Flavor Characteristics of Panama Finca Auromar Natural Process Geisha Coffee Beans

Panama Finca Auromar

It is hard to picture a stock exchange director running a coffee farm, yet Roberto Brenes, owner of Panama's Finca Auromar, is the CEO of the Panama Stock Exchange, Inc.

After finishing high school, the young Brenes went to New York to study, entering Columbia University for his MBA. He returned home after graduating and worked in banking. During Panama's dictatorship under President Noriega, public resentment ran deep, and Roberto, with his American education, spoke openly against the political situation, twice being exiled abroad by the Noriega government. While away from Panama he joined the investment banking industry in South America to gain experience. It was only after the Noriega regime was overthrown and Panama was freed from dictatorship that Brenes returned and joined the stock exchange. Away from work he is passionate about sport and still competes in triathlons at the age of 68. Yet what made him famous far beyond Panama was not the stock exchange or the triathlons, but his coffee farm.

In 2013, at the globally watched "Best of Panama" competition, he won the championship in the most competitive Geisha category, while the famous La Esmeralda farm placed only third. The champion was the "Ironman" Geisha, and the name already hints that the bean came from Brenes's farm. The international jury gave it 91.70 points, with flavor notes of "sweet, peach, citrus, floral, elegant, sweet chocolate, flower petals." In 2016, he won the championship once again, this time in the exotic natural category.

Auromar sits in the Piedra Candela/Volcan area in the northwest corner of Chiriquí Province, Panama, only two kilometers from the Costa Rican border. The farm covers 31 hectares, of which 16 hectares are rainforest protection area, with the farm's highest points between 1700-1775 meters. The land used specifically for coffee lies at 1485-1700 m and covers 15 hectares, with an average growing altitude of 1625 m, an average annual temperature of 16-25°C, and rainfall of 3500 mm.

Today, the area actually planted with coffee is only about 15 hectares. The shade trees are avocado, and the coffee grows in a semi-shaded environment, which suits it well. The varieties planted are Geisha and Tekisic. After the cherries are picked, they are sent to Café de Eleta for processing, just 3 kilometers from the farm. Café de Eleta first selects the cherries by hand, and most of its processing is washed or semi-washed. Once the green beans are ready, a modern cupping laboratory tests the results of the processing directly.

At Auromar, the natural-processed Geisha is an extremely small special batch, with fruit coming from 4-5 year old coffee trees, which gives a richer flavor profile.

Panama Finca Auromar Geisha Natural

Country of Origin: Panama

Variety: Geisha

Region: Chiriquí Province; Piedra Candela/Volcan

Farm: Finca Auromar

Owner: Roberto Brenes

Altitude: 1675-1715 meters

Processing Method: Natural

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If natural-processed Geisha is what interests you, FrontStreet Genlana Gesha is a strong example from the variety's birthplace. The coffee comes from a processing station founded in 2014 at the border of Ethiopia's Kochere and Gelana Abaya areas, where the growing area stretches across 700 hectares, much of it uncultivated, with fertile soil and shade trees throughout. Fully ripe cherries are picked by hand and dried on raised beds for 14-20 days depending on the weather, and the roast is medium-light. The cup shows bright citrus acidity, an elegant ginger flower aroma, the full sweetness of ripe fruit, and a fine, silky texture with the refined finish that marks the variety.

For a washed counterpart from Panama, FrontStreet Esmeralda Red Label Geisha is harvested from a single plot above 1,700 meters, with each lot required to cup above 90 and given its own number, which lets buyers choose by the finer details of flavor. It carries the refined orange-and-honey elegance and long finish associated with the estate. FrontStreet Esmeralda Green Label Geisha is the more affordably priced option from the same estate, blended from several plots to express its signature high-altitude Geisha character.

FrontStreet Boquete Washed Geisha is the most accessible way in. Grown at 1,600 meters in Panama's Boquete region, where mountain mist, cool nights, and fertile volcanic soil create ideal conditions, it delivers jasmine, green tea, honey, citrus, and orange notes at a price that makes the variety easier to explore.