Panama Hartmann Estate Coffee Bean Flavor Characteristics What are Panama Coffee's Flavor Characteristics?

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Panama's Renowned Coffee Regions

In recent years, Panama coffee has gained fame through Geisha coffee varieties, and its quality has consistently been excellent. The most renowned regions are Boquete and Volcán, with the famous Hacienda La Esmeralda located in the Boquete region. However, today FrontStreet Coffee would like to introduce coffee beans from Hartmann Estate in the Volcán region.

Both the Boquete and Volcán regions have climate and geographical conditions that are highly favorable for Arabica coffee cultivation. Panama experiences four distinct seasons, with fertile and mineral-rich volcanic soil, high altitude, and annual rainfall reaching up to 3,500mm. Additionally, both the Boquete and Volcán regions are located near the Barú Volcano.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's research, in recent years, coffee from the Volcán region has gradually gained prominence in the specialty coffee market. Many estates from this region have participated in the Best of Panama competition and even won championships. Generally, the Volcán region receives less annual rainfall compared to Boquete, and its geographical location on the western side of Barú Volcano gives Volcán region coffee beans more intense dried fruit flavors, sweetness, and aroma compared to those from Boquete. In the early days, the Volcán area primarily cultivated cash crops like fruits and vegetables, with only a few farmers growing coffee. Among the pioneers of coffee cultivation in the Volcán region was the well-known Hartmann family in Panama.

The Panama coffee that FrontStreet Coffee currently offers comes from Hartmann Estate, with the Catuai variety. Catuai is a hybrid cross between Caturra and Mundo Novo, featuring good wind and disease resistance. However, Catuai has a relatively short harvesting lifespan, typically only around ten years. Based on the Panama Hartmann green coffee beans obtained, FrontStreet Coffee found that these Hartmann coffee beans are relatively small with slightly higher density and moderate moisture content. Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee considered that this Panama Hartmann coffee uses a special processing method - red wine processing. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee adopted a medium-light roast.

Red Wine Processing Method

Red wine processing is rarely used for Panama coffee beans, and Panama Hartmann coffee beans processed using this method show significantly enhanced sweetness compared to traditionally processed Panama coffee beans. They possess cleanliness, multi-layered complexity, and elegant acidity. Of course, red wine processing is relatively more complex than traditional methods. The red wine processing method (also known as carbon dioxide processing) can also be called wine-like processing, inspired by winemaking techniques. Red wine processing can control pH values, temperature, and humidity to ensure coffee bean quality, while sealed fermentation prevents aromatic substances from volatilizing. Carbon dioxide maceration is a new processing method applied in red wine processing, where coffee beans are pulped and then placed in stainless steel containers filled with carbon dioxide gas to create an anaerobic environment. The fermentation barrels are sealed, allowing for the development of more aromatic compounds.

This is why FrontStreet Coffee adopted a medium-light roast for this Panama coffee bean - to better preserve its excellent acidity, tropical fruit flavors, and wine-like fermentation notes, resulting in an overall performance that is sweet and rounded, fresh and elegant.

Roasting Process

Therefore, in the first batch of roasting, FrontStreet Coffee used a high dropping temperature, with beans entering at 200°C and relatively high heat. During the roasting process, it was discovered that although these beans have relatively low altitude, they are quite hard in texture. Therefore, a gradual heat reduction and stable rising approach was adopted. The heat was adjusted finer when the beans reached the yellowing point, completed dehydration, and showed first crack signs, avoiding surface scorching. The beans were removed from the roaster between dense first crack and the end of first crack, shortening the caramelization reaction time to preserve flavor cleanliness and floral-fruit aromas.

Cupping and Brewing Analysis

After roasting this Panama Hartmann coffee bean, FrontStreet Coffee immediately entered the cupping phase. FrontStreet Coffee's barista used 200ml standard cupping bowls, with a grind size that achieved 70%-75% pass-through on a #20 standard sieve, using 11.1g of coffee and water temperature of 94°C. First, the dry aroma was assessed after grinding - the red wine processed Hartmann coffee beans emitted orange and jasmine aromas. Water was then added to fill the bowl for wet aroma confirmation, revealing fermented wine aroma and honey-like sweetness. After 4 minutes, the crust was broken and cleared for flavor evaluation. Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee found that this Panama coffee's overall flavor profile is quite close to tropical fruits, nuts, red wine, honey, and sucrose. Next, FrontStreet Coffee used pour-over brewing to verify the Hartmann coffee flavors identified in cupping, with the following brewing parameters:

Brewing Parameters

Dripper: V60#01

Water Temperature: 90°C

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Medium-coarse grind / BG6s (China standard #20 sieve 80% pass-through)

FrontStreet Coffee used a common segmented extraction method: First segment - 30g of water for a 30-second bloom; Second segment - 95g of water added (scale shows 125g), completed in about 1 minute 5 seconds; Third segment - 100g of water added (scale shows 225g), completed in about 1 minute 40 seconds; Total extraction time 2 minutes 5 seconds, remove the dripper to complete brewing. This Panama Hartmann coffee's flavor profile shows significant differences compared to traditionally processed Panama coffee beans - smooth entry, lively and bright acidity, soft and layered with rich red wine aftertaste, noticeable honey and sucrose flavors, and brown sugar notes when completely cooled.

Hartmann Estate's Excellence

Thus, Hartmann Estate demonstrates exceptional skill in coffee processing techniques, and their coffee has consistently been among Panama's finest, achieving excellent results in Best of Panama as early as 2006. The Hartmann family maintains strong ecological principles for environmental protection, avoiding deforestation for cultivation and calling this shade-grown coffee. They have obtained "Bird Friendly certification," and their coffee grows under rainforest shade, in nutrient-rich volcanic soil with a unique microclimate, providing perfect conditions for growing unique specialty coffee. Coffee pulp and fruit skin are made into special powder for composting to avoid environmental pollution from chemical fertilizers, maintaining fully organic cultivation throughout.

Today, Hartmann Estate continues to maintain these ecological principles, with coffee cultivation areas accounting for only about 20% of the entire estate. Due to successful forest conservation, the estate has numerous native birds, and the locally famous toucan has naturally become Hartmann Estate's official logo.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473