Panama Ileta Coffee Brands and Panama Coffee Brewing Steps

Panama Coffee Regions

Santa Clara Region: fertile coffee plantations are irrigated by the clear waters of the Chorerra waterfall, and with the proximity of the Panama Canal, fresh, authentic Panamanian coffee can be shipped worldwide conveniently.

Piedra de Candela Region: considered to have the greatest potential for developing high-quality specialty coffee.

This batch of coffee possesses the purest original flavors. The Hacienda Eleta SHB Washed coffee is harvested from high-altitude Catuai coffee beans and features intense fruity and floral aromas. Flavor characteristics include creamy bread, apricot kernel sweetness, cane sugar sweetness, rounded acidity, complex aroma, balanced sweet and sour notes, and a pleasant mouthfeel.

Caturra Coffee Variety

Caturra is a natural variant of the Arabica Bourbon variety, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant is shorter and smaller than Bourbon. Inheriting Bourbon's bloodline, it has relatively weak disease resistance but higher yields than Bourbon. Although discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not suited to growing there, so it was not cultivated on a large scale in Brazil. Instead it became widely popular across Central and South America, with large-scale cultivation in countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

More important than these botanical traits is Caturra's flavor. The higher the altitude where Caturra is grown, the higher the quality, but correspondingly, the lower the yield. When lightly roasted, Caturra has noticeable acidic aromas and overall brightness. With proper processing, sweetness can be expressed exceptionally well, but the body is relatively lower than Bourbon, and the cleanliness of the mouthfeel is somewhat lacking.

Typically Caturra produces red berries, but in rare regions there are also yellow Caturra varieties. Hawaii, for example, cultivates very small quantities of yellow Caturra.

Coffee Bean Grading Systems

Coffee bean grading systems are not unified worldwide. Each producing country has its own system and grading names. So you might see terms on coffee labels such as "SHB," "AA+," "Supremo," "Extra-Fancy," and "Peaberries." These are grading names. Sometimes roasted coffee sold on the market indicates the grade of the single origin, and the more detailed the grading indication, usually the better the coffee quality. Most general coffees do not indicate this, however.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Ingredients: Self-roasted
Shelf Life: 30 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging Method: Bulk
Taste Profile: Medium
Coffee Bean State: Roasted Coffee Beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Panama
Coffee Type: Other

Coffee Details

Panama MC Santa Clara Eleta SHB Washed

Country: Panama
Grade: SHB
Region: Santa Clara
Altitude: Average 1600 meters
Processing Method: Washed

Brewing Method: Hand-poured Panama Eleta. 15g of coffee, medium grind (Fuji Royal ceramic burr grinder #4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water, 27-second bloom, pour to 105g then pause. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before continuing the pour. Slowly pour until reaching 225g total. Avoid the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Hacienda Eleta is located in the small Santa Clara production region, just one kilometer from the Costa Rican border, near La Amistad International Park, a major primary forest reserve and Central American ecological habitat. Hacienda Eleta began acquiring land in the 1970s, covering approximately 130 hectares. Initially it operated as vegetable cultivation and livestock farming. In 1995 it began planting coffee and was named Cafe de Eleta S.A., continuing to expand until today it encompasses 420 hectares, making it one of Panama's large-scale coffee plantations and one of Panama's best-known premium coffees. Thanks to abundant water resources, it has a private 530KW hydroelectric power plant. Besides being self-sufficient in electricity, excess power is sold to Distribucion de Electricidad Chiriqui S.A. and connected to the grid.

Variety: Caturra
Estate: Hacienda Eleta
Flavor Profile: Creamy bread, apricot kernel sweetness, rounded acidity

Panama Coffee Excellence

Panama coffee has been the most popular country in Central America for the past 5-6 years, mainly because the Peterson family's Hacienda La Esmeralda cultivated a coffee tree variety called Geisha that drove coffee enthusiasts wild. Geisha was consequently promoted as the world's top coffee bean. For this reason, the Panama Coffee Excellence Competition auction is separate from the Central and South American cupping competitions and was also the earliest auction country, held annually in mid-May. Panama coffee impresses not only through the Geisha variety but also through continuous innovation in green bean processing. It has traditional washed processing, the honey processing method popular in neighboring Costa Rica, and naturally processed beans, gradually taking shape in Central America, are also produced in small quantities in Panama, attracting attention from coffee professionals worldwide.

Coffee was introduced to Panama in 1780, when Europeans brought the first Typica varieties. This mysterious and exotic beverage then conquered the senses of Panamanians, who began to cultivate it widely. Panama coffee is very smooth, with full, lightweight beans and perfectly balanced acidity. Its premium beans have pure, highly distinctive flavors. Due to their popularity, most of Panama's premium coffee is exported to France and Finland.

Main Panama Coffee Production Regions:

Boquete Region: This area produces abundant, high-quality coffee and is Panama's largest coffee production region, with excellent quality.

Volcan Region: Coffee produced here is characterized by mild, balanced flavors and has gradually gained attention from international experts and coffee enthusiasts. It is believed it will soon rival the Boquete region.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Whether you are exploring Panama's Caturra or looking to compare it with other Latin American single origins, Brazil is a rewarding place to look next. As the world's biggest coffee producer, Brazil offers a moderate acidity and a fine balance of sweetness, bitterness, and body that suits a medium roast, producing an aroma of nuts with a mellow, faintly tart cup that works both as a single origin and in blends.

FrontStreet Coffee's classic Brazilian single origin is the Cerrado Red Bourbon, from the well-known Cerrado region. This South American staple is a Red Bourbon, and at a medium roast it shows rich aromas of creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut, with a rounded body, low acidity, and a light bitter note. It brews well as pour-over and also in a moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, or French press.

For a more distinctive Brazilian cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Queen's Estate comes from Mogiana, near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil helps the fruit develop a fuller aroma. Its rare Yellow Bourbon, a mutation of Red Bourbon, gives a cleaner fruit character, with a sugarcane sweetness, fruit, and chocolate notes that other regions do not offer, whether you brew it by pour-over, moka pot, or home espresso machine.