The Correct Way to Drink Panama Butterfly Coffee Beans - Panama Coffee Bean Characteristics and Story Origins

Panama Butterfly Coffee Bean Cupping Notes

Dry aroma: jasmine, citrus, tea, honey

Wet aroma: berry, floral, creamy butter, vanilla, citrus

Flavor: juicy sweetness, delicate non-irritating acidity, excellent clarity. Bergamot, honey, citrus, spice, florals, berries, tea, cherry. A refined aftertaste with persistent aroma — a classic Esmeralda-style Gesha profile.

Tasting notes: jasmine, citrus, tea, honey, berries, vanilla, bright acidity. With real Geisha in the blend, the Butterfly offers exceptional value as a specialty coffee.

Product Information:
Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast Level: Medium roast
Series: FrontStreet Coffee Roasting
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Panama
Processing: Washed

Hand Brew Instructions

Hand-brewed Panama Butterfly: 15 g of coffee, medium grind (Fuji ghost-tooth grinder at setting 4), V60 dripper, water at 88-89°C. Pour 30 g of water and bloom for 27 seconds. Pour to 105 g and pause; when the water level drops to half, pour slowly up to 225 g. Discard the tail section. Coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Origin and Region

Boquete, in Panama's Chiriquí province near the Costa Rican border, is the famous home of Panama's renowned Geisha coffee and is world-famous for high-quality Arabica. The Tedman & MacIntyre Estate, at 4,000 feet in the Boquete mountains, descends from two of Panama's earliest coffee families — the Tedman family and the MacIntyre family.

Coffee Bean Specifications

Country: Panama
Grade: SHB
Region: Boquete
Roast Level: Medium roast
Processing: Washed
Varieties: Caturra, Catuai, Geisha

Panama coffee is famous for the Geisha of Esmeralda Estate, which sits in the equally renowned Boquete region of Chiriquí province. Boquete is a town near the Panama-Costa Rica border, close to the famous Barú Volcano, with beautiful scenery, fertile soil, and a climate ideal for fine coffee.

Boquete hosts many excellent estates — besides Esmeralda, there are renowned names like Elida Estate and Akab Estate, all producing premium specialty coffee. This owes much to Boquete's superior ecology and the fertile volcanic ash soils around Barú Volcano, but another key factor is the microclimate of the Boquete highlands, a unique local resource. Because Panama runs east-west, cold air currents converge through the central mountains above 6,500 feet, creating varied microclimates across Boquete. Temperature and rainfall are ideal for plant growth, so coffee trees here thrive.

In a growing environment this blessed, it's no surprise that Esmeralda's Geisha — a king of coffee commanding lofty prices regardless of the market — isn't the only game in town. Drinking Geisha every day is still a luxury; even without financial pressure, eating shark fin and bear paw daily wouldn't be appropriate. Coffee is the same — variety helps you savor the pleasure of tasting.

Panama is a Central American country, bordered by Costa Rica to the west and Colombia to the east. Anyone who knows single-origin coffee knows Panama's fame rests on Esmeralda's Geisha — a country that pursues coffee excellence and delivers it.

Flavor: tea, honey, berries — a classic Esmeralda-style Geisha taste

The Butterfly Coffee Story

In the land of Boquete there's a bean with outstanding value for money, and a beautiful name: Butterfly. It carries 40% premium Geisha heritage and is composed of three varieties — Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai. It's grown in the Barú Volcano region of Boquete at 1,600 meters and refined washed processed at the mill. Panama's special microclimate brings abundant rainfall and significant day-night temperature swings, which, combined with the volcanic rock soils and careful harvesting and processing, let this coffee excel in body, acidity, and florals.

Even better, on top of that quality, its very affordable price makes the value proposition outstanding. The bean's special feature is its three-variety composition, with 40% Geisha giving the cup a distinct Gesha character. Reportedly, for historical reasons on the estate: when the farm chased yield in its early days, Geisha trees were planted mixed with Caturra and Catuai. For harvesting convenience, farmers never separated them and simply processed all three varieties together. Later, when Geisha became famous and its price skyrocketed, the mill began applying refined washed processing specifically to this mixed-lot coffee.

Washed processing has many variations today, but generally: after harvest, floaters are removed, the pulp is stripped, and the beans soak in fermentation tanks. Enzymes in the water soften the mucilage clinging to the parchment, and natural yeasts break down its sugars — fermentation. Afterwards, the beans are moved to patios to dry, turned constantly for even drying. Finally they're stored in parchment until green bean buyers place orders, when hulling and bagging happen. Coffee processed this way tastes clean, with bright, lively fruit acidity and clear fruit and floral character.

So it's easy to see why, with the Butterfly's varietal pedigree and refined processing, a medium-light roast will win your full approval: Geisha's signature florals, Southeast Asian fruit and berry flavors, honey-like sweetness and smoothness, with very persistent aroma and aftertaste.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the Butterfly's Gesha character leaves you wanting more, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Boquete Gesha is an estate-level entry Gesha grown at 1,600 meters on Barú's volcanic soils, offering jasmine florals, green tea, honey, citrus, and orange. For the pinnacle, the FrontStreet Esmeralda Red Label Gesha comes from a single plot above 1,700 meters and cups at 91+ points, with the refined orange-blossom honey character that made Panama Gesha world-famous.

And if you'd like a Gesha experience for everyday drinking, the FrontStreet Strawberry Sugar blend pairs Panama Gesha with Costa Rican raisin-honey coffee: gesha floral-tea notes plus grape and dried blueberry aromatics, soft fruit acidity, and an almond finish — works as pour-over, moka pot, espresso, or cold brew.