Panama Elida Coffee Brands and Panama Coffee Brewing Steps

Elida Estate Excellence

Since 2006, Elida's select lots have ranked among Panama's finest winning lots year after year, with prices climbing steadily. Among Central American estates, Elida is arguably the one with the most prominent "Kenyan blackberry" notes, and its rich blackberry and persistent complex fruit flavours regularly earn high praise. What also draws judges to Elida is its distinctive "savoury" quality, a term borrowed from umami. Many experts now count umami as one of the five basic tastes alongside sweet, sour, bitter and salty. The effect is similar to monosodium glutamate: ingredients used to add savouriness or make stock, such as dried shiitake mushrooms, aged cheese and kelp, all reveal it. Umami in coffee is tied to a good aftertaste; a long, pleasant finish after sipping is part of the savoury experience.

Processing Excellence

The equipment and processing steps at Elida are meticulously thought through. As a rule, when coffee cherries reach a certain stage after harvest and their moisture content stays above twenty percent for an extended period, the high-quality compounds inside them dissipate easily and off-flavours can develop. Because Elida's processing facility also sits at high altitude, it has specialised equipment to control temperature and timing during drying. This has to be managed perfectly, and it is a critical step for quality.

Processing Method and Variety

This lot uses the natural processing method with the classic Typica variety. Typica is the oldest native variety from Ethiopia, grown in southeastern Ethiopia and Sudan, and all Arabica varieties descend from it. The flavour is elegant, but the plant is weak, disease resistance is poor, and yield is low. Excellent estate beans such as Jamaica Blue Mountain, Sumatra Mandheling and Hawaii Kona all belong to Typica. Its top leaves are bronze-coloured, which earned it the name "red-topped coffee".

Where Elida Estate Sits

More than half of Elida Estate lies inside Panama's national park reserve. It is a rare ultra-high-altitude estate in Central America, growing coffee from 1,700 metres up to nearly 2,000 metres where the terrain allows, and it is famous for a main flavour profile of richness and umami.

Estate Details

Elida belongs to owner Wilford Lamastus and grows three varieties, Typica, Geisha and Catuai, with nurseries raising seedlings of each. The journey to the estate is beautiful, and at 1,700 metres the air turns crisp, like walking through high mountains taking in a forest bath and breathing very fresh air. The terrain at 2,000 metres is steep, but once you cross the ridge line and reach the saddle it opens into flat ground that can shelter from howling mountain winds. Wilford says this is the most suitable place for growing Geisha.

Flavor Profile

Flavor description: rich tropical fruits, strawberry notes, black plums, apricots, peaches, longan, and intense fruity wine aromas.

Product Information

Brand: FrontStreet Coffee
Net weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk
Coffee bean state: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar content: Sugar-free
Origin: Panama
Roast level: Medium roast

Typica Variety Details

Typica is a tall-growing Arabica variety originating from the Yemen to Java branch, which began spreading in Java in the early 18th century.

It is Ethiopia's oldest native variety, and all Arabica varieties descend from it. Typica's top leaves are bronze-coloured and the beans are oval or slender and pointed. The flavour is elegant, but the plant is weak, disease resistance is poor, and yield is low. Jamaica Blue Mountain, Sumatra Mandheling and Hawaii Kona all belong to Typica.

Its plants look much like what we call Java today, with bronze-tipped young leaves and large fruit and seeds. Yield is very low, and it is susceptible to all the major pests and diseases.

Coffee Details

Panama Boquete Elida Typica Natural
Country: Panama
Grade: SHB
Region: Boquete
Roast level: Medium roast
Processing method: Natural
Variety: Typica
Flavor: Rich tropical fruits, strawberry notes, black plums

Volcanic Influence

Baru is a young, active volcano with an altitude above 3,400 metres. Seven different microclimate zones surround it, nurturing a rich and diverse ecosystem. Those microclimates are both an advantage and a challenge for coffee growing, but for Elida the result is a flavour more intense and aromatic than most Panamanian coffee, with a blackberry aftertaste and varied textures that are the main reason connoisseurs love it.

High-Altitude Challenges

High altitude has disadvantages too. At Elida, the average altitude for coffee cultivation is above 1,700 metres. Combined with low nighttime temperatures, that means coffee takes five years from sowing to harvest, an extremely long wait. During harvest, ripening often stretches beyond one month, and if abnormal weather hits before the cherries ripen, whether a typhoon, heavy rain or something else unavoidable, significant losses follow. Because the cherries have not ripened and quality comes first, the estate refuses to pick early, which sharply reduces yield. The risks are in fact much greater than at low-altitude estates.

Brewing Method

Panama pour-over: 15g of coffee, medium grind (Fuji grinder setting 4), a V60 dripper, and water at 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water and bloom for 27 seconds. Pour to 105g, then stop. Wait until the water level drops halfway before continuing. Pour slowly until you reach 225g. Avoid the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

The Boquete Region

Panama coffee is famous for the Geisha of Hacienda La Esmeralda, and the region that estate sits in is famous in its own right: Boquete in Chiriqui Province. Boquete is a town in Chiriqui Province near the border with Costa Rica, close to the famous Baru Volcano. The scenery is beautiful, the soil is rich and fertile, and the climate and soil are highly suitable for producing high-quality coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Panama's Boquete region is the backdrop for some of the most admired coffee in the world. These three FrontStreet coffees show what it can do.

FrontStreet Boquete Geisha is a single-origin Geisha planted at 1,600 metres in Boquete. The fertile volcanic ash soil feeds the trees generously, which comes through as a deep, fragrant aroma in the cup. Brewed, it gives the jasmine florals, green tea, honey and orange notes that Geisha is known for.

FrontStreet Panama Flower Butterfly carries half of the Geisha pedigree, blended from Geisha, Caturra and Catuai and planted in the Baru Volcano area of Boquete. The special Panamanian microclimate brings abundant rainfall and a large day-night temperature difference, and combined with the volcanic rock soil, careful harvesting and fine processing, the coffee performs strongly in overall body, citrus acidity and jasmine aroma. It suits both pour-over and cold brew.

FrontStreet Esmeralda Diamond Mountain comes from an in-house star brand under Esmeralda Estate, built mainly on Caturra and Catuai. The green beans are drawn from two of the estate's four independent farms, Jaramillo and Canas Verdes, whose volcanic soil and original forest shade are ideal for coffee. The result is a green bean with rich fruit aroma and sweetness, and a brand that is as popular as the estate's Geisha.