Panama Duncan Estate Coffee Brands and Panama Coffee Brewing Steps

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Origin Information

Region: Boquete Region

Altitude: 1250-1700 Meters

Situated in the Baru Volcano region, this area enjoys a unique microclimate and volcanic terrain. The growing season features abundant rainfall and distinct wet and dry seasons. Combined with volcanic lava flows, the fertile volcanic black soil and excellent drainage provide exceptionally favorable growing conditions, making the coffee produced here particularly captivating. The altitude here exceeds 1700 meters, with strong winds, and the farm contains many giant coniferous trees, some over 200 years old.

Kotowa also places great importance on ecological conservation, completely avoiding any chemical fertilizers. Instead, they use cherry skins and pulp to create high-nutrient compost to nourish the 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 this approach has also created the unique flavor profile of Duncan Estate coffee, resulting in exceptionally high-quality coffee beans that consistently achieve top rankings in the BOP.

Flavor Profile

Fruity wine, fermented fruit aroma, honey citrus, malt sweetness, sweet peach, distinct layers, fine texture, candied fruit

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee

Address: No. 10 Bao'an Qianjie Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, 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 Duncan

Country: Panama

Grade: SHG

Processing Method: Natural processing

Variety: Caturra

Estate: Duncan Estate

Flavor: Fruity wine, fermented fruit aroma, honey citrus

Caturra Variety

Caturra is a single-gene mutation of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. It offers both higher yield and disease resistance compared to Bourbon, with shorter trees that facilitate harvesting. Unfortunately, like Bourbon, it suffers from biennial production cycles. However, it has strong adaptability and doesn't require shade trees - it thrives even when directly exposed to intense sun, 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, when coffee prices skyrocketed in the 1970s, farmers switched to Caturra to increase yields, achieving remarkable results with strong promotion from Brazilian and Colombian authorities. Farmers' acceptance of Caturra signaled 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 production by 60%. No wonder high-yield, high-quality Caturra has become a variety that various producing countries now rely on.

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 the relatively lower yield is the destiny of specialty coffee. Some scholars aptly describe Caturra as the intensive, sun-cultivated version of Bourbon. There is also a yellow Caturra variant (Caturra Amarello) in Central and South America, but its reputation doesn't match that of Yellow Bourbon.

When lightly roasted, Caturra exhibits pronounced acidic aromas and overall brightness. With proper processing, the sweetness can perform exceptionally well, but the body is relatively lower compared to Bourbon, and the cleanliness of the mouthfeel is somewhat lacking.

Typically, Caturra has red berries, but in very rare regions, there are yellow Caturra varieties. For example, Hawaii grows very small quantities of yellow Caturra.

Brewing Method

Hand-pour Duncan. 15g of coffee, medium grind (Fujiji ghost teeth grinder #4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and pause. Wait until the water level in the bed drops to half before continuing the pour. Slowly pour until reaching 225g, avoiding the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Roast Level

Medium roast

Duncan Estate Picking Methods

Duncan Estate produces unique "Premium Picking" and "Reserva Picking" methods. These practices push coffee to extremely high quality and flavor levels, but significantly reduce coffee production. KOTOWA's key focus in implementing "Premium Picking" is that coffee cherries must only be harvested when they show a wine-red color (Overripe Dark Color), and must be processed "immediately" and "quickly" after picking! The cost of achieving this flavor is enormous. Another method, "Reserva Picking," is also called fully-ripe picking (Quickly Processed).

"Reserva Picking" doesn't rely solely on color as the picking standard - it must also assess the sweetness and quality of the fruit pulp's sweetness! Besides being 100% fully red, it must also be 100% converted to fruit sweetness before picking, and is only harvested when it tastes velvety sweet!

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473