth forest.

FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete washed Geisha comes from mountains often draped in cloud, humid by day and cool by night, with fertile soil from Volcan Baru, all favorable conditions for growing this outstanding coffee. The higher the trees are planted, the longer the fruit ripens and the more nutrients it takes in, and the richer and more distinctive the flavor becomes. No wonder this place is so celebrated. If you are tasting Panamanian specialty coffee for the first time, baristas suggest FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete Geisha, an estate-level entry Geisha planted at 1600 meters. Its fertile volcanic-ash soil feeds the coffee plenty of nutrients, which in turn become a rich aroma, and brewed it shows Geisha's signature jasmine, green tea, honey, citrus, and orange.

Panama Geisha is a rare wild variety and a regular champion at tasting competitions around the world. Its raw beans are slender, and the roasted bean has an unexpected fresh citrus note with a finish full of florals and fruity sweetness, a truly one-of-a-kind specialty coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's Butterfly beans carry half of that fine Geisha lineage and are made up of three varieties, Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai, planted in Boquete's Baru volcano area. The local microclimate brings abundant rainfall and a wide day-night temperature swing, and with the region's distinctive volcanic-rock soil plus careful picking and meticulous processing, this coffee performs beautifully in body, citrus acidity, and Geisha's jasmine aroma alike. It suits both pour-over and cold brew.

The celebrated Emerald Estate is both the discoverer of Geisha's flavor and the promoter of Panamanian Geisha, and the range it offers shows how much it values Geisha and how it guarantees quality. Emerald Estate began by finding beans with real flavor, then, to be precise, cupped coffee from different parts of the farm, set planting plots according to altitude, and settled on the Geisha grades we now know as Red Label, Green Label, and Blue Label. If you want the highest grade of Geisha, buy FrontStreet Coffee's Emerald Red Label: it is harvested from a single Geisha plot above 1700 meters, and its cupping score must reach 91, with a refined orange-blossom honey character.

FrontStreet Coffee's Diamond Mountain comes from a star brand under Emerald Estate, made mainly from Caturra and Catuai. The raw beans are picked from Jaramillo and Canas Verdes, two of Emerald Estate's four independent farms. The volcanic soil on these farms is ideal for coffee, and the old-growth forest gives the trees enough shade. Thanks to these exceptional conditions, the raw beans have a rich fruit aroma and sweetness, making Diamond Mountain a much-loved independent brand from Emerald Estate alongside Geisha.