Characteristics of Panama Boquete Coffee Region: Natural Process Mariposa Coffee Variety and Flavor Profile

When it comes to Geisha, FrontStreet Coffee believes many friends will immediately think of Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda. Located in the renowned specialty coffee producing region of Boquete, it has produced countless famous estates that have ranked in the BOP competition. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will focus on this origin to introduce you to a "Geisha coffee" with exceptional value for money.

The Boquete region of Panama is located in the Chiriquí province, bordering neighboring Costa Rica. It is a small town near the famous Baru Volcano, with beautiful scenery, fertile soil, and climate and soil conditions that are exceptionally suitable for producing high-quality coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee often mentions to customers that the quality of coffee is closely related to the local geographical environment and climate characteristics. As one of Panama's oldest and most famous producing regions, Boquete is located on the eastern side of Baru Volcano, at a plateau elevation of approximately 1,000-2,000 meters. Besides Hacienda La Esmeralda, the Boquete region has many other excellent estates, such as Elida Estate and Kotowa Duncan Estate, all of which are renowned and produce high-quality specialty coffee.

Although the Boquete region is not particularly large in area, it possesses exceptionally favorable terroir conditions. First, it faces the warm and humid monsoon from the Caribbean Sea, with cold currents from the Atlantic Ocean on its back, featuring high and steep mountains. The Baru Volcano National Park serves as a national ecological protection area with particularly rich biodiversity, hosting seven microclimates. Coupled with year-round mist, abundant rainfall, and suitable altitude, these factors create excellent coffee cultivation conditions, nurturing the now internationally renowned Geisha coffee.

It's often said that Geisha coffee is an unattainable luxury, but what if there was a coffee that offers Geisha-like flavors, comes from the same producing region as Hacienda La Esmeralda's Geisha, and most importantly, is truly and genuinely affordable? Would you be tempted?

Panama Mariposa

At first glance, the packaging indicates three varieties. Is this coffee a blend? FrontStreet Coffee tells everyone: Although there are three varieties here, early Geisha varieties were planted mixed with coffee trees of the Caturra and Catuai varieties. To facilitate harvesting, coffee farmers don't reclassify them. The three varieties in Mariposa are from the same origin and region, so it is a single-origin coffee!

Mariposa possesses 70% premium Geisha heritage, composed of three varieties: Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai. It is cultivated in the Baru Volcano region of Boquete, growing in volcanic areas at an altitude of 1,600 meters. With significant day-night temperature variations, unique volcanic soil from the volcanic region, meticulous harvesting, and refined processing, this coffee performs exceptionally well in body, acidity, and floral notes.

Even more surprisingly, on top of its excellent quality, FrontStreet Coffee's Mariposa coffee comes at a very approachable price, making this coffee bean exceptionally cost-effective. What makes this coffee bean special is the inclusion of the Geisha variety, giving this coffee very distinct Geisha characteristics.

Geisha

Geisha, with its unique floral and fruit aromas, bright floral notes and citrus flavors, high cleanliness, soft and elegant acidity, persistent and mellow sweetness, and premium tea-like mouthfeel, has gained many devoted followers.

FrontStreet Coffee's research reveals that Geisha was originally collected in 1931 from the wild Kaffa forest in southern Ethiopia, with the purpose of finding new disease-resistant varieties, named after the nearby Geisha Mountain. Later, it was transferred to research institutes in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and other places for trial cultivation. In 1953, the Geisha variety arrived at CATIE (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center) in Costa Rica and was recorded as T2722. Although it was planted in multiple local farms, Geisha's fragile branches and low yields didn't make it popular among farmers, nor was it widely cultivated.

Beginning in the 1960s, CATIE distributed T2722 Geisha to Panamanian coffee farmers, and Geisha began its true journey into the fertile lands of Panama. In the 1990s, the Peterson family, owners of Hacienda La Esmeralda, began to focus on coffee production and acquired a new high-altitude farm, Jaramillo. Many coffee trees in the farm suffered from leaf rust disease, but Daniel Peterson noticed that Geisha trees were not severely damaged. Therefore, they decided to transplant the originally mixed-planted Geisha trees to more areas of the farm while increasing their planting altitude.

In 2003, the Peterson family finally discovered Geisha's potential. When they first cupped it, it displayed an intense white floral aroma, extremely clean mouthfeel, and showcased berry, citrus, and bergamot-like aftertaste, forming a very typical Panamanian Geisha flavor profile. Amazed by this discovery, they decided to enter it in the 2004 BOP (Best of Panama) competition and named it "Geisha." Therefore, today's internationally acclaimed Panamanian Geisha coffee is the T2722 variety from back then.

Caturra

Caturra is a variant of the Bourbon variety, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its tree form is shorter than Bourbon, and although it inherited Bourbon's weaker resistance, its yield is higher than Bourbon, and it's convenient for harvesting. Moreover, it can remain vibrant even under direct sun exposure, so farmers call it "Sun Coffee." Caturra is suitable for cultivation from low altitudes of 700 meters to high altitudes of 1,700 meters, with strong altitude adaptability, but the higher the altitude, the better the flavor, though yield decreases relatively. Caturra's flavor mainly presents fruitiness and berry-like acidity. The "Diamond Mountain Coffee" on FrontStreet Coffee's menu is selected from Caturra, originating from our renowned Hacienda La Esmeralda.

Catuai

Catuai is a hybrid variety of Mundo Novo and Caturra, thus inheriting Caturra's low tree form characteristics but with higher resistance. It has better resistance to natural disasters, particularly wind and rain, and produces firm fruits that don't fall off easily. In terms of flavor, Catuai is simpler than Caturra, mainly featuring nutty notes without Caturra's rich layering. In Panama, the two varieties are often planted together and harvested together when ripe.

Natural Processing of Mariposa

The processing method for Mariposa is an ancient existing method, also called the natural drying method. Natural processing reduces the moisture content of coffee through extensive drying. After selecting coffee cherries, the entire cherries with pulp and skin are directly spread on cement floors or drying beds for sun-drying until the moisture content reaches about 12%. This takes about two to four weeks, depending on the local climate, with the drying process typically lasting around 4 weeks. Since the moisture content of coffee cherries themselves is quite high, leaving them in one place for over twenty days will naturally cause fermentation reactions. If fermentation is excessive, it can easily lead to spoilage. If coffee cherries are piled too thickly in one area without ventilation, spoilage becomes even more severe. Therefore, significant manpower is needed to frequently stir the coffee cherry piles to ensure ventilation.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Method

Dripper: Hario V60, Water temperature: 90°C, Coffee amount: 15g, Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15, Grind size: Medium-fine (80% pass-through rate with China standard #20 sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee uses a staged extraction method. We use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, then continue pouring in a circular motion with a small water flow to 125g for segmentation. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225g and stop. Remove the dripper after the water has finished dripping from the filter cup. Timing starts from the beginning of pouring, with an extraction time of 2'00".

Mariposa coffee will have higher sweetness and gentle sweet notes. Naturally processed coffee generally carries fermentation flavors. FrontStreet Coffee's brewing method is for reference only; everyone should make fine adjustments according to their preferred taste.

FrontStreet Coffee's Natural Mariposa Brewing Flavor: The entry reveals tea fragrance, fermented fruit aroma, and nutty cream flavors with a mellow mouthfeel. As the temperature slightly drops, sweet and sour fruit flavors of citrus, black plums, and sweet oranges emerge. The aftertaste carries the sweetness of honey.

Of course, for coffee brewing, FrontStreet Coffee always recommends using freshly roasted coffee beans to maximize the experience of coffee's rich flavors. The coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee bean resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at its peak flavor.

Of course, some customers need FrontStreet Coffee to grind the beans, which is also fine. However, FrontStreet Coffee must remind you: If coffee beans are ground in advance, they need to be brewed promptly. Once ground into coffee powder, there's no need for a resting period, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide buildup in the packaging also helps round out the coffee flavors. Therefore, you can immediately brew a cup when you receive the coffee powder.

However, coffee powder oxidizes relatively quickly after contact with air, meaning the coffee's flavors will dissipate more quickly, and the coffee's flavor won't be as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding them fresh before brewing to better appreciate the coffee's flavors.

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