Origin Story and Flavor Characteristics of Panama Boquete "Floral Butterfly" Coffee Bean Variety

FrontStreet Coffee: Panama Butterfly Coffee Bean

Panama Boquete Butterfly
Country: Panama
Grade: SHB
Region: Boquete
Roast Level: Medium-light Roast
Processing Method: Natural/Washed
Varieties: 70% Geisha, Caturra, Catuai
Flavor Notes: Tea, Honey, Berries, Lemon, White Floral Notes

Panama: The Land of Extraordinary Coffee

Panama is a Central American country, bordered by Costa Rica to the west and Colombia to the east. Those familiar with single-origin coffee should know that Panama coffee is famous in the coffee world for the Geisha variety from Hacienda La Esmeralda. It can be said that this is a country that pursues excellence in coffee and produces high-quality coffee beans.

Boquete: Panama's Premier Coffee Region

Panama coffee is famous for the Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda, and the region where this estate is located is also quite famous; this is the Boquete region located in Chiriqui Province. Boquete is a town in Chiriqui Province, situated near the border between Panama and Costa Rica, close to the famous Baru Volcano. With its beautiful scenery, fertile and rich soil, the climate and soil are perfect for producing high-quality coffee.

Within the Boquete region, there are many excellent estates. Besides the famous Hacienda La Esmeralda, there are also renowned estates like Elida Estate and Akaba Estate, all producing high-quality specialty coffee. This is not only thanks to the superior ecological conditions of the Panama Boquete region and the fertile volcanic ash soil of the Baru Volcano area. Another important factor is the microclimate in the highlands of Panama Boquete, which is a unique resource for specialty coffee in the Boquete region; this is caused by Panama's east-to-west environment that allows cold air currents to converge above 6,500 feet through the central mountain range, creating multiple microclimates in the Boquete area, making its temperature and rainfall very suitable for plant growth. Therefore, the coffee trees planted here grow exceptionally well.

Butterfly Coffee: Exceptional Quality at an Unbeatable Value

In such a privileged growing environment as Boquete, naturally there's more than just the exceptional and valuable Geisha from Hacienda La Esmeralda. However, drinking Geisha daily would be quite luxurious, and even if there's no financial pressure, eating delicacies like shark fin and bear paw every day would also be inappropriate. The same applies to coffee - having a wide variety allows one to better enjoy the pleasure of tasting coffee.

In the land of Boquete, there is a coffee bean with an exceptionally high value-to-quality ratio, and it bears a very beautiful name: Butterfly. Panama Butterfly coffee beans have 40% premium Geisha heritage, composed of three varieties: Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai. They are grown in the Baru Volcano region of Boquete, at an altitude of 1,600 meters in the volcanic area. The processing plant uses refined washed processing. Panama's special local microclimate leads to abundant rainfall in this region, along with significant temperature differences between day and night. Combined with the unique volcanic rock soil of the volcanic region, as well as meticulous harvesting and refined processing, this coffee performs remarkably well in terms of body, acidity, and floral notes.

What's even more surprising is that on top of its excellent quality, its very approachable price makes this coffee bean's value-for-quality rating outstanding. The special characteristic of this coffee bean lies in its composition of three varieties, including 40% Geisha variety, which gives this coffee a distinct Geisha flavor profile. According to research, due to the estate's historical reasons, in pursuit of higher yields in the past, the early Geisha variety was mixed with Caturra and Catuai coffee trees. To facilitate harvesting, coffee farmers didn't reclassify them but instead processed the three varieties directly mixed together. Later, after Geisha became famous and prices soared, the processing plant began to implement refined washed processing for this particular coffee bean.

Washed Processing: Enhancing Natural Flavors

There are many washed processing methods today, but generally, after coffee cherries are harvested, floating beans are removed, then the pulp is removed, and the coffee beans are soaked in fermentation tanks. The enzymes in the water soften the mucilage attached to the parchment of the coffee beans, while natural yeasts break down the sugars in the mucilage. This process is called fermentation. After fermentation is complete, the coffee beans are moved to drying grounds to dry. During the drying process, the coffee beans need to be constantly turned to ensure even drying. Finally, they are stored in the warehouse with parchment, and after green bean merchants place orders, the hulling and bagging process is carried out. Coffee processed this way has a clean taste, emphasizing bright, lively fruit acidity, as well as clear fruit flavors and floral notes.

Roasting and Flavor Profile

Therefore, one can imagine that with Butterfly's superiority in variety and refined processing method, if medium-light roast is used to complete the final flavor direction of this bean, you will surely greatly appreciate this coffee that possesses Geisha's characteristic floral notes, Southeast Asian fruits, berry flavors, and has honey sweetness and smoothness, with very persistent aroma and aftertaste.

Cupping Notes

Fragrance (Dry Aroma): Jasmine flowers, citrus, tea, honey

Aroma (Wet Aroma): Berries, floral, fatty notes, vanilla, citrus

Flavor (Sipping): Juice sweetness, delicate and non-irritating acidity, excellent cleanliness, bergamot, honey, citrus, spices, floral notes, berries, tea, cherry, delicate aftertaste, persistent aroma, classic Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha flavor profile.

Taste Description: Jasmine floral notes, citrus, tea, honey, berries, vanilla, bright acidity! The Butterfly containing the Geisha variety is a specialty coffee bean with an extremely high value-to-quality ratio!

Everyone knows that Geisha coffee is world-famous for its rich floral notes and complex fruit tones. FrontStreet Coffee's roaster hopes this washed Butterfly coffee can retain more of Geisha's excellent acidity, therefore choosing a medium-light roast. This roast level doesn't significantly change the high density of beans grown at high altitudes, so brewing requires a higher extraction rate to present a fuller flavor profile. FrontStreet Coffee will use higher water temperature and slightly finer grind to extract more aromatic compounds. Additionally, FrontStreet Coffee hopes its floral and fruity notes will be clearer, so they will use a slightly larger coffee-to-water ratio of 1:16.

To increase coffee extraction rate while avoiding over-extraction and highlighting the sweet and sour flavor layers, FrontStreet Coffee's barista uses a V60 dripper. The V60 dripper's body has flow ribs connecting the top and bottom and a large circular hole in the center that accelerates water flow, while the spiral-shaped exhaust groove design extends the water path, increasing the contact time between coffee grounds and hot water. Each water flow converges along the grooves to the center point of the dripper, concentrating the pressure on the coffee grounds and resulting in richer extracted coffee layers.

Dripper: V60
Water Temperature: 91-92°C
Coffee Dose: 15g
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Fine sugar size (80% passes through #20 sieve)

Three-Stage Extraction: First stage: Use 30g of water for a 30-second bloom, injecting in even circles to form a dome. Second stage: Inject 95g of hot water, and when the coffee bed drops to halfway, begin the third stage injection of 100g until all coffee has finished dripping. Note to start pouring from the center point, using small water flow with gentle force in circular motions throughout to avoid uneven extraction. Finally, wait for the coffee to finish dripping, gently shake to mix, and you can begin tasting the flavors of Butterfly coffee starting from high temperature.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473