Panama Elida Estate Coffee Beans: Introduction to Origin Region, Flavor Description, Taste Profile, Variety, and Processing Method

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FrontStreet Coffee's Panama coffee beans are quite famous. In the Boquete growing region alone, there are two very well-known estates, such as Hacienda La Esmeralda and Elida Estate. In the Volcán region, there's Hartmann Estate, among others. FrontStreet Coffee often shares about Hacienda La Esmeralda, but today we'll share about Elida Estate from the Boquete growing region.

Introduction to Boquete Growing Region

First, FrontStreet Coffee will give everyone a brief introduction to the Boquete growing region. It's a town in Chiriqui Province, located near the border between Panama and Costa Rica, close to the famous Baru Volcano. With its beautiful scenery, rich and fertile soil, the climate and soil are perfect for producing high-quality coffee. Costa Rican coffee beans are also of very high quality, and FrontStreet Coffee has stocked many varieties. The honey processing method gives Costa Rican coffee beans unique flavor characteristics. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica Bahia coffee beans feature the aroma of ripe fruits, while FrontStreet Coffee's Beethoven uses washed processing, resulting in cleaner flavors with more pronounced acidity. FrontStreet Coffee's Mozart coffee falls between these two varieties, with less pronounced acidity and rich fermented wine aroma.

Elida Estate in Panama

Panama's Elida Estate is situated in the renowned Boquete growing region. The total area of Elida Estate is 65 hectares, with more than half located within the Baru Volcano National Park. Only 30 hectares of the estate are used for coffee cultivation, while the remainder remains pristine primary forest. The coffee trees at Elida Estate are planted at altitudes ranging from 1,670 to 1,850 meters, making it one of Panama's two highest altitude coffee estates (the other estate with similar elevation is Carmen Estate, located in the Volcán Valley). In such high-altitude environments, low temperatures delay the maturation of coffee cherries by about a month compared to normal maturation periods. The fertile volcanic soil provides ample nutrients for the coffee, and combined with the excellent microclimate brought by Baru Volcano, enables Elida Estate to consistently achieve excellent results in cupping competitions.

FrontStreet Coffee has also cupped FrontStreet Coffee's Elida Estate coffee beans. After grinding 11.3 grams of coffee beans, we first smelled the dry fragrance. This FrontStreet Coffee's Elida Estate coffee has a rich dry fragrance with caramel, roasted almonds, and floral aromas. When 94-degree water was poured in, the wet fragrance within four minutes resembled jackfruit and fermented wine aromas. After cupping, FrontStreet Coffee found that this FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Elida coffee beans have an overall smooth mouthfeel, with distinct flavors of raisins, peaches, oranges, muskmelons, cane sugar, and caramel, with a green tea sensation and high cleanliness.

Flavor Comparison with Hartmann Estate

What are the specific flavor characteristics of this FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Elida Estate coffee beans, and how do they differ from FrontStreet Coffee's Hartmann Estate coffee beans from the Volcán region? Therefore, to compare the flavor differences between these two coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee also conducted a cupping comparison of the coffee beans from Hartmann Estate. FrontStreet Coffee used the same cupping procedure to cup this FrontStreet Coffee's Hartmann Estate coffee beans. First, we ground the beans to smell the dry fragrance. The FrontStreet Coffee's Hartmann coffee beans, processed using the red wine method, emit aromas of orange and jasmine in their dry fragrance. Then we added water to fill the bowl to confirm the wet fragrance, which had fermented wine aromas and honey-like sweetness. After 4 minutes, we broke the crust and removed the grounds for flavor evaluation. Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee found that this FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Hartmann coffee has an overall flavor profile closer to tropical fruits, nuts, red wine, honey, and cane sugar.

These two FrontStreet Coffee's Panama coffee beans from different growing regions show significant flavor differences due to different processing methods. Through cupping comparison, FrontStreet Coffee believes that FrontStreet Coffee's Hartmann has a very rich fermented red wine aroma, while FrontStreet Coffee's Elida Estate's flavor leans toward tropical fruit flavors. The flavor of this FrontStreet Coffee's Elida Estate is also different from FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Diamond Mountain series coffee beans from Hacienda La Esmeralda, also in the Boquete region. This FrontStreet Coffee's Diamond Mountain coffee beans from Panama have a dry fragrance with citrus and berry fruit aromas, and a wet fragrance of citrus. The overall flavor includes citrus, honey, cocoa, and also carries fermented wine aromas.

Coffee Varieties and Processing

In addition to growing Geisha varieties, Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama also grows Caturra and Catuai, dividing these two varieties into the Diamond Mountain series and the Palmira series that FrontStreet Coffee just mentioned. Elida Estate also grows Catuai, as well as Typica and Geisha. The estate's processing plant is located halfway up the mountainside, allowing coffee to be transported to the factory for processing immediately after picking, ensuring the quality of coffee cherries is not affected. Of course, Elida Estate's environment is also suitable for growing other high-quality temperate crops, especially tree tomatoes and some uncommon high-altitude fruits. Interestingly, the flavors of these fruits can often be found in Elida Estate's coffee as well.

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, Elida Estate has a long history of Panama coffee cultivation. Elida Estate is the most renowned estate of the Lamastus family, founded in 1918. From when Robert Lamastus, the founder of the Lamastus family's coffee estate, planted the first coffee tree, it has now passed through a century and witnessed the worldwide popularization of specialty coffee.

To this day, Elida Estate is still managed by descendants of the Lamastus family, including estate owner Mr. Wilford, Wilford's father Thatcher, and Wilford's son/fourth-generation successor Wilford Jr. As a traditional coffee family, coffee has been integrated into their family genes. Wilford was born on a small coffee farm, and his parents were also born on coffee farms. The Panama coffee currently produced by the estate comes from Elida Estate, Donkey Estate, and Luisito Estate.

Quality Control and Processing Excellence

In addition to the unique high altitude and microclimate, estate owner Mr. Wilford has put considerable effort into harvesting and processing. To achieve the highest standards, Elida Estate's coffee is only allowed to be hand-picked from the most mature coffee cherries (Ripe on Pinton). The high maturity of the fruit means the pectin's sugar content is naturally high, which is the foundation for producing Elida's excellent flavors.

In addition to being extremely strict about coffee cultivation and processing, estate owner Mr. Wilford is also more rigorous than industry peers in the "purification" after green bean processing. For Panama's Elida Estate, after green bean processing is completed, the beans must undergo more than 5 months of low-temperature resting to remove green notes. This allows the coffee's flavors to develop more balanced and fully. FrontStreet Coffee believes this is also one of the reasons why FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Elida Estate coffee beans have such excellent flavors.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

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