Coffee Estate - Panama Elida Estate Geisha Coffee Beans and Typica Coffee Beans Flavor Introduction

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When asked about the most famous estate in Panama, the answer is undoubtedly Hacienda La Esmeralda. However, in recent years, many excellent estates have emerged in Panama, such as Elida Estate, Janson Estate, Sophia Estate, and others that have gained public recognition. FrontStreet Coffee introduces the story of Elida Estate in this issue.

Elida Estate: A Century-Old Premium Coffee Producer

Panama's Elida Estate is located in the renowned specialty coffee-producing region of Boquete, Panama. It is the most famous estate of the Lamastus family, founded in 1918. Since Robert Lamastus, the founder of the Lamastus family's coffee estate, planted the first coffee tree, it has gone through a century and witnessed the worldwide popularization of specialty coffee. The total area of Elida Estate is 65 hectares, with more than half located within the Baru Volcano National Park. Only 30 hectares of the estate are used for cultivating coffee trees, while the rest remains pristine forest. The coffee is grown at altitudes ranging from 1,670 to 1,850 meters, making it one of the two highest-altitude coffee estates in Panama (the other estate with such altitude is Carmen Estate, located in the Volcán Valley).

In such a high-altitude environment, low temperatures cause a delay in the maturation period of coffee cherries, 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 Baru Volcano, this enables Elida Estate to consistently achieve excellent results in cupping competitions.

Coffee Varieties and Processing

Elida Estate mainly cultivates three coffee varieties: Catuai, Typica, and Geisha. The estate's processing plant is located halfway up the mountainside, allowing coffee cherries to be transported to the factory for processing immediately after harvesting to ensure the quality of the coffee fruit is not affected. Of course, Elida's environment is also suitable for growing other high-quality temperate crops, especially tree tomatoes and some uncommon high-altitude fruits. Interestingly, the flavors of these fruits can often be found in Elida's coffee as well.

In addition to the exceptionally high altitude and microclimate, the estate owner, Mr. Wilford, has put considerable effort into harvesting and processing. To achieve the highest standards, Elida Estate's coffee can only be hand-picked from the most mature coffee cherries (Ripe on Pinton). The high maturity of the fruit naturally results in high sugar content in the mucilage, which is the foundation for producing Elida's premium flavor characteristics.

Awards and Recognition

In the Best of Panama (BOP) competition, Elida Estate has become a formidable competitor to Hacienda La Esmeralda. It has not only won multiple BOP championships but also holds the BOP cupping score record (in 2018, Elida's Green Tip Washed Geisha scored an impressive 94.66, breaking the 2016 BOP record of 94.15 set by Elida's Green Tip Washed Geisha).

In the 2019 BOP competition, the winner of the Geisha Processing Category, Elida's Natural ASD Geisha, once again broke its own BOP record with a high score of 95.25.

In addition to being extremely strict about coffee cultivation and processing, Mr. Wilford, the estate owner, is also more rigorous than peers in the "purification" of green beans after processing. For Panama's Elida Estate, after the green beans are processed, they need to undergo low-temperature resting for more than 5 months to remove greenness. This allows the coffee's flavor to develop more balanced and fully. (Low-temperature resting is a green bean purification concept strongly promoted by coffee master George Howell since 2006. We've found that while green beans from subtropical regions indeed need to be stored at low temperatures, different processing methods and altitudes will change the duration of low-temperature resting. For Panama's Elida Estate, 5 months of low-temperature resting is optimal.)

FrontStreet Coffee's Elida Geisha

The processing method for FrontStreet Coffee's Elida Geisha coffee is anaerobic fermentation with low-temperature slow sun-drying.

The harvested coffee cherries are placed in sealed containers for 4-5 days of fermentation, then thick layers of coffee cherries are spread on sun-drying beds to allow for slow drying.

The low-temperature slow sun-drying processing method requires producers to invest more time and effort. Under the nurturing of time, slow drying allows coffee cherries to develop optimal water activity during this process. This not only results in better flavor development but also allows green beans to maintain longer storage during the off-season cycle. However, this method not only depends on favorable weather conditions but also extends the time required for each batch production, increasing the cost of green beans.

FrontStreet Coffee's Roasting Analysis

This coffee has medium bean size and density, and it absorbs more heat during the roasting process, with a relatively fast Maillard reaction. When the beans begin to turn yellow, open the air vent to develop more fermentation aroma, enhancing its sweetness and balance.

Set the roaster temperature to 160°C when loading, heat at 100, air vent at 3, return temperature at 1'42". When the temperature reaches 146°C, open the air vent to 4. When the temperature reaches 146°C, the bean surface turns yellow, and the grassy smell completely disappears. When the temperature reaches 166°C, reduce the heat to 80, keeping the air vent unchanged.

At 7'31", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast smell clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 8'28", first crack begins, reduce the heat to 50, fully open the air vent to 5. Develop for 1'45" after first crack, then unload at 194.5°C.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: Medium-fine (78% retention rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve)

Water temperature: 90-91°C

Filter: Hario V60

Method: Segmented extraction. Use 15g of coffee, bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. Using a small water stream, pour in a circular motion to 125g for the first segment. When the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, continue pouring to 226g and stop. When the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed again, remove the filter. (Timing starts from the beginning of blooming) Total extraction time is 1'50".

Flavor: Aroma of light fermentation and floral notes. Flavors of grapefruit, lemon, and guava on the palate, with honey sweetness in the middle and a black tea finish.

Elida Estate Typica

In addition to the award-winning Geisha coffee, Elida Estate also produces other excellent coffee varieties, such as the Elida Estate Typica coffee, which is a regular on FrontStreet Coffee's bean list. Typica is one of the oldest varieties of Arabica coffee discovered today, renowned for its excellent flavor. Elida employs their most skilled processing method for this variety - refined natural processing.

FrontStreet Coffee's Roasting Analysis

Set the roaster temperature to 170°C when loading, air vent at 3. After 30 seconds, adjust heat to 140, keeping the air vent unchanged. Return temperature at 1'25". When reaching 140°C, adjust the heat once. At this point, the bean surface turns yellow, and the grassy smell completely disappears, indicating dehydration is complete. Adjust heat to 110 and air vent to 4.

At 8'45", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast smell clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this point, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. At 9'07", first crack begins, reduce heat to 90°C, adjust air vent to 4 (be very careful when adjusting heat - don't reduce it so much that there's no cracking sound). Develop for 1'45" after first crack, then unload at 190°C.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: Medium-fine (78% retention rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve)

Water temperature: 90-91°C

Filter: Hario V60

Method: Segmented extraction. Use 15g of coffee, bloom with 30g of water for 30 seconds. Using a small water stream, pour in a circular motion to 125g for the first segment. When the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed, continue pouring to 226g and stop. When the water level drops to just before exposing the coffee bed again, remove the filter. (Timing starts from the beginning of blooming) Total extraction time is 2 minutes.

Flavor: Fermented wine aroma and jasmine floral notes. Acidity of peaches and oranges on the palate. Distinct sweetness of raisins and cane sugar.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

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