What is the 'CCD' Project in Panama Coffee?

What is the 'CCD' Project in Panama Coffee?

Have you ever noticed the letters "CCD" occasionally appearing on the bean-bag labels of some Panama coffees? It is not the name of an estate, an origin, or a bean. So what do those three letters stand for?

Panama's CCD Project

The CCD project was established in 2018, its full name being "Creative Coffee District" — an innovative processing zone focused on specialty coffee. Its main purpose is to modernize traditional coffee processing techniques so the resulting flavors take on more unusual character. The project attracts estate owners from around the world who are interested in novel processing methods. They can all come to Panama to take part, conduct research, and find local estates to cooperate with.

To advance the project, the organizers brought in advanced processing equipment and technology, transforming traditional washed and natural methods. They also pass on cultivation experience to local smallholder farmers, helping them grow higher-quality fruit and earn higher incomes. The launch then attracted the participation of the renowned La Palma & El Tucan estate from Colombia.

La Palma & El Tucan Estate

La Palma & El Tucan was established in 2011 in the Eastern Andes region of Colombia. Its founders come from quite different backgrounds, including farmers, businesspeople, scientists, and artists.

Most coffee estates are family businesses, passed seamlessly from one generation to the next. La Palma & El Tucan is a little different: it is the ideal growing environment the founders found after extensive exploration. The high altitude, volcanic soil, sunlight, and humidity we discussed yesterday's article are all in their most suitable state for coffee within the estate's area. Since its founding, the estate has not only helped surrounding smallholders improve their cultivation and processing skills but has also devoted itself to cultivating unique coffee flavors. While keeping tradition, it keeps innovating, creating many different characteristic coffees to suit the preferences of different consumers.

As it happened, Panama's CCD project offered an additional research platform. So in 2018, La Palma & El Tucan joined the project together with Altieri estate. Altieri estate (a local Panama estate) provides the beans, while La Palma & El Tucan provides the processing technology — one solving the local bean supply, the other solving the processing. A perfect combination.

Special Processing Methods Born from the CCD Project

Within the CCD project, you can find many completely different processing methods, such as low-temperature anaerobic fermentation, static fermentation processing, dynamic fermentation processing, and super natural processing. Various combinations emerge one after another.

By gathering different techniques from various estates and combining and innovating different processing methods, beans given entirely new processing can develop unique flavors — and that is one of the main purposes of the CCD project.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Colombia's estates have become a testing ground for the kind of innovative processing the CCD project champions, and FrontStreet's Colombian coffee reflects both the traditional and the experimental sides. FrontStreet's Colombia Huila is a classic: Huila province, in the south of the country, is Colombia's most famous specialty region, and FrontStreet roasts this washed lot medium-deep to bring out dark chocolate and nut aroma, moderate crema, and a full, mellow body. It suits pour-over and French press, and also pulls well as moka pot or espresso for Americano and latte.

For the experimental end, FrontStreet's Colombia Finca El Diviso Sidra is the one to try. Sourced from the Diviso estate and given anaerobic natural processing, it is roasted medium-light so the oxygen-free fermentation can develop more tropical fruit. Brewed as pour-over, cold brew, a drip bag, or moka pot, it shows grape, passion fruit, and dried fruit — a complex, concentrated sweetness that shows how far processing can push a cup.