The Story of Panama Boquete La Esperanza Estate - How Much Water for 15g Pour-Over La Esperanza Star Estate Coffee

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The Origin of Geisha Coffee

Before Panamanian coffee gained international recognition, Geisha was first brought from the small town of GESHA in southwestern Ethiopia to Costa Rica by Don Pachi. From there, Geisha traveled along southern routes into Panama, for which we are grateful. These coffee trees grow at very high altitudes and feature beautiful slender leaves. Their cherries and green beans are also relatively slender compared to other top-quality high-altitude coffees.

The coffee offers moderate body, sweet and multi-layered tropical fruit flavors, rose-like aromatics, and a memorable aftertaste.

La Esperanza Estate

Located at an altitude of 1400-1600 meters, La Esperanza Estate produces between 300-700 bags annually. Processing is mostly completed on the farm, using washed processing with sun-drying methods. The removed husks, pulp, and mucilage are repurposed as fertilizer. The estate plants 60% Caturra, 20% Catuai, and 20% Typica and other varieties. The most famous variety is Geisha, which won the championship at the 2008 BEST OF PANAMA competition. They also plant many local trees as shade trees to nourish the soil, including orange trees and various tropical fruits such as lemons and grapefruits. The estate features a vast tropical rainforest nature reserve, at least three mountain water wells with abundant rainfall, and an average annual precipitation of 3200mm. Daily temperatures range from 16-23°C during the day and 14-20°C at night.

La Esperanza differs from other estates in that it employs a PhD botanist, three professional cuppers, and 100 full-time staff, currently managing six estates under its administration. The estate is owned by the Herrera brothers. In fact, the Herrera brothers' grandfather operated a coffee farm in the Trujillo region of Colombia, which gradually declined. The two brothers left Colombia but never abandoned their dream of returning to their homeland to run a coffee plantation.

Upon returning to their homeland, the first estate the Herreras purchased was La Esperanza in Trujillo, very close to their grandfather's original farm, which now serves as the regional headquarters. The estate is 100% organic, with different coffee varieties including Colombia, Castillo, Caturra, and over 14,000 organic Geisha trees. Subsequently, the Herreras purchased four additional estates in Trujillo and Caicedonia north of Trujillo. Including La Cardeida estate in Boquete, Panama, which they rented in 2005, they now manage six estates with a total coffee planting area of 213 hectares.

Cafe Granja La Esperanza's estates are located in eight distinct microclimate regions across Colombia's three mountain ranges. This provides their botanists with excellent opportunities to experiment with different microclimates and soil profiles, various processing methods, and different coffee varieties, combining the rationality of scientists, the business acumen of entrepreneurs, and a commitment to coffee quality. For example, they create different processing steps and specifications for different microclimates and varieties. From seedling cultivation to export, they manage all data through 95 data points.

The team led by chief botanist Hernando Tapasco has established weather stations in the estates to track weather data and assist in harvest decisions. Farm data is continuously collected and analyzed weekly. After harvesting, they compare weather data, production data, and cupping results to analyze correlations. Geisha harvesters receive strict training to pick only mature cherries and are paid daily rather than by weight as in other estates. This prevents workers from harvesting unqualified cherries to meet quotas. Half of the harvesters have over six years of experience. After harvesting, the cherries are sent to the central processing plant within La Esperanza Estate, where each batch of Geisha is marked and processed separately. They undergo a three-day pre-drying phase in the sun-drying area before being moved to drying towers. Strict quality control is another key factor - among the 40,000-45,000 Geisha trees at Cerro Azul estate, only 5-7,000 can produce beans worthy of the Cerro Azul brand.

La Esperanza's experimentation and innovation with varieties seem endless. They continuously test different varieties. Besides the organic Caturra that originally occupied most of La Esperanza's area, they grow Geisha, organic Geisha, Mocha, Bourbon (including red, yellow, and Tekisik varieties), Laurina, Pacamara, San Bernardo, and Pache. They truly bring the serious attitude that wineries have toward grape varieties into coffee cultivation. After Geisha, the Pacamara, Bourbon, and Laurina from La Esperanza continue to create surprise and admiration in the specialty coffee community.

Their efforts have finally paid off. As early as the 2008 "Best of Panama" competition, La Cardeida, rented by La Esperanza, won the championship with a high score of 93.16. In the 2012 Coffee of the Year Triple Crown, the three estates currently primarily growing Geisha won separately: Cerro Azul took second place, Las Magarita third, and the Buenos Aires experimental estate seventh.

Brewing Guide

How to Brew Panama Coffee [La Esperanza] Well?

FrontStreet Coffee's Pour-over Reference: Weigh 15g of La Esperanza coffee grounds and grind them to medium coarseness. The ground particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use BG grinder setting 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate), water temperature 90°C, and V60 dripper for extraction.

Pour the hot water from the gooseneck kettle in clockwise circles centered in the filter. Start timing when brewing begins. Brew to 30g in 15 seconds, then stop pouring. At 1 minute, begin the second pour. During the second pour, like before, pour in clockwise circles centered in the filter. Avoid pouring water on the area where coffee grounds meet the filter paper to prevent channeling.

Leave a circle when pouring to the outer edge of the coffee grounds, then pour circle by circle toward the center. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds, brew to 220g total, completing the coffee brewing process.

Cold Brew [La Esperanza]

FrontStreet Coffee's Cold Brew [La Esperanza] Reference:

Panama coffee [La Esperanza], light-medium roast, BG grinder setting 4B, grind size 3, 20g beans, 87°C water temperature, pre-infusion for 3 minutes, Chemex brewer, then cold brew with ice water, total water volume 200ml.

Important Notice :

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