Introduction to Panama Elida Estate - Boquete Growing Region, Panama Elida Green Tip Geisha

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Elida Estate: A Premium Coffee Destination

Elida Estate is located in the Boquete region of Chiriqui province, on the western border of Panama. The province's most famous landmark and tourist attraction is the 3,300-meter-high Baru Volcano—one of the highest volcanoes in Central America. With a total area of approximately 14,000 hectares, it can be divided into 7 different microclimate zones based on altitude. Within the volcanic area, many rare plants, birds, and mammals inhabit the region, which is designated as a national park to prohibit hunting and human development or destruction.

The Boquete region is located on the eastern side of Baru Volcano, forming a valley area where volcanic lava has flowed. It sits adjacent to another famous Panamanian coffee-producing region—Volcan Valley—separated by the volcano. The Boquete region has always been the most prominent coffee-producing area in Panama, with numerous world-renowned estates within its boundaries—including Esmeralda Estate, Hartman Estate (a frequent champion of Best of Panama), Mama Cata Estate, Kotowa Estate, Santa Teresa Estate, and others. Elida Estate itself is also one of the heavyweight star estates in the Boquete region.

In the past five consecutive years, it has won Best of Panama awards with remarkable achievements, second only to Esmeralda Estate.

Elida Estate is owned by the Wilford Lamastus family and began growing coffee in 1918. Besides cultivating coffee within the estate, there is now another property—El Burro Estate—also located in the beautiful Boquete region. More than half of the cultivation area in this region is within Baru Volcano National Park, which allows for the preservation of a relatively pristine ecological environment. Baru Volcano is one of the highest volcanoes in Central America, and due to differences in altitude, the entire volcanic area has as many as seven different microclimate environments.

The coffee cultivation area of El Burro Estate is situated at an extremely high altitude of approximately 1,800 meters. The low temperatures, lingering clouds and mist during the dry season, and natural forest shade create a cold environment at night. Therefore, a coffee tree requires four and a half to five and a half years to begin producing fruit (two to three years longer than coffee trees planted in typical environments), and the ripening of coffee cherries can be delayed by about a month, allowing for more complete development. In 2015, the two estates had a total of seven coffee lots available for auction. Besides coffee, many native tree species are planted not only to provide shade for coffee but also to protect the ecosystem. This family employs manual fertilization for their coffee trees and refuses to use environmentally damaging herbicides and pesticides. Currently, besides Catuai, Typica, and Bourbon, they also began planting Geisha varieties in recent years. Although the estate grows many varieties of coffee, they still use Catuai for Best of Panama competitions and have achieved outstanding results repeatedly, demonstrating the excellence of their geographical environment and processing techniques. Elida Estate itself is a star estate in the Boquete region and one of the two highest-altitude coffee estates in Panama (the other estate with this altitude should be Carmen Estate located in Volcan Valley).

The estate covers a total area of 65 hectares, with more than half located within Baru Volcano National Park. Only 30 hectares are used for coffee cultivation, while the remaining 35 hectares consist of pristine forest. Due to the high altitude, year-round low temperatures delay the maturation of coffee cherries. However, being near the volcano, the volcanic soil provides rich nutrients for coffee cultivation, enabling this estate's coffee beans to achieve outstanding results in competitions. This batch of coffee is of the Catuai variety, featuring the most pure and original flavor. Because of Elida Estate's unique coffee processing techniques, this batch differs from previous washed processing by using natural processing. Catuai variety coffee beans picked from high altitude carry strong humidity, making the most traditional natural processing more suitable than Elida Estate's more renowned washed processing.

Elida Estate (Finca Elida) Award Records:

• 2016 Best of Panama (BOP) Traditional Washed Category - 1st Place
• 2015 Best of Panama (BOP) Traditional Washed Category - 2nd Place
• 2015 Best of Panama (BOP) Traditional Natural Category - 3rd Place
• 2015 Best of Panama (BOP) Geisha Washed Category - 4th Place
• 2015 Best of Panama (BOP) Geisha Natural Category - 5th Place
• 2014 Best of Panama BOP Natural Category - 3rd and 7th Places, Natural Geisha Category - 3rd Place
• 2014 Selected bean variety for Taiwan champion who placed 7th in WBC World Championship
• 2013 Best of Panama BOP Natural Category - 6th and 11th Places
• 2012 Best of Panama BOP Natural Category - 5th and 7th Places
• 2011 Best of Panama BOP Natural Category - 3rd and 4th Places

El Burro Estate Award Records:

• 2015 Best of Panama (BOP) Traditional Natural Category - 3rd Place
• 2015 Best of Panama (BOP) Geisha Natural Category - 3rd Place
• 2015 Geisha Washed was an auction lot

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing Method: Pour-Over

V60

Because the V60 dripper's ribs are distributed in a curved pattern from top to bottom with varying lengths, exhaust during brewing is smoother and the flow rate is faster. For this reason, the extracted coffee flavor layers are more distinct. Since Geisha's flavor layers themselves are relatively rich, FrontStreet Coffee uses a segmented extraction method to increase the extraction rate of the beans.

Parameters & Technique: Grind size 5R (Chinese standard No. 20 sieve pass rate 58%), water temperature 90°C, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15; Bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. When the water level drops to 125g, segment the extraction. Continue pouring to 226g when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed. Remove the dripper when the water level is about to expose the coffee bed again. (Timing starts from blooming) Total extraction time is two minutes.

Important Notice :

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