Panama Mariposa Flavor and Aroma - Panama Coffee Varieties and Prices

Pour-over Brewing for Flower Butterfly

15g coffee, medium grind (small Fuji ghost-tooth blade #4), V60 dripper, 88-89°C water. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second pre-infusion, then pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level drops halfway, then slowly pour until reaching 225g. Avoid the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Origin and Background

The Boquete region of Panama lies in Chiriqui Province, bordering Costa Rica. It is the renowned origin of Geisha coffee and famous worldwide for producing high-quality Arabica. The Tedman & MacIntyre Estate, situated in the 4000-foot mountain area of Boquete, descends from two of Panama's earliest coffee families: the Tedman family and the MacIntyre family.

Coffee Specifications

Country: Panama

Grade: SHB

Region: Boquete

Roast Level: Medium roast

Processing Method: Washed

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai, Geisha

The Renowned Boquete Region

Panama coffee is famous for the Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda, and the estate's region is famous in its own right: Boquete, in Chiriqui Province. Boquete is a town in Chiriqui Province near the Panama-Costa Rica border, close to the famous Baru Volcano, with beautiful scenery, fertile soil, and climate and soil conditions perfectly suited to producing high-quality coffee.

Within the Boquete region there are many excellent estates. Besides the famous Hacienda La Esmeralda, there are renowned estates such as Elida Estate and Kotowa Estate, all producing high-quality specialty coffee. This comes not only from the superior ecology of Panama's Boquete region and the fertile volcanic ash soil around Baru Volcano, but also from one important factor: the microclimate of the Boquete highlands, a unique resource for the region's specialty coffee. Panama's east-to-west orientation causes cold air currents to converge above 6500 feet through the Central Mountains, creating multiple microclimates in the Boquete area. These make temperature and rainfall conditions extremely suitable for plant growth, so coffee trees planted here grow exceptionally well.

In such a privileged growing environment as Boquete, however, there is naturally more than just Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha, a coffee king with outstanding flavor, quality, and value. But drinking Geisha every day is extravagant, and even with no budget concerns, eating delicacies like shark fin and bear paw daily would not be right. The same goes for coffee: broadening your horizons lets you better enjoy the pleasure of tasting it.

Panama is a Central American country, bordering Costa Rica to the west and Colombia to the east. Those familiar with single-origin coffee know that Panama coffee is famous in the coffee world for its Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda. It is a country that pursues excellence in coffee and produces high-quality beans.

Flavor: Tea aroma, honey, berries, the classic Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha taste

Flower Butterfly Coffee

In Boquete there is a bean with exceptionally high value for money, and it carries a very beautiful name: Flower Butterfly. It holds 40% premium Geisha heritage and is composed of three varieties - Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai. Grown in the Baru Volcano area of Boquete at an altitude of 1600 meters in the volcanic zone, and precisely washed at the processing plant, it benefits from Panama's special microclimate - abundant rainfall, large day-night temperature swings, and the area's unique volcanic rock soil - which, combined with careful harvesting and precise processing, gives this coffee outstanding body, acidity, and floral aroma.

What is more surprising is that on top of excellent quality, a very affordable price makes its value for money exceptional. The bean is composed of three varieties, including 40% Geisha, which gives it a very distinct Geisha flavor. According to research, for historical reasons at the estate, when yield was the priority in the early days, Geisha was mixed and planted with Caturra and Catuai trees. To make harvesting easier, farmers did not reclassify them but processed all three varieties together. Later, after Geisha became famous overnight and prices soared, the processing plant began applying precise washed processing to this type of bean.

There are many washed processing methods today, but broadly, after the cherries are harvested, floating beans are removed, the pulp is removed, and the beans are soaked in fermentation tanks. Enzymes in the water soften the mucilage attached to the parchment, while natural yeasts break down the sugars in the mucilage. This is fermentation. Once fermentation is complete, the beans are moved to drying patios. During drying they must be turned constantly to dry evenly. Finally they are stored with the parchment in warehouses, and only after green-bean merchants place orders are they hulled and bagged. Coffee processed this way has a clean taste, emphasizing bright, lively fruit acidity along with delicate fruit flavors and floral aromas.

So you can imagine: with Flower Butterfly's varietal advantage and precise processing, a medium-light roast should complete this bean's final flavor profile. You can give a strong endorsement to this Flower Butterfly, which carries Geisha's characteristic floral aroma, Southeast Asian fruits, berry flavors, and honey sweetness and smoothness, with a very persistent aroma and aftertaste.

Cupping Notes

Fragrance (Dry Aroma): Jasmine, citrus, tea aroma, honey

Aroma (Wet Aroma): Berries, floral, buttery aroma, vanilla, citrus

Flavor: Juice sweetness, delicate non-stimulating acidity, excellent cleanliness, bergamot, honey, citrus, spices, floral, berries, tea aroma, cherry, a delicate aftertaste, persistent aroma, the classic Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha flavor.

Taste Description

Jasmine floral aroma, citrus, tea aroma, honey, berries, vanilla, bright acidity. Flower Butterfly, with its Geisha component, is an extremely high-value specialty coffee bean.

Manufacturer: Coffee Workshop

Address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City, FrontStreet Coffee

Manufacturer Contact: 020-38364473

Shelf Life: 90 days

Net Content: 227g

Packaging: Bulk coffee beans

Ripe Degree: Roasted coffee beans

Brand: Coffee Workshop

Series: FrontStreet Coffee Roasting

Sugar Content: Sugar-free

Origin: Panama

Roast Level: Medium roast

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Flower Butterfly's 40% Geisha heritage has whetted your appetite, FrontStreet Coffee's own Colombia Sidra from Finca La Divisoria is a fruit-forward companion: medium-light roasted on a double anaerobic natural process, it brings passion fruit, blueberry, grape, and apricot in a full, juicy body with a cocoa finish, and it works for pour-over, espresso SOE, and cold drip.

To taste true Panama Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee carries both Esmeralda Estate tiers. The Red Label, formally Esmeralda Special, grows at 1,600-1,800 meters; each batch cups above 90 points, carries its own lot number, and comes from a single small plot. The Green Label, or Private Collection, blends several plots to express the estate's signature high-altitude Geisha character and is the more affordable of the two. For an entry-level Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete Geisha delivers the classic orange-blossom honey, oolong-tea feel, and delicate fruit sweet-and-sour notes with clear layers at a friendly price.

For Ethiopian Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee's Geisha Village offers a Gold Label lot of the Geisha 1931 variety, which is 10% of the village's production, and a Red Label lot of the Gori Gesha variety, which is 15% and must score 88 or above on the SCA 100-point scale, each lot fully traceable. Finally, a brewing note for Geisha generally: because the beans are dense and can clog the dripper, use a grind size of about 78% pass-through on a China standard No. 20 sieve - roughly fine granulated sugar - and 91°C water. Brew 15g in a small Hario V60 at a 1:16 ratio in three pours: 30g to bloom for 30 seconds, then small circles to 125g, then to 225g once the bed drops halfway, for a total extraction time of about 2:10-2:20.