Panama's Highest Coffee Plantation: An Introduction to Finca Deborah Coffee

When discussing Panama's specialty coffee, one cannot overlook Geisha coffee; but when mentioning Geisha coffee, the first name that comes to mind for many is likely Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda.

FrontStreet Coffee has already introduced numerous coffees from Panama, among which the delicate floral aromas brought by the Geisha variety have impressed many coffee enthusiasts with Panama's coffee offerings. This is thanks to Panama's excellent local climate, which provides coffee crops with a longer growth cycle, allowing them to accumulate sugars during the slow growth process.

Besides Hacienda La Esmeralda, which has won numerous awards by participating in competitions itself, there is another estate that is quite special—it helps others participate in competitions and win major awards. This is Finca Deborah, which has been gaining increasing recognition.

It's worth mentioning that Finca Deborah's owner, Jamison Savage, manages three coffee projects: Finca Deborah, Morgan Estate, and Savage Coffee.

Finca Deborah

Finca Deborah's owner, Jamison Savage, originally an American banker, moved to Panama after marrying his Panamanian wife. For the past decade, he has been wholeheartedly dedicated to building his ideal coffee estate in Panama, though initially everyone thought it was impossible.

However, Jamison remained undeterred. Starting in 2007, he began planning the estate's infrastructure, and in 2010, he planted the first batch of Geisha at an altitude exceeding 1,900 meters. The first small-scale harvest occurred in 2015, with commercial harvest beginning in 2016.

Finca Deborah is situated on a majestic mountain in the Volcán region of Chiriquí Province, Panama. The estate's altitude exceeds 1,900 meters and is covered by vast primary forests, making it the highest and most secluded coffee estate in Panama. Thanks to such high altitude, the estate experiences significant temperature variations between day and night, with nighttime temperatures dropping to 10 degrees Celsius. According to the experience of local Panamanian coffee farmers, good coffee cannot be grown at such high altitudes.

It is precisely due to Finca Deborah's extremely high altitude that diseases naturally remain at a minimum. Temperature alone makes it a desolate place for fungal problems and other unwanted diseases. This allows coffee trees to focus on producing beautiful fruit rather than wasting precious energy fighting diseases. Due to the increased elevation, insect problems are also minimized.

In addition to having extremely high altitude and lower temperatures—conditions favorable for coffee growth—Finca Deborah often experiences scenes filled with dense fog and heavy rain. The annual rainfall here is 2,200 millimeters. The combination of these growing conditions enables Finca Deborah to produce coffee with delightful sweet and sour notes, delicate and lingering flavors, and complex unique characteristics. As the world's most environmentally demanding coffee variety—Geisha—not only survives but thrives in the superior conditions of Finca Deborah.

Morgan Estate

Morgan Estate is Finca Deborah's sister estate. Morgan Estate is located in Volcán, Chiriquí. Situated on the steep western foothills of Volcán Baru, surrounded by lush tropical rainforests and waterfalls, it covers a total area of 15 hectares. Each hectare is planted with 2,000 coffee trees, and two clear rivers flow from north to south. Century-old trees can be seen everywhere, creating an extremely beautiful landscape that the estate strives to protect.

Savage Coffee

The Savage Coffee project was initiated by Jamison Savage in the Boquete region of Panama. Project members consist of small coffee estates and small-scale coffee farmers from the Boquete and Volcán production areas. Jamison positions himself as one of the world's most mature coffee producers, with coffee beans from his Finca Deborah winning famous coffee competitions worldwide.

Savage series coffees are harvested from small estates and small farmers in the Boquete and Volcán regions. To obtain coffee with optimal flavor, the project harvests fully mature red coffee cherries. The growers of the Savage Coffee series, like Jamison Savage, show the deepest respect for the local ecology and apply core concepts such as sustainable development, excellent quality, and innovation to their own land.

FrontStreet Coffee has also acquired a coffee from the Savage series. After cupping, FrontStreet Coffee's barista praised this Savage Coffee for its enticing floral aromas and pleasant sweet and sour notes in its flavor profile.

FrontStreet Coffee: Finca Deborah Savage Series Geisha Coffee Beans

Origin: Panama Volcán region

Estate: Finca Deborah

Owner: Jamison Savage

Altitude: 2000m～2350m

Variety: Geisha

Grade: SHB

Processing Method: Anaerobic Natural Process

Coffee Processing Method

Jamison has researched post-harvest processing and processing techniques at Finca Deborah for over a decade. The Savage Series Geisha coffee acquired by FrontStreet Coffee uses the anaerobic natural processing method.

First, freshly picked coffee cherries are sun-dried in a greenhouse until they become raisin-like and shriveled. Then these shriveled coffee cherries are placed in sealed containers, oxygen is extracted, and they undergo dry fermentation for 36 hours. After that, depulping is performed while retaining 100% of the pulp for fermentation. Coffee processed this way has an extremely sweet flavor, highlighting fresh fruit and floral notes.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee considers that this Geisha coffee bean is lightly roasted. Light-roasted beans have a lower coffee substance dissolution rate than dark-roasted ones. Therefore, to ensure full extraction of Geisha flavors, higher water temperature is used for brewing, along with a finer grind size. Some fans have noticed that FrontStreet Coffee has always recommended a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:15, while Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha uses 1:16. This is because slightly increasing the coffee-to-water ratio helps to better experience the layering and flavors of Geisha.

FrontStreet Coffee uses segmented extraction, also called three-stage brewing. Pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then continue pouring in small circular motions to 125g for segmentation. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 240g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed again, remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from the beginning of the bloom) Extraction time: 2'00"～2'05".

Flavor Description

Prominent white floral aromas, pineapple-like and fermented beverage sweet and sour notes, full-bodied mouthfeel, overall clean and balanced.

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