The Development of Panama BOP, Volcán Region, and Introduction to Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha

Coffee Auctions: A Gateway to Premium Coffee

In the coffee industry, coffee auctions are very important activities. Coffee auctions are usually held simultaneously with regional or national coffee competitions, where winning coffees can be sold directly at the auction. Coffee auctions can generate high bidding for high-quality coffee, better improve people's awareness of coffee origins, varieties, and processing methods, while providing farmers with broader market access, increasing income efficiency, and thus encouraging the production of high-quality coffee. Currently, BOP and COE are the two most famous and successful in the coffee industry.

Best of Panama (BOP)

BOP stands for Best of Panama. This auction platform is designed and organized by the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP), and SCAP is a non-profit association of coffee growers/processors in Panama.

The Development of BOP

Before 1989, coffee prices were controlled by the International Coffee Agreement. However, this system collapsed in 1989, leading to a sharp drop in coffee prices. Under these circumstances, Panama's coffee market also collapsed. At such low prices, no one in Panama could continue operating at this price, so a new solution was urgently needed. Therefore, Panama decided to try specializing in premium coffee and established the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP) in the early 1990s. The first Best of Panama (BOP) was launched in 1996. By 2002, at the second BOP auction, the award-winning coffee was sold at $2.37 per pound, which at that time was already five times the world market price. This auction event brought more exposure to Panamanian producers with the international community.

Volcán Coffee Region

When talking about Panamanian coffee cultivation, many people think of the Boquete region, but in recent years, excellent estates from the Volcán region have also frequently appeared in BOP. The Volcán region has an altitude of 1200-1600 meters, with less rainfall than Boquete, but its geographical location on the west side of the Barú volcano gives the coffee produced in this region strong dried fruit flavors, higher sweetness, and more abundant aroma. Now there are also many well-known estates in the Volcán region, such as Finca Hartmann.

Finca Hartmann

Finca Hartmann was established in the 1940s and can be called a pioneer in the development of the Volcán coffee region. The estate has 500 hectares of land but still preserves most of the original forest. The coffee cultivation area within the estate accounts for only about 20% of the entire estate. Due to the results of forest protection, the estate has quite a lot of native birds, and the locally famous toucans have naturally become the estate's standard logo. The estate is located in the Barú volcano region, with nutrient-rich volcanic soil, and towering primeval forests provide the best shade-growing environment, thus producing coffee with higher sweetness and brighter acidity. The estate grows many varieties, including Typica, Caturra, Bourbon, Geisha, and others.

FrontStreet Coffee's Experience

FrontStreet Coffee has also acquired Geisha coffee beans from Finca Hartmann. The Geisha coffee beans acquired by FrontStreet Coffee use anaerobic natural processing. When FrontStreet Coffee uses V60 with a 1:15 ratio, you can smell elegant white floral aromas. Upon tasting, you'll experience bergamot, pineapple, and blueberry flavors with multiple layers. As the temperature slightly decreases, it presents an Earl Grey tea-like mouthfeel with a long-lasting aftertaste.

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