How Panama Dunken Estate Coffee Originates and Panama Coffee Bean Grading System

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Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)
Address: No. 10 Bao'an Qianjie, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)
Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast Level: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Panama

Panama Dunken

Country: Panama
Grade: SHB
Processing Method: Natural processing
Variety: Caturra
Estate: Dunken Estate
Flavor Notes: Fruit wine, fermented fruit aroma, honey citrus

About Caturra Variety

Caturra is a single-gene mutation of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. It offers better productivity and disease resistance than Bourbon, with shorter tree height that facilitates harvesting. However, like Bourbon, it suffers from biennial production cycles. Its strong adaptability allows it to thrive without shade trees, earning it the name "Sun Coffee." It can adapt to high-density planting but requires more fertilization, increasing costs, which initially led to low acceptance among coffee farmers.

However, during the 1970s coffee price boom, farmers switched to Caturra to increase yields. With strong promotion from Brazilian and Colombian authorities, results were fruitful. Farmers' acceptance of Caturra meant a major transformation in cultivation techniques. Brazil and Colombia adopted high-yield, high-density sun cultivation methods. By 1990, one million hectares could harvest 14 million bags of coffee beans, increasing productivity by 60%. No wonder high-productivity, high-quality Caturra has become a variety relied upon by coffee-producing countries.

Caturra is suitable for cultivation from low altitudes of 700 meters to high altitudes of 1700 meters, with strong altitude adaptability. The higher the altitude, the better the flavor, but relatively lower productivity - this is the destiny of specialty coffee. Academics describe Caturra as the intensive, sun-grown version of Bourbon, which is quite insightful. There is also a yellow Caturra variant (Caturra Amarello) in Central and South America, but its reputation is not as good as Yellow Bourbon.

Flavor Characteristics

When lightly roasted, Caturra exhibits distinct acidic aromas and overall brightness. With proper handling, sweetness can be expressed exceptionally well. However, compared to Bourbon, the body is relatively lower, and cleanliness in mouthfeel is somewhat lacking.

Typically, Caturra produces red cherries, but in very rare regions, yellow Caturra exists. For example, Hawaii grows very small quantities of yellow Caturra.

Brewing Method

Hand-pour Dunken. 15g of coffee, medium grind (Fuji Royal's ghost tooth grinder #4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and stop. Wait until the water level drops to halfway, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g. Avoid the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Roast Level: Medium roast

Dunken Estate

The Dunken Estate produces unique 'Premium Picking' and 'Reserva Picking' methods, which push coffee to extremely high quality and flavor levels, though significantly reducing coffee production. KOTOWA's implementation of 'Premium Picking' focuses on harvesting coffee cherries only when they reach wine-red color (overripe dark color), with "immediate" and "rapid" post-harvest processing! The cost of achieving this flavor is enormous. Another method is 'Reserva Picking,' also called red-ripe picking (Quickly Processed).

'Reserva Picking' is not based solely on color as the harvesting standard; it must judge the quality of sweetness and fruit pulp sweetness! Besides being 100% red-ripe, it must also be 100% fruit-sweet before picking, and must taste velvety sweet before harvesting!

Origin Information

Region: Boquete region
Altitude: 1250-1700 Meters

Located in the Baru Volcano region, it enjoys a unique microclimate and volcanic terrain with abundant rainfall during growing season and distinct wet and dry seasons. Additionally, volcanic lava flows have created fertile volcanic black soil and excellent drainage, providing exceptionally favorable growing conditions. The coffee produced here has particularly captivating aromas. The altitude here exceeds 1700 meters with strong winds, and the estate contains many giant coniferous trees over 200 years old.

Kotowa also places great importance on ecological environment, completely avoiding any chemical fertilizers. Instead, they use cherry skins and pulp to create high-nutrient compost to nourish coffee trees and give back to the land. Not only was Kotowa Coffee nominated by Panama's environmental agency as the winner of the Panama National Environmental Protection Award in 2006, but it has also created the uniqueness of Dunken Estate's coffee flavor, making the produced coffee beans exceptionally excellent, consistently achieving top rankings in BOP.

Flavor Profile

Flavor Notes: Fruit wine, fermented fruit aroma, honey citrus, malt sweetness, sweet peach, distinct layers, delicate texture, preserved fruit

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473