Where does Panama coffee come from and what defines it?
Panama's specialty coffee comes almost entirely from the western highlands of Chiriqui province, near the Costa Rica border and the Pacific coast. Boquete, Volcan and Santa Clara are well-known areas, with Boquete the most recognized. Growers there work at high altitude in a microclimate shaped by the Baru volcano, and estates including Hacienda La Esmeralda, Elida and Carmen have set cupping records.
Industry practice treats coffee grown between about 1,300 and 1,500 meters as specialty grade, and Panama's better farms sit within or above that band. Chiriqui means Valley of the Moon in local speech, and the Cordillera Central gives the province conditions similar to neighboring Costa Rica. Small lots from named estates are the usual format for the country's most sought-after arabica coffee varieties.
Although Panama is a small country, it occupies a pivotal position in the world of specialty coffee. Its high-altitude areas in the western province of Chiriqui have nurtured top-tier beans sought after by coffee lovers worldwide. From Boquete to the surroundings of the Baru volcano, a group of star estates, with their unique microclimates and relentless dedication, have repeatedly broken cupping records. This article will systematically review Panama's main coffee-producing regions, common varieties, and processing methods, and introduce one by one the flavor characteristics and background stories of representative estates such as Hacienda La Esmeralda, Elida Estate, and Carmen Estate, helping readers gain a comprehensive understanding of the coffee charm of this "Valley of the Moon."
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Panama's coffee-producing regions:
Panama's high-quality coffee is mainly grown in the western part of the country, the area bordering Costa Rica and facing the Pacific Ocean. Coffee produced around Boquete in the province of Chiriqui is the most famous, and Vocan and Santa Clara are equally renowned. There are also the David district, Remacimeinto district, Bugaba district, and Tole district. According to industry standards, only coffee grown at altitudes between 1,300 and 1,500 meters can be classified as specialty coffee.
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The Cafe Volcan Baru coffee recognized by tasters is showing promising momentum, and this coffee is of exceptionally high quality.
Panama specialty coffee-producing region: Boquete, Chiriqui
Panama is located near 9 degrees north latitude, and its specialty coffee-growing areas are mostly in the western highlands, especially concentrated in the mountains of Chiriqui province.
In the local dialect, Chiriqui means "the Valley of the Moon." The province borders Costa Rica and faces the Pacific Ocean. It is about a three-hour drive from the Caribbean Sea and about seven hours from the capital, Panama City. The area is rich in products and is known as Panama's "breadbasket."
In fact, Chiriqui province not only borders Costa Rica, but both also benefit from the gifts of the Cordillera Central, enjoying climate conditions suitable for coffee cultivation. The Cordillera Central extends from Costa Rica's Western Valley production region all the way to Boquete in Chiriqui. For more than a hundred years, local residents have grown coffee here for generations.
Tourism is an important pillar of the local economy, and coffee tourism is relatively well developed, usually including visiting farms, experiencing the processing procedures, and ending with a cupping session. Most well-known coffee farms are equipped with complete vacation service facilities.
Unlike Costa Rica, where coffee is mostly produced by smallholder farmers, most of Panama's coffee comes from large coffee farms.
The main coffee-producing areas of Chiriqui province are Boquete and Volcan-Candela, among which Boquete is famous in the specialty coffee world. The Baru volcano lies between Boquete and Volcan-Candela and is Panama's highest point. The fertile soil, regular rainfall, and suitable altitude around the Baru volcano create the conditions for producing high-quality coffee.
Panama specialty coffee has multiple varieties, commonly including Geisha, Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, and San Ramon. The traditional processing method is washed, but thanks to the challenging spirit of local coffee producers, through unremitting efforts, the high-quality flavors of dry processing and honey processing have also begun to continuously refresh coffee drinkers' taste experiences.
Villa Donica Estate
Boquete's green-tinged raw beans have high moisture content and belong to the soft-bean category, thus offering good heat permeability, so there is no need to worry about uneven roasting. Both aroma and flavor are premium, the mouthfeel is smooth, with rich black chocolate and nutty aromas, medium-high body, low acidity, and a long-lasting sweet aftertaste.
[Producing Country]: Panama
[Region]: Boquete
[Altitude]: 1,550-1,700 meters
[Estate]: Villa Donica Estate
[Processing Method]: Wet-Process Style washed
[Grade]: SHB
[Size]: 17 mesh and above
[Variety]: Catuai
[Climate]: Rainy season from May to December, dry season from January to April
[Soil]: Volcanic soil
[Recommended Roast Level]: Medium (CITY+ ~ FULL CITY)
Panama · Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha Coffee Beans
Panama Geisha (Hacienda La Esmeralda)
[Origin]: Panama
[Region]: Located on the slopes of Baru Mountain, the highest peak in western Panama
[Estate]: Hacienda La Esmeralda
[Grade]: SHB
[Growing Altitude]: 1,450M
[Processing Method]: Fine washed processing
[Special Certification]: Rainforest Alliance certification
[Roast Level]: Light roast city-
[Flavor Notes]: Oolong tea aroma, white peach aroma, honey aroma, fresh and comfortable, bright yet balanced, with extremely strong aroma layering. The entire aroma and caramel sweetness are wrapped together. On entry, the tip of the tongue feels obvious fruity acidity, then it becomes gentle and round in the mouth. The fruity sweetness and lingering sweetness are strong, like swallowing a sip of fresh fruit tea, refreshing to the heart. The lower the temperature, the more delicate the acidity. The charm is also quite long-lasting, making one feel very satisfied!
Hacienda La Esmeralda in Panama is located at one corner of the Baru volcano, so the coffee beans produced in this area were mostly named after Baru Mountain before it became famous. The surrounding area of Boquete has beautiful scenery, with many leisure hotels, villas, and vacation estates, even built along the important river Rio Caldera. Hacienda La Esmeralda is located in Jaramillo on the right side of this river, and later coffee was planted in the higher-altitude area of Cañas Verdes on the left side of the river. All of this is thanks to Rudolph Peterson's decision to purchase this property back then.
To date, La Esmeralda Estate has won a total of 12 championships in various coffee competitions, and in public online auctions it has set the highest bidding record three times: $21 in 2004, $50.25 in 2006, and $130 in 2007! Of course, other countries have also seen fine coffees bid up to nearly $50 per pound (Brazil's 2005 CoE champion Fazenda Santa Inês), and Guatemala's 2008 CoE champion El Injerto at $80.20. But note the timing: when La Esmeralda set its record bids, no previous auction price had surpassed hers; afterward there were higher bids, but she would surpass others again. To call her a record creator is by no means a fluke!
La Esmeralda Estate was purchased by Price Peterson's father, the Swedish-born banker Rudolph A. Peterson, who had served as president of Bank of America and was a major figure in the financial circles of the time. Rudolph bought Hacienda La Esmeralda merely for vacation and later retirement use. He probably never expected that this estate would become world-famous, even becoming the representative specialty coffee estate of Panama. After Price took over, based on altitude and microclimate, as well as cupping performance and planted varieties, he segmented the market into three major brands for sale (Esmeralda Special, Diamond Mountain grows, Palmyra).
Palmyra (Rainforest Alliance certified) is a brand whose coffee is grown near the Baru Volcano National Park area, all planted with Catuai. It is a typical Panama Boquete high-altitude coffee flavor. The acidity is not too sharp, with nutty sweetness and vanilla-chocolate flavors. Palmyra is actually La Esmeralda's highest-yielding coffee, accounting for about 70% of the entire family's coffee production.
Elida Estate
[English Name]: Panama Elida Natural
[Coffee Country]: Panama
[Coffee Region]: Boquete
[Coffee Estate]: Elida Estate
[Growing Altitude]: 3,300 meters
[Roast Level]: Light roast
[Processing Method]: Washed
[Coffee Flavor]: Milk chocolate, citrus, peach, pomelo
Elida Estate is located in the Boquete production area of Chiriqui province, a province on Panama's western border. The province's most famous landmark and tourist attraction is the 3,300-meter-high Baru volcano—one of the highest volcanoes in Central America, with a total area of about 14,000 hectares. It can be divided into 7 different microclimate zones according to altitude, and within the volcano's range many rare plants, birds, and mammals live. The Boquete production area is located on the eastern side of the Baru volcano and is a valley area where volcanic lava once flowed, separated by the volcano from Panama's other well-known coffee-producing region, Volcan Valley.
The Boquete production area has always been Panama's most closely watched coffee-producing area, with many world-famous estates—such as Hacienda La Esmeralda, which became famous for the Geisha variety, and Best of Panama regular winners Hartman Estate, Mama Cata, Kotowa, Santa Teresa, and others. Elida Estate itself is also a heavyweight star estate in the Boquete production area—having won Best of Panama awards for five consecutive years, with a record second only to Hacienda La Esmeralda. Elida Estate has a total area of 65 hectares, of which more than half lies within the Baru Volcano National Park. Thirty hectares are planted with coffee trees, while the remaining 35 hectares are primary forest. Coffee is grown at altitudes from 1,670 meters to 1,850 meters, making it one of the two highest coffee estates in Panama (the other estate with such altitude should be Carmen Estate in Volcan Valley). In such a high-altitude environment, low temperatures delay the ripening period of coffee cherries, about a full month later than normal. The fertile volcanic loam provides ample nutrients for the coffee, and the excellent microclimate brought by the Baru volcano enables Elida Estate to repeatedly achieve good results in cupping competitions. In addition to creating good coffee cultivation conditions, the Lamastus family, which operates Elida Estate, has also planted many different native tree species on the estate, not only providing shade for the coffee trees but also offering a friendly habitat for birds. In terms of fertilization, the Lamastus family uses manual fertilization and a small amount of chemical fertilizer, but never uses pesticides or herbicides harmful to the environment. At present, in addition to varieties such as Catuai, Typica, and Bourbon, the Lamastus family also began planting the Geisha variety a few years ago. Even so, the lots Elida Estate enters in the Best of Panama competition all use Catuai, yet it still repeatedly achieves good results, which fully demonstrates the excellent quality and special flavors brought to the coffee by its geographical environment and outstanding post-harvest processing techniques.
Casa Ruiz Estate
[English Name] panama boquete casa ruiz S.A.
[Chinese Name] Panama Boquete Region Casa Ruiz
[Cupping Flavor] Clean and fresh fruity flavor, elegantly charming floral fragrance, slight citrus acidity, bright and delicate mouthfeel, full fruity sweetness.
[Country] Panama
[Region] Boquete
[Estate] CASA RUIZ S.A. Casa Ruiz
[Processing] Washed processing
[Variety] 40% TYPICA 30% CATURRA 20% CATUAI 10% MUNDO NOVO AND BOURBONS
[Altitude] 1,400 meters
[Grade] SHB
[Soil] Volcanic soil
Panama Casa Ruiz Estate, founded in 1920, is located in the Boquete production area of the Baru volcano, specifically in the Boquete Valley on the slopes of the Baru volcano in northwestern Panama. With three generations of inherited coffee-growing experience, the family has united more than 300 small family farms in the area, with small-estate coffee farmers joining as partners in planting, post-processing, roasting, and marketing, unlike a single estate that cannot increase production scale. Varieties include Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Mundo Novo, and Bourbons. The average annual rainfall is 3,000 millimeters (between May and November), the average annual temperature is 14-24 degrees, and the altitude is above 1,400 meters.
Hacienda La Esperanza
[Country]: Panama
[Region]: Boquete
[Grade]: SHB
[Variety]: Caturra, Catuai, Typica
[Roast Level]: CITY+ (Medium)
[Processing Method]: Washed
[Growing Environment]: Altitude 1,400-1,600M
[Producer/Company]: Hacienda La Esperanza
[Certification]: Organic certification
[Taste and Flavor]: This organic Boquete has nutty and berry aromas in both dry and wet fragrance. The acidity is not high and is gentle, the sweetness is very high, the body is delicate and mellow, and the finish lasts a very long time. Overall it feels somewhat similar to baby Geisha and sweet Geisha.
Hacienda La Esperanza is located at an altitude of 1,400-1,600 meters, with production between 300-700 bags. Processing is mostly completed on the farm, using washed processing and sun-drying, and the removed husks, pulp, and mucilage are used as fertilizer. The estate grows 60% Caturra, 20% Catuai, and 20% Typica and other varieties, the most famous being Geisha, which won the championship in the 2008 BEST OF PANAMA. They also plant many local trees as shade trees and to provide soil nutrients, including orange trees and many tropical fruits such as lemons and grapefruits. The estate contains a huge tropical rainforest nature reserve and at least three mountain wells rich in rainfall. The average annual rainfall is 3,200 millimeters, and the temperature ranges from 16-23 degrees during the day and 14-20 degrees at night.
[Panama Coffee-Producing Regions]
Elida Estate
[Name]: Elida Estate Natural
[Region]: Boquete
[Estate]: Elida Estate
[Variety]: Catuai 85%, Typica & Bourbon 15%, Geisha (a small amount)
[Processing Method]: Natural
[Altitude]: Above 1,800 meters
[Growing Soil]: Volcanic clay
[Flavor Description]: Tropical fruit, spices, nuts, milk chocolate
The farm's history can be traced back to 1918. This farm is the Lamastus family's business, and the farm's name Elida was the name of the then farm owner Robert Louis Lamastus's wife. Elida Estate is located in the Boquete production area, and its altitude is almost the highest in all of Panama, with nearly half of its area within a national protected park, making it a rare ultra-high-altitude estate in Central America! Elida Estate has a total area of 65 hectares, of which more than half lies within the Baru Volcano National Park. Thirty hectares are planted with coffee trees, while the remaining 35 hectares are primary forest. Coffee is grown at altitudes from 1,670 meters to 1,850 meters, making it one of the two highest coffee estates in Panama (the other estate with such altitude should be Carmen Estate in Volcan Valley).
The rugged Baru is a young volcano with an altitude of more than 3,400 meters. It is an active volcano with seven different microclimate zones around it, nurturing a rich and diverse ecological environment, and Elida Estate spans across them. The diverse microclimates have both advantages and disadvantages for coffee cultivation. For Elida, its flavor is more intense than most Panamanian coffees and its aroma is richer and more varied. Of course, the ultra-high-altitude terrain also has disadvantages. Due to the large temperature difference between day and night, Elida Estate's coffee needs five years of care after sowing before its first harvest, making the waiting period for harvest quite long (coffee in usual production areas takes only 3 years). Although the plants grow more slowly, this is very helpful for the development of coffee flavor. After entering the harvest period, due to temperature, the coffee's ripening period often exceeds one month. Once hurricanes, heavy rain, or other force majeure factors arrive just before ripening, even knowing it will cause major losses, because the beans have not met the estate's harvest standards, under its insistence on quality, it refuses to harvest prematurely, resulting in a sharp reduction in yield! The risk is actually much greater than that of other lower-altitude estates.
Elida Estate mainly grows three varieties: Catuai, Typica, and Geisha. The estate's processing plant is halfway up the mountain, so after the coffee is picked it can be immediately transported to the factory for processing, ensuring the quality of the coffee cherries is not affected. Of course, Elida'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 also be found in Elida's coffee.
In addition to its exceptional ultra-high altitude and microclimate, the estate owner Mr. Wilford has also put considerable effort into harvesting and processing. In order to achieve the highest standards, Elida Estate's coffee only allows hand-picking of the ripest coffee cherries (Ripe on Pinton). The high maturity of the fruit naturally means high sugar content in the mucilage, and this is also the basis for producing Elida's high-quality flavor.
In addition to being extremely strict about coffee cultivation and processing, the estate owner Mr. Wilford is also more rigorous than others in the industry when it comes to the "purification" of green beans after processing. For Panama Elida, after green bean processing is completed, it needs more than 5 months of low-temperature resting to remove the grassy notes, which allows the coffee's flavor to develop in a more balanced and full way. (Low-temperature resting is a green bean purification concept strongly promoted by coffee master George Howell starting in 2006. We have found that although green beans from subtropical places certainly need to be kept at low temperature, different processing methods and altitudes will change the low-temperature resting time. For Panama Elida, 5 months of low-temperature resting is optimal.)
Cupping expert Ken Davids gave Elida Estate's coffee a high score of 93 points in 2012! Elida is also a frequent choice among contestants from various countries in the World Barista Championship (WBC). In the finals of Taiwan's TBC (Taiwan Barista Championship) and China's CBC (China Barista Championship), contestants using single-origin Elida to make SOE espresso can often be seen as well.
Exceptional geographical conditions, combined with estate owner Mr. Wilford's dedication to and pursuit of coffee quality, have made Elida Estate one of Panama's three major estates alongside La Esmeralda and Kotowa Duncan.
Carmen Estate
[Origin]: Panama
[Estate]: Carmen Estate
[Grade]: SHB, EP
[Altitude]: 1,750 meters
[Soil]: Black soil
[Screen Size]: 17 mesh
[Variety]: Catuai 70%, Caturra 20%, Typica, dwarf San Ramon, Mundo Novo 10%
[Green Bean Processing]: Semi-washed
Carmen Estate coffee is a family-centered coffee estate, and the family has long grown coffee under the principles of providing high-quality coffee and protecting the environment. In 1950, Efrain and Carmen Franceschi began cultivating Arabica coffee varieties on their estate. Today, Carmen Estate's single processing plant produces about 1,200 bags (60 kg per bag) of unique high-quality coffee beans each year!
Carmen Estate is located in a volcanic valley at an altitude of 1,750 m. The estate is blessed with fertile soil and good natural shade. In addition, this area is also influenced by both the Pacific and Atlantic climates. The cool climate, the dual characteristic of no frost damage at night, and the dry weather together create excellent growing conditions! Benefiting from the volcano's black soil and good drainage equipment, Carmen Estate possesses high-quality Catuai, Caturra, and Typica Arabica coffee!
Carmen Estate has 60% natural primary forest, and coffee trees are planted here and grow under this natural shade! Because of this, the farm obtained Rainforest Alliance certification as ECO-OK environmentally friendly coffee! Coffee beans are harvested from about late December to March of the following year. Fully ripe coffee cherries are hand-picked one by one. The waste generated during fruit processing (such as pulp or **) is properly converted into compost or recycled. After preliminary sun-drying, the green beans are stored in a dedicated warehouse for a second moisture content adjustment, and then hulled before export to maintain good green bean quality!
Carmen Estate has obtained the Certified Eco-OK Coffees ecological sustainability certification issued by the Rainforest Alliance. Passing this certification is very strict, requiring every processing step from cultivation to green bean milling to meet environmental and organic requirements, such as species diversity on the estate, zero-pollution processing, reduced or restricted use of artificial chemical fertilizers, and the socioeconomic security of estate coffee farmers, among others.
Front Street Coffee suggests: Panama coffee beans overall have a clean and bright flavor. Washed beans from the Boquete production area carry citrus, nut, and chocolate notes, while Hacienda La Esmeralda Geisha presents layers of oolong tea, white peach, and honey. If you want to get Panama beans, you can prioritize lots from well-known estates such as Hacienda La Esmeralda, Elida Estate, and Carmen Estate.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
