Panama Hartmann Estate Maragogipe Pacamara Winey Natural Process Pour-over Parameters Sharing

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Panama Finca Hartmann Pacamara Winey

Basic Information

Country: Panama

Region: Chiriqui

Altitude: 1,260 - 1,500 meters

Farm Owner: Ratibor Hartmann

Variety: Pacamara

Processing Method: Winey/Natural drying, African-style raised bed drying

Certifications: Bird Friendly, Shade-grown

Hartmann Estate Story

Hartmann is Panama's most prestigious coffee family, and Finca Hartmann is also the earliest farm to grow coffee in the Volcan region. They place extreme importance on quality and actively experiment with new agricultural practices.

The senior Hartmann, Ratibor Hartmann Troetsch, inherited his father's coffee business in Santa Barbara, Volcan region, establishing Hartmann Estate in the 1940s. He can be considered a pioneer of the now-renowned Volcan coffee producing region. This year's "Best of Panama" natural Geisha champion "La Mula," last year's Geisha champion "Iron Man" from "Aurora Estate," and Ninety Plus's Geisha estates all come from Volcan, not Boquete. These two regions are on the east and west sides of Baru Volcano respectively—one faces the Atlantic, one faces the Pacific—and the coffee flavors from both areas are quite different.

What makes the senior Hartmann most special is his respect for the natural environment. When his father purchased 500 hectares of land, most of it was actually forest. After inheriting the farm, Hartmann's friends advised him to cut down all the forest to grow coffee on a large scale to make money. Hartmann didn't take his friends' advice, instead preserving most of the original forest. Starting with the senior Hartmann, they became academic research partners with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and other wildlife conservation organizations. Scholars came to conduct research in the estate, discovering many protected species and birds, not only writing academic papers but also recording bird calls. The third generation of Hartmanns grew up on the estate, not only continuing the senior Hartmann's coffee plantation but also continuing the family's active attitude toward forest conservation—even using "Bird Friendly" wording in their estate trademark.

Hartmann Estate is located in the Baru Volcano region, with nutrient-rich volcanic soil. Tall primitive trees provide the perfect shade-growing environment. Shade-grown coffee grows more slowly, developing higher sweetness and brighter acidity. The Chiriqui Volcan highland microclimate also provides an excellent foundation for Hartmann coffee. The estate's minimum altitude is above 1,200 meters, with suitable temperatures and annual rainfall of 175 inches. They grow a wide variety of coffee beans: Typica, Caturra, Catuaí, Bourbon, Paché, Pacamara, Maragogipe, and in recent years, more Geisha. Processing methods include washed, natural, and honey processing, with the removed fruit pulp and skin during processing being used as fertilizer in the coffee plantation.

Currently managing the estate are the senior Hartmann's five children, led by the eldest Ratibor Hartmann Jr., with each sibling having their own responsibilities: Allan, Alexander, Allison, and Kelly. Allison is the only daughter and possibly the one with the best English. Hartmann Estate not only produces excellent coffee but also helps nearby estates process their cherries.

Pacamara Coffee Variety Introduction

Pacamara is a hybrid variety artificially cultivated in El Salvador in 1958, with parents being Pacas and Maragogype. It combines the advantages of both but surpasses them! Clean and smooth, mellow and silky, with lively acidity, rich flavor, and a surprisingly long aftertaste. It has both Pacas's excellent flavor profile and inherits Maragogipe's large bean size—beans are at least 70-80% the size of Maragogipe, with 100% reaching 17 screen size and 90% reaching 18 screen size. Average bean length is 1.03 cm (typical beans are about 0.8-0.85 cm), average width is 0.71 cm (typical beans are about 0.6-0.65 cm), with a thickness of 0.37 cm, making the beans full and round. Pacamara's name comes from combining the first four letters of its "parents": Paca + mara = Pacamara.

In El Salvador's 2005 Cup of Excellence, Pacamara stunned everyone. Among the top ten, Pacamara beans surprisingly took second, fifth, sixth, and seventh places!

In 2007, Pacamara won dual championships in both Guatemala and El Salvador's Cup of Excellence. From then on, Pacamara became unstoppable on the award-winning path, consistently occupying top positions in major competitions, and internationally acclaimed as a rising star variety on par with Geisha.

Just in Guatemala's Cup of Excellence, Pacamara sat on the championship throne for 7 out of 10 years from 2008-2017.

Due to Pacamara's extraordinary performance in competitions, in 2017, the BOP (Best of Panama) international competition committee decided to make Pacamara a separate competition category.

However, despite its remarkable success, Pacamara still has its drawbacks: it has higher requirements for soil, climate, environment, and altitude, plus low yield and poor resistance to leaf rust disease, so its planting popularity is not high.

Today, although Pacamara is no longer particularly rare, it's still not a very common bean in the market. Especially, Pacamara from Guatemala and El Salvador is considered superior, with many international pursuers, making it even more rare to reach domestic markets.

Winey/Natural Processing Method Introduction

The winey natural processing method does not involve adding red wine during green bean processing. Instead, its fermentation method and degree are similar to red wine fermentation. The processing steps are similar to the natural processing method, but with a longer fermentation time, as follows:

1. After coffee farmers harvest mature red cherries, they are placed directly on drying patios for sun drying;

2. During the drying process, fermentation degree is continuously monitored;

3. After several days, they are dried;

4. The dried green beans are hulled to remove pulp and skin, extracting the green beans.

Advantages: Winey natural processed coffee beans have a higher mature red cherry rate and longer fermentation time than ordinary natural processed coffee beans, thus increasing the sweetness in the coffee, with richer layers and flavor similar to red wine fermentation.

Disadvantages: This processing method is labor-intensive and time-consuming, so it cannot be mass-produced. It's generally used for processing more expensive coffee beans.

Roasting Suggestions/Analysis

This coffee variety is the large bean Pacamara, with relatively large particles and high density. New season beans themselves have higher moisture content. During roasting, heat absorption is slower, but the Maillard reaction process is faster. The yellowing point occurs around 5 minutes. For the first roast, you can try a slightly higher dropping temperature, such as 200°C charging temperature, with relatively higher heat, then gradually reduce heat during roasting as needed: after beans enter the yellowing point, reduce heat to prolong dehydration time, allowing the large beans to dehydrate thoroughly; from dehydration completion until first crack, appropriately maintain medium heat or slightly increase it to accelerate Maillard reaction time and ensure pressure before first crack. Before first crack signs, appropriately reduce heat to avoid bean surface scorching. With this operating method, coffee dehydration time is relatively extended, with temperature rising 6-8 degrees every thirty seconds, but can still maintain entering first crack between 8.5 to 9.5 minutes, preserving more floral and fruity aromas, maintaining clean and bright acidity. It's generally recommended to drop beans between dense first crack and first crack completion, around medium roast.

Cupping Flavor Description

Flavor: Fresh floral notes, smoked wood spice aromas combine with full-bodied, robust strawberry wine and perfectly ripe peaches. As the temperature slightly drops, it's like enjoying the sweet and sour taste of candied jackfruit, pineapple, guava, and passion fruit in bubur cha cha. Overall layers are rich and varied, with a clean and clear aftertaste.

Brewing Analysis

Today we introduce FrontStreet Coffee's commonly used method for hand-brewing Pacamara coffee: V60 three-pour method.

Segmented extraction, dividing all brewing water into three injections.

Suitable for light roast, medium-light roast, and medium roast coffee beans.

Uses V60 dripper.

Increasing bloom time or water breaks can enhance coffee flavor intensity.

Three-pour segmented extraction method:

Advantages: More layered than single-pour methods, clearly defining coffee's front, middle, and back-end flavors. The method involves increasing water amount after each bloom, typically pouring when coffee liquid drops to the powder layer surface, using small, medium, and large water flows for three-stage extraction.

Disadvantages: Has higher requirements for water flow rate and volume.

FrontStreet Coffee's Pacamara Coffee Hand-brew Parameter Suggestions

Using V60 dripper for brewing can enhance the layered flavor of hand-brewed coffee, making it richer and cleaner; perfectly expressing Pacamara variety's bright, uplifting aromas.

15g powder, water temperature 89-90°C, grind BG 5R (Chinese standard 20-mesh screen pass rate 64%), water-to-powder ratio close to 1:15-16.

Method: 27g water for bloom, bloom time 30s. Hot water from the gooseneck kettle circles clockwise centered on the V60 dripper, starting timing when brewing begins. Pour to 27g, then stop pouring, wait 30 seconds for the first pour.

For the first pour, circle as before, slightly slower speed, accelerating a bit when reaching the outer circle, break water around 1:15 seconds. When liquid level drops by 1/3, pour again. For the second pour, focus on central pouring, avoiding water flow hitting where coffee powder meets filter paper to prevent channeling effects. End extraction around 2:05 seconds. The tail section can be omitted (the longer it drags, the more astringency and rough texture will increase).

Segments: 30-125-230g

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473