Three Major Coffee Producing Regions in Panama: Which is the Most Famous? Characteristics and Stories of Panamanian Coffee Beans

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FrontStreet Coffee believes that whether you're familiar with coffee or not, you've likely heard of Geisha coffee, and among Geisha coffees, the highly representative Hacienda La Esmeralda needs no further introduction. But do you know that Hacienda La Esmeralda comes from the Boquete region of Panama? What are the characteristics of Panama coffee? Today, FrontStreet Coffee will explain them one by one. FrontStreet Coffee's original intention is to taste coffee beans from around the world, deeply understand every bean, every variety, every producing region, and every processing flavor, presenting them to everyone through text, images, and other forms. FrontStreet Coffee hopes that every coffee enthusiast can gain a deeper understanding of the coffee world and explore together with FrontStreet Coffee.

Introduction to Panama Coffee

Panama borders the Caribbean Sea to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the west, Costa Rica to the north, and Colombia to the south—it is an important isthmus connecting North and South America. Premium Panama coffee is grown in the western part of the country, near Costa Rica and close to the Pacific. The microclimates of the highlands are the most important resource that makes Panama's specialty coffee unique. Cold air currents flow through the central mountains and converge above 6,500 feet, creating various microclimates in the Boquete and Volcán regions, making them the main producing areas for Panama's specialty coffee. These specialty coffees are cultivated in the nutrient-rich, balanced soil of the Barú Volcano region. The appropriate microclimates, soil, temperature, and altitude of these highlands are suitable for the sowing, planting, and harvesting of various specialty coffees.

The microclimates of Panama's coffee growing areas vary with soil quality (for example, Volcán has quite volcanic soil) and altitude (1,000 to 1,650 meters). Panama coffee beans are smooth, light in body, and have balanced acidity. Their premium coffee beans have pure and highly distinctive flavors. The first batch of coffee exported each year ships in November.

Panama Coffee Growing History

In 1780, Europeans were the first to bring the first batch of Typica varieties to Panama, thus beginning the history of Panama coffee beans. The construction of the Panama Canal 100 years ago attracted a large number of European intellectuals. After the canal construction was completed, many senior engineers remained due to their fascination with the excellent climate of western Panama. They purchased estates in Boquete, pioneering the cultivation of specialty coffee in Panama. For Panamanians at that time, such a beverage was both novel and mysterious, not only quickly conquering people's palates but also causing locals to begin widely planting coffee trees.

In fact, early Panama coffee was not well-known and production was not abundant. Riding the wave of third-wave coffee aesthetics, as people gradually learned to appreciate single-origin beans, so-called estate specialty coffees began to become a trend. But why did Geisha coffee suddenly rise to fame in 2004,长期占据顶级咖啡榜单呢？This must be explained starting from the origin of Geisha coffee.

Where Does Geisha Actually Come From?

Geisha coffee is also called "Geysha" coffee, but they are actually the same coffee bean. Its name comes from Geisha Mountain in Ethiopia, pronounced similarly to the famous Japanese geisha, hence the name.

According to various sources, this coffee bean actually originates from southwestern Ethiopia. The approximate transmission route is: 1931 - British ambassadors ventured deep into Ethiopia's Geisha Mountain to collect disease-resistant bean varieties -- 1931-1932 - Seeds were transmitted to Kitale, Kenya under the names Geisha and Abyssinian for trial planting -- 1936 - Young seedlings were transplanted to the Lyamungu Coffee Research Institute in Uganda and Tanzania for trial planting -- 1953, CATIE Coffee Research Institute in Costa Rica introduced young seedlings multiple times from Lyamungu and other countries. In 1963, Don Pachi Serracin introduced Geisha coffee varieties from Costa Rica to Panama, but due to low yields directly affecting harvest amounts, coffee farmers had low willingness to plant them.

Until Daniel Peterson, the owner of Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda, accidentally discovered that the coffee beans produced by these Geisha coffee trees, originally used as windbreaks at the highest point of his coffee estate, actually had the citrus and floral aromas characteristic of African beans. After separating these coffee beans and participating in the 2004 Panama Cupping Competition where they became an instant success, Geisha coffee has been unstoppable ever since, winning the Panama Cupping Competition championship for consecutive years. In the eyes of today's specialty coffee enthusiasts worldwide, Geisha coffee is undoubtedly the supreme treasure. However, Geisha coffee has been circulating for decades, making it difficult to determine whether today's Geisha coffee comes from those originally introduced seeds, and moreover, whether hybridization has occurred is already unknown.

Green-leaf Geisha is characterized by floral aromas, intense acidity, and sweetness; conversely, bronze-leaf Geisha is dominated by body and sweetness, with less obvious acidity. Other varieties include: Typica, Catuai, Pacamara, Bourbon, Mundo Novo, Caturra—all available.

Panama Coffee Region - Boquete Region

FrontStreet Coffee: Panama Elida Estate Typica Coffee Beans

Region: Boquete, Panama

Estate: Elida Estate

Altitude: 1850 meters

Variety: Typica

Processing: Natural

Boquete's high-altitude mountains have a planting height of 1450m, and its mountainous terrain creates many microclimates. The local fertile soil, towering terrain, cold humid air, sunlight differences, and abundant rainfall produce coffee that is both abundant and excellent in quality, making it the region with the highest production and best quality of Panama coffee beans. Rivers flow through it, creating high-quality Panama coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee believes that because Boquete is prone to fog, it can suppress temperature rise, and combined with special geographical conditions, this gives coffee excellent quality and characteristics. The infrastructure in the Boquete region, such as roads and processing facilities, is quite complete. As a coffee production area, it has a perfect natural environment and has recently been popular for its tourism value. Gradually, many operators have abandoned their farms and embraced new business opportunities—this is the current situation of Panama coffee production. The refining method for Panama coffee beans adopts the traditional washed method. First, the pulp is removed, then the fruit wrapped in the endocarp is placed in a water tank for fermentation, and finally undergoes traditional washing. As for the drying process, the most common sun-drying method is used.

Altitude: 400-1,900m

Harvest Season: December~March

Varieties: Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon, Geisha, San Ramon

Flavor Description: Walnut, chocolate, thick, heavy body

Elida Estate

Elida Estate has a total area of 65 hectares, more than half of which is located within the Barú Volcano National Park. Only 30 hectares of the estate are used for coffee cultivation, while the rest remains pristine forest. Coffee is grown at altitudes from 1670 to 1850 meters, making it one of the two highest-altitude coffee estates in Panama (the other estate with such altitude is Carmen Estate in the Volcán Valley).

In such a high-altitude environment, low temperatures cause a delay in coffee cherry maturation, about a full month later than the normal maturation period. The fertile volcanic soil provides ample nutrients for the coffee, and combined with the excellent microclimate brought by Barú Volcano, this allows Elida Estate to consistently achieve excellent results in cupping competitions.

The history of Elida Estate can be traced back to 1918. This estate is the property of the Lamastus family. The estate's name, Elida, was the name of the estate owner Robert Louis Lamastus's wife at that time.

Green Bean Analysis

Typica is one of the oldest varieties of Arabica coffee discovered today, with another being Bourbon. Arabica originated in Ethiopia, where this variety still grows naturally in the local primitive rainforest highlands today. Typica beans are slender, the tree is tall, the cherries are oval, and the branches are slightly inclined. Typica has four slender branches in an spreading posture with an inclination angle of 50-70 degrees. The coffee yield per tree is very low, but the cupping score is very high.

Roasting Profile

Elida Typica beans are slender, and the green beans show a yellow-green color. FrontStreet Coffee uses a light-medium roasting approach. The roasting concept is to introduce the beans at a lower temperature. Although this isn't as clean and intense as high-temperature introduction, the benefit is a very gentle and smooth mouthfeel. Since the development time after first crack is very short, the heat must be sufficient; otherwise, the expected caramelization level at drop temperature won't be achieved. FrontStreet Coffee will use a sliding action, using this action to cool down or turn off the heat while utilizing the roaster's residual temperature to continue roasting the beans. Throughout the entire roasting process, the beans are in heat absorption mode, with only first and second crack being heat release phases. During these two stages, it's best not to increase the heat for roasting, otherwise the beans are likely to have a spicy taste.

FrontStreet Coffee adds that sliding emphasizes turning off the heat, using the roaster's residual temperature and the heat generated by the beans during the cracking period to continue slow roasting of the roasted beans.

Yangjia 600g semi-direct heat roaster

Heat to 170°C to introduce beans, damper set to 3, adjust heat to 140 after 30 seconds, damper unchanged, return temperature point at 1'25'', adjust heat once at 140°C, at this time the bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration complete, adjust heat to 110°C, damper to 4;

At 8'45'', ugly wrinkles and black patterns appear on the bean surface, toast smell clearly changes to coffee aroma, can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 9'07'', adjust heat down to 90°C, damper to 4 (adjust heat very carefully, not so small that there's no cracking sound), 1'45'' after first crack, drop at 190°C.

Cupping Flavor

Elida Estate Typica

Dry Aroma: Caramel, roasted almonds, floral

Wet Aroma: Jackfruit, fermented wine aroma

Mouthfeel: Smooth entry, raisin, peach, orange, melon, cane sugar, caramel flavors prominent, green tea sensation, high cleanliness.

Brewing Method

FrontStreet Coffee's brewing parameters are: V60 dripper, water temperature 90°C, powder-to-water ratio 1:15, grind size based on 80% pass-through rate on a #20 standard sieve.

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, namely the three-pour method. Use 30g of water for blooming, bloom time 30 seconds, small water flow circular injection of 95g water, segment when reaching 125g water, continue injection to 225g when water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove dripper when water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, extraction time 2.00 (including bloom time).

Volcán Region

FrontStreet Coffee: Panama Hartmann Estate Wine Process Coffee Beans

Country: Panama

Grade: SHG

Region: Volcán Region

Estate: Hartmann Estate

Altitude: 1250-1700 Meters

Processing: Wine Process

Variety: Catuai

When mentioning Panama coffee beans, the specialty coffee regions most familiar to the public mostly come from Boquete, but in recent years, Panama coffee beans from the Volcán region have gradually emerged in the specialty market, with quite a few estates entering the Best of Panama competition and even winning championships. The Volcán region generally has less annual rainfall than Boquete, and its geographical location west of Barú Volcano also gives coffee stronger dried fruit flavors, sweetness, and aroma compared to the Boquete region.

In the early days, the Volcán area mostly grew cash crops such as fruits and vegetables, with very few farmers growing coffee. Among those, the pioneer in coffee cultivation in the Volcán region was the well-known Hartmann family in Panama.

The Legendary History of Hartmann Estate

Hartmann's story, like its coffee, is full of legendary color. Hartmann Estate is located in the city of Chiriquí, Santa Clara province. The founder was Mr. Alois St. Hartmann (Luis Hartmann). He was born on June 20, 1891, in the Moravia region of Austria-Hungary, now the Czech Republic; he died on May 25, 1970, at the age of 78. After World War I began, he was abandoned as a small boy. Thanks to his mother, he managed to hide on a ship bound for Pennsylvania, USA, and survived.

His two brothers both died in the war after joining the army. Luis Hartmann traveled to several countries with his friends until he came to Panama in 1911 and settled in Chiriquí Province in 1912, mainly active in the Candelaria area. He built the first small cabin in this pristine forest. Today's Hartmann Estate is a family business founded in 1940 by Ratibor Hartmann (son of Eligio Luis).

In 1966, Ratibor married Dinorza Sandi from Costa Rica. They had five children together: Ratibor Jr., Allan, Alexander, Alice, and Kelly. Each family member takes responsibility for coffee growth management, harvesting and processing, and estate tours. This family business has a state-level cupping laboratory and sample roasting room. They cup every batch of coffee fruit with rigorous attitudes and strict standards. This ensures the stable quality of Hartmann Estate's coffee and always seeks improvement. Their scientific approach to coffee and nearly 100 years of family experience guarantee their excellent output—a family estate that has grown coffee for over 100 years is itself a legendary story.

The Hartmann family also manages and processes coffee for many Panama coffee estates, such as Finca La Mula, a frequent winner in Best of Panama, and 90+'s estates in Panama are all under the management of the Hartmann family. Although the estate is very low-key and rarely seen in Best of Panama, their coffee is one of Panama's finest. The Hartmann family's contribution to Panama's coffee reputation today is indispensable.

Roasting Analysis

Panama Hartmann Estate coffee beans are relatively small and slightly denser, with moderate moisture content. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting target is light-medium, unlike the medium roast of other Panama beans. This Hartmann wine process uses light-medium roasting to preserve excellent acidity, tropical fruit flavors, and wine-like fermentation notes, with an overall performance that is sweet, round, fresh, and elegant.

In the first batch of roasting, the drop temperature was relatively high, with an introduction temperature of 200°C and relatively high heat. During the roasting process, it was found that although the altitude of these beans is not particularly high, the bean density is relatively hard, so a gradual heat reduction and stable climbing roasting method was adopted. The heat was adjusted finer when the beans entered the yellowing point, dehydration completion, and first crack prelude, respectively, to avoid scorching the bean surface. The beans were dropped from first crack density to just before the end of first crack, shortening the caramelization reaction time to preserve flavor cleanliness and floral-fruit aromas.

Yangjia 600g semi-direct heat roaster

Heat to 200°C to introduce beans, damper set to 3, adjust heat to 170 after 30s, damper unchanged, return temperature point at 1'39'', maintain heat, bean surface turns yellow at 4'57'', grassy smell completely disappears, enter dehydration phase, reduce heat to 130°C, maintain damper at 3.5;

Dehydration complete at 8'00'', reduce heat to 80°C, ugly wrinkles and black patterns appear on bean surface at 8'00'', toast smell clearly changes to coffee aroma, can be defined as prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for first crack sound. First crack begins at 8'43'', adjust heat down to 60°C, damper fully open to 5 (adjust heat very carefully, not so small that there's no cracking sound), 1'43'' development after first crack, drop at 195.5°C.

Cupping Report

RENACIMIENTO

Renacimiento is a region in Chiriquí province, bordering Costa Rica. This region itself is relatively small, so it is not Panama's main specialty coffee producing region.

Altitude: 1,100-1,500m

Harvest: December~March

Varieties: Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon, Geisha, San Ramon

Panama Coffee Grading System:

Strictly High Grown (SHG): Over 1300 meters

High Grown (HG): 1220-1300 meters and above

Central Standard (CS): Cultivated altitude over 600 meters

Important Notice :

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Tel:020 38364473