Differences, Distinctions, and Award History of Panama Flint Estate Single-Origin Beans

Panama Flint Estate Single-Origin Bean: Differences, Distinctions, and Award Information

Pour-Over: Panama Flint Estate

15g of coffee, medium grind (Fuji ghost-tooth blade #4), V60 dripper, water at 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water and let it bloom for 27 seconds. Continue pouring to 105g, then pause. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half level before continuing. Slowly pour until reaching 225g total, discarding the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Product Information

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

Panama Jurutungo Honey Catuai

Country: Panama
Grade: SHB
Region: Flint growing area
Roast degree: Medium roast
Processing method: Honey process
Variety: Catuai
Mill: Flint Estate
Flavor notes: Lemon, orange, cranberry, green tea

Cupping Notes

Dried fruit aroma, rich fruit acidity, and prominent sweetness on entry, with notes of lemon, orange, cranberry, and green tea. The texture is uniformly smooth and gentle with subtle floral notes, and the sweet aftertaste lasts a long time.

Catuai

Catuai is a coffee variety artificially hybridized from Mundo Novo and Caturra - essentially a second-generation hybrid. It has good resistance to natural disasters, particularly against wind and rain, and it inherits Caturra's advantage of a low-growing tree. The variety name "Catuai" comes from an indigenous language meaning "very good." As a member of the Arabica family, Catuai is relatively high-yielding.

Compared with other coffee trees, Catuai fruits grow more firmly and are not easy to harvest. The fruits come in both red and yellow varieties, and to date no superior taste has been found in yellow fruits over red. In fact, some cuppers have found that although coffee processed from certain yellow fruits has good acidity, its flavor cleanliness is inferior to that from red fruits.

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

Panama Coffee Regions

Premium Panama coffee is grown in the western part of the country, near Costa Rica and close to the Pacific. Coffee produced in the Boquete district of Chiriqui province is the most famous, with Volcán, Santa Clara, and Candela also well known. Other regions include the David district, Remacimeinto district, Bugaba district, and Tole district. Only coffee grown at altitudes between 1300 and 1500 meters is considered specialty coffee.

Boquete

Boquete is the most famous Panama growing region. Its mountainous terrain creates many microclimates. The relatively cool weather and frequent fog help slow the maturation of coffee cherries, which some believe resembles high-altitude climate conditions.

Altitude: 400-1,900m
Harvest: December - March
Varieties: Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon, Geisha, San Ramon

Volcan-Candela

The Volcán Candela region produces most of Panama's food and some amazing coffee. It is named after the Barú volcano and the city of Piedra Candela, bordering Costa Rica.

Altitude: 1,200-1,600m
Harvest: December - March
Varieties: Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon, Geisha, San Ramon

Renacimiento

Renacimiento is a growing region in Chiriqui province bordering Costa Rica. The area itself is quite small, so it is not a major specialty coffee producing region in Panama.

Altitude: 1,100-1,500m
Harvest: December - March
Varieties: Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon, Geisha, San Ramon

Panama Country Information

Population: 3,406,000

The definition of Panama region coffee is based on how the coffee is produced, not on geographical divisions. In the past, when coffee was more widely cultivated and the regions listed above were smaller and more concentrated, the beans produced could be combined as a single unit.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the honey-processed Catuai above has you interested in Panama's Boquete terroir, FrontStreet's Panamanian lots are the natural next step. FrontStreet Boquete Washed Geisha is an estate-level entry into Geisha, grown at 1,600 meters on fertile volcanic ash soil that builds a rich aroma: the jasmine florals, green tea, honey, citrus, and orange that Geisha is known for, at a very accessible price.

To stay with the Catuai variety, FrontStreet Panama Washed Butterfly is a blend of Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai grown in the Barú volcano area of Boquete. The region's heavy rainfall, large day-night temperature swing, and volcanic rock soil - plus careful harvesting and processing - give this coffee impressive body, citrus acidity, and Geisha-like jasmine aroma. It works equally well as pour-over or cold brew.