Esmeralda Palmyra Catuai Coffee Bean Flavor Profile and Brewing Guide

In addition to its renowned Geisha coffee, Hacienda La Esmeralda, known for its commitment to sustainability, quality, and innovation, offers other exceptional coffees waiting to be discovered. Last time we introduced the Diamond Mountain Series Catimor beans, and today we continue with Palmyra Estate coffee.

Palmyra Estate coffee is a Catuai variety, often chosen by customers for its consistency and approachable character. All Palmyra coffees undergo washed processing at the single central coffee mill of Esmeralda Estate.

The coffee from Palmyra Estate comes from the Palmira farm, located in the heart of Hacienda La Esmeralda. Palmira is the name of the first piece of land purchased by the Peterson family in 1967, and over the years those lands have expanded to include many smaller farms.

Flavor Profile

Palmyra Estate coffee offers balanced, sweet beans with characteristics of milk chocolate, vanilla, and nuts.

Estate Information

The interactive map of Esmeralda Estate also provides us with brief information about Palmyra coffee.

Brewing Guide

FrontStreet Coffee pour-over recommendation: weigh 15g of Esmeralda Estate Palmira coffee beans and pour them into a grinder for a medium grind. The ground particles should be similar to sugar granules. Use water at 90°C and extract with a V60 dripper.

Pour the hot water from the gooseneck kettle in clockwise circles, starting from the center of the dripper. Begin timing when brewing starts. Within 15 seconds, brew the coffee to 30g, then stop pouring. When the time reaches 1 minute, begin the second pour. During the second pour, as before, pour in clockwise circles with the dripper center as the focal point. Avoid pouring water directly onto the area where the coffee grounds meet the filter paper to prevent channeling.

When you have poured water out to the outermost circle of the coffee grounds, leave a small margin, then continue circling toward the center. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds, the coffee should reach 220g, completing the brew.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Palmyra shows the softer, sweeter, chocolate-and-vanilla side of Hacienda La Esmeralda, and if that has you curious about what else the estate can do, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama selection starts in the same place. The FrontStreet Esmeralda Special (Red Label) Geisha is the estate's flagship: a single-plot lot grown between 1,600 and 1,800 meters, cupping above 90 points, with the refined orange-blossom-honey character that defines the very best Panamanian Geisha.

For a more approachable entry, the FrontStreet Panama Boquete Geisha is a washed estate-level Geisha grown at 1,600 m in fertile volcanic-ash soil, delivering jasmine, green tea, honey, and orange. Both are roasted light and reward the gentle, circular V60 pour described above. It is worth remembering that Panama's Geisha was only brought to world attention in 2003, when Hacienda La Esmeralda entered it in the Best of Panama competition and took first place with an average cupping score of 94.6, breaking the event's record.