Panama Flintstone Estate Single Origin Coffee Flavor Profile Characteristics Regional Distribution Planting History

Catuai Variety Origin

Catuai was bred in Brazil and is now widely grown throughout Central America.

Panama's Premium Coffee Regions

Panama's premium coffee is grown in the western part of the country, near the Costa Rican border and close to the Pacific coast. Coffee from the Boquet district of Chiriqui province is the most famous, with Volcán, Santa Clara, and Candela also well known. Other producing areas include the David district, Remacimeinto district, Bugaba district, and Tole district. Only coffee grown at altitudes between 1300 and 1500 meters is considered specialty grade.

About Catuai

Catuai is a cross of Mundo Novo and Caturra, making it a second-generation hybrid. It inherits Caturra's advantage of a short, compact stature. The name Catuai comes from an indigenous language meaning "very good." As a member of the Arabica family, Catuai is relatively high-yielding.

Brewing Guide

Pour-over for Panama Flintstone Estate: use 15g of coffee at a medium grind (setting 4 on a Fuji manual grinder), a V60 dripper, and water at 88-89°C. Start with a 30g bloom for 27 seconds, then pour up to 105g and pause. Once the water level has dropped halfway, pour slowly up to 225g. Skip the tail end of the drawdown. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, total extraction time 2:00.

Product Information

Shelf life: 90 days
Net weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast level: Medium roast
Sugar content: Sugar-free
Origin: Panama

Coffee Details

Panama Jurutungo Honey Catuai

Country: Panama
Grade: SHB
Region: Flintstone Estate
Roast Level: Medium roast
Processing: Honey process
Variety: Catuai
Mill: Flintstone Estate
Flavor Notes: Lemon, orange, cranberry, green tea

Cupping Notes

Dried-fruit aroma, lively fruit acidity, and a distinct sweetness on entry. Notes of lemon, orange, cranberry, and green tea, with an even, smooth texture. Soft and gently floral, with a long-lasting sweet aftertaste.

About the Catuai Variety

Catuai is an artificial hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo, and it handles rough weather well—particularly wind and rain.

The Catuai tree is comparatively short next to other coffee varieties, and its cherries attach firmly, which makes them harder to pick. The fruit comes in both red and yellow forms. So far, no taste advantage has been found in the yellow cherries over the red. In fact, some cupping tests suggest that while coffee from yellow cherries can show good acidity, its cleanliness in the cup falls short of the red.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Catuai itself was born in Brazil, so if this Panamanian Catuai piques your interest, it's worth tasting the variety at its source. FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic single origin from the Cerrado region, one of Brazil's best-known coffee areas. Roasted medium, it shows rich notes of creamed peanuts, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut, with a round body, gentle bitterness, and only a touch of acidity—great as pour-over, but just as happy in a moka pot, siphon, French press, or as an espresso SOE.

For something rarer, try FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon, grown in Mogiana near Sul de Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil feeds the cherries and builds their full aroma. Yellow Bourbon is a natural mutation of Red Bourbon with an even cleaner fruit character, and brewed by hand it reveals a sugarcane sweetness you won't find in other origins, alongside fruit and chocolate notes.

Brazil beans also shine in blends: FrontStreet Coffee's low-acid, balanced espresso series—including the nutty Signature Blend and the cocoa-toned Black Cocoa Blend—use Brazilian components for their chocolate and cream aromas and their soft, balanced acidity and bitterness, which also keeps extraction remarkably stable.