Panama Duncan Estate Coffee Region Introduction | How to Brew Panama Coffee

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KOTOWA Estate's Premium Picking Methods

The "DUNCAN" estate produces unique 'Premium Picking' and 'Reserva Picking' methods, which push coffee to extremely high quality and flavor levels, though coffee production is significantly reduced. KOTOWA's key to implementing 'Premium Picking' is—coffee cherries must be harvested only after showing wine-red color (Overipe Dark Color), and processing must begin "immediately" and "quickly" after picking! The cost of achieving this flavor is extremely high. Another method is the 'Reserva Picking', also called red-overripe picking (Quickly Processed).

Reserva Picking Standards

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

Origin & Growing Conditions

Region: Boquete Specialty Region

Altitude: 1250-1700 Meters

Located in the Baru Volcano region, it enjoys unique microclimate and volcanic terrain with abundant rainfall during growing season and distinct wet/dry seasons. Combined with volcanic lava flows, fertile volcanic black soil and good drainage provide exceptional growing conditions, making the coffee aroma particularly captivating. The altitude here exceeds 1700 meters with strong winds, and there are many huge coniferous trees in the estate, some over 200 years old.

Environmental Commitment

Kotowa also places great importance on ecological environment, completely avoiding any chemical fertilizers. They use cherry peels and fruit flesh parts 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 also creates the uniqueness of Duncan Estate's coffee flavor, making the produced coffee beans excellent quality, consistently achieving top rankings in BOP.

Flavor Profile

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

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

Panama Dunken Specifications

Country: Panama

Grade: SHG

Processing Method: Natural Process

Variety: Caturra

Estate: Duncan Estate

Flavor: Fruit wine, fermented fruit aroma, honey citrus

Caturra Variety Details

Caturra is a single-gene variant of Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its yield and disease resistance are both better than Bourbon, and the plant is shorter, making it convenient for harvesting. However, like Bourbon, it has the problem of biennial yield cycles. But its strong adaptability means it doesn't need shade trees—it can thrive directly under intense sunlight, called Sun Coffee. It can adapt to high-density planting but requires more fertilization, increasing costs, so farmers initially had low acceptance.

But in the 1970s when bean prices rose sharply, farmers switched to planting Caturra to increase yields. With strong promotion by Brazilian and Colombian authorities, results were fruitful. Farmers accepting Caturra meant a major transformation in planting technology. Brazil and Colombia adopted high-yield, high-density sun-exposed planting. By 1990, one million hectares could harvest 14 million bags of coffee beans, increasing production capacity by 60%. No wonder high-yield, high-quality Caturra has become the variety relied upon by various producing countries.

Caturra is suitable for planting from low altitude of 700 meters to high altitude of 1700 meters, with strong altitude adaptability. The higher the altitude, the better the flavor, but relatively lower yield—this is the fate of specialty beans. Some academics call Caturra the intensive and sun-exposed version of Bourbon, which hits the nail on the head. There is also a yellow Caturra variant (Caturra Amarello) in Central and South America, but its reputation is not as good as Yellow Bourbon.

When Caturra is lightly roasted, the sour aroma is obvious and overall bright. If properly handled, sweetness can perform very well, but the coffee body is relatively low compared to Bourbon, and the cleanness of the mouthfeel is somewhat lacking.

Usually Caturra has red berries, but there are extremely rare regions with yellow Caturra, such as Hawaii where very small amounts of yellow Caturra are cultivated.

Brewing Method

Hand-poured Duncan. 15g powder, medium grind (small Fuji ghost tooth blade #4), V60 dripper, 88-89°C water temperature. First pour 30g water, bloom for 27 seconds. Pour to 105g then stop pouring. Wait until the powder bed water level drops to half, then continue pouring slowly until 225g. Discard the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Roast Level: Medium roast

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473