American Coffee Origins - Introduction to Panama Coffee Bean Varieties, Flavors, and Processing Methods

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FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Panama's Coffee Varieties, Flavors, and Processing Methods

Although geographically neighboring countries like Costa Rica and Colombia, Panama's coffee boasts a very unique, balanced, and rich aroma. It features a light yet sweet, gentle acidity with moderate body, making it a high-quality specialty coffee producing region! Among these, Geisha coffee stands as the emerging king of coffees, capturing worldwide attention. In terms of flavor, experts describe it as having intense citrus aroma, jasmine floral notes, almond and mango fragrances, and nectar-like sweetness, with bright and complex fruit acidity!

The Geisha variety mainly originates from the Kaffa Forest, known as the treasure trove of coffee genetics, specifically from Gesha Mountain in southwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudan border, at elevations of 1,700-2,100 meters. However, what's puzzling is why Ethiopia didn't keep such excellent coffee for itself but instead handed it over to Panama?

In fact, Ethiopia's official archives contain descriptions of Geisha from that time. Back then, Geisha was discovered to have extremely strong disease resistance and could be used to "hybridize" with other coffee trees to enhance their disease resistance. However, little was described about its flavor, and its production capacity was poor, so it completely disappeared from attention for a long time until recently being rediscovered by the world. This has led some to speculate whether the transformation in Geisha's flavor might be due to Panama's unique terroir causing the dramatic enhancement in Geisha's characteristics? However, this remains to be confirmed.

Panama's specialty coffee producing areas are concentrated in the Chiriquí province in the western part of the country. The Boquete region, located within Chiriquí province, is Panama's oldest and most famous coffee producing area, with both Jaramillo and Hacienda La Esmeralda estates situated here. This location not only boasts fertile volcanic soil but is also enveloped in mist, keeping temperatures from rising too high while maintaining abundant annual rainfall - the perfect growing environment that Arabica coffee trees love. No wonder the coffee quality is so exceptional!

Besides Geisha, Panama's coffee varieties are extremely diverse, ranging from ancient Typica and Bourbon to newer varieties like Caturra and Catuai. Among these, Typica offers distinct acidity with delicate aromas and is predominantly processed using the washed method.

FrontStreet Coffee's Mission

In summary: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research house dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. Our unrestrained sharing aims to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Additionally, we hold three low-discount coffee events every month because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends enjoy the best coffee at the lowest possible prices. This has been FrontStreet Coffee's mission for the past six years!

Important Notice :

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