How Do Coffee Farms in Boquete Tell El Burro and La Mula Apart?

El Burro and La Mula are two separate Geisha estates in Panama's Boquete valley whose translated names are easy to mix up. El Burro belongs to the Lamastus family and sits on the southwestern slope of Baru Volcano, where high-altitude volcanic soil produces a naturally processed Geisha with marked sweetness. La Mula was founded in 2005 by Willem Boot and is small but has collected several awards.

Most Panamanian coffee farms cluster in western Chiriqui province, split between Volcan on the west side of the Baru range and Boquete on the east. The two towns sit roughly 22 kilometers apart in a straight line, but the drive around the main ridge runs close to one hundred kilometers and takes at least an hour and a half. Boquete itself is a narrow valley between Baru Volcano and Jaramillo Mountain.

On the map of Panamanian specialty coffee, the Boquete region brings together many top-tier Geisha estates, among which El Burro (Donkey Estate) and La Mula (Mule Estate) are often confused due to their similar Chinese translated names. El Burro belongs to the century-old coffee family Lamastus, located on the southwestern slope of Baru Volcano, where high-altitude volcanic soil nurtures a naturally processed Geisha with outstanding sweetness; La Mula was founded in 2005 by "Godfather of Geisha" Willem Boot, and although small in size, it has won numerous awards. Front Street Coffee walks you through the historical origins, terroir conditions, and cultivation details of both estates one by one, and shares tasting experiences, helping you clearly distinguish these two similarly named yet distinctly excellent coffee estates.

Anyone with some understanding of Panamanian specialty coffee will probably, like Front Street, first think of Boquete when mentioning this Central American country's quality regions. After all, this land has nurtured too many outstanding Geisha producers, and names like Hacienda La Esmeralda, Elida Estate, and Duncan Estate have long become recognized top representatives in the industry.

And in this fertile region, two estates happen to be named after animals, with Chinese translated names that read especially similar—one called "Donkey Estate," the other "Mule Estate," making it hard to tell who is who. Today, Front Street takes you into these two coffee farms separately, to experience the unique charm of Geisha together.

First of all, the vast majority of Panamanian estates are concentrated in the western province of Chiriqui, bordering Costa Rica, distributed on both sides of the Baru Volcano mountain range: the west side is Volcan, and the east side is Boquete. Although the straight-line distance between Volcan and Boquete is only 22 kilometers, driving actually requires going around the main mountain range, a journey of nearly one hundred kilometers, taking at least an hour and a half.

Boquete is actually the name of a valley, nestled right between Baru Volcano and Jaramillo Mountain, running in a narrow and elongated direction. The scenery here is pleasant, cool and refreshing in the dry season, with fine drizzle in the rainy season—even without considering coffee, Boquete itself is enough to attract travelers from around the world. Long-time residents here rely on the Rio Caldera river and have built many hotels, villas, and resorts, making this a destination tourists love to visit.

When Front Street checked the map, we noticed that Panama is located between two oceans, and the air currents from the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean converge in the Boquete Valley at areas above 6,500 feet in elevation, creating a complex and changeable microclimate with just the right temperature and humidity. Combined with the volcanic soil, coffee cherries grown here more easily develop rich layers of aroma.

El Burro Estate

El Burro means "donkey" in Spanish, and this estate comes from Panama's renowned coffee family—the Lamastus family.

The Lamastus family's story began in 1918 and has been passed down through four generations. From founder Robert Louis Lamastus establishing the first coffee estate, to his son Thatcher with wife Elida, to the more familiar Wilford Lamastus, and now the youngest fourth generation has taken over.

A century later, the Lamastus family owns three estates: Elida, El Burro, and Luito. Among them, Elida Estate, named after the first-generation matriarch, is not only the family's earliest established and most famous coffee farm, but also a frequent champion in BOP green bean competitions.

As for the origin of El Burro Estate's name, Front Street has not found definitive official records. It is said that because the area where the estate is located was used for raising livestock in earlier years, the owner named it "El Burro."

According to the official website, El Burro Estate was established in 1925 and was originally owned by Thatcher's father-in-law Amado Boutet, who was also the maternal grandfather of the current third-generation manager Wilford Lamastus. At that time, global coffee prices continued to decline, and the family had to sell off large tracts of coffee farms. Wilford and his younger brother Patrick could not bear to see the ancestral business change hands, so they bought it back and continued to manage it. To keep the estate running, Wilford's family also needed side businesses to supplement expenses. After years of persistence, it has achieved today's status as a "famous estate" that has been shortlisted in major green bean competitions year after year.

El Burro Estate is located southwest of Elida and is one of Panama's southernmost plantations, covering 65 hectares. Because part of the land falls within Baru Volcano Park, only 30 hectares are actually used for growing coffee, with more than half surrounded by virgin forest. This also preserves rich biodiversity for the estate, making it a habitat for many rare plants, birds, and mammals. For decades, hunting has always been strictly prohibited on this farm.

El Burro Estate mainly cultivates two varieties: 50% Geisha and 50% Catuai. The coffee trees grow between 1,575 and 1,800 meters above sea level, with an average elevation of about 1,675 meters. High altitude brings significant temperature differences between day and night, plus fertile volcanic ash soil, heavy fog in the dry season, and a cold, shaded environment at night—sometimes below 10 degrees Celsius at the highest points—coffee trees here need four and a half to five and a half years to begin bearing fruit, and coffee cherries mature about a month later than in lower-altitude regions, giving the beans more time to accumulate flavor compounds.

To taste the deliciousness from the competition stage, Front Street also once acquired a naturally processed Geisha from El Burro Estate, using a medium-light roast. After brewing, it presented round acidity like green grapes and apricots, accompanied by sweetness like oranges and dried longan, with elegant floral notes and a slight fermented feel throughout. As the temperature dropped, the sweet-and-sour orange flavor became even more prominent!

Finca La Mula

Compared with El Burro Estate, the origin of La Mula has clear records and a deep connection with Geisha. Let us turn time back to 2004. In the very year Geisha began to emerge, Willem Boot, serving as a judge, tasted Geisha coffee for the first time and was immediately captivated by its refined orange aroma and honeyed charm, which sparked the idea of establishing an estate.

Willem Boot is a highly respected figure in the coffee industry. He was born in the Netherlands and grew up in the small town of Baarn near Amsterdam, developing a strong interest in coffee from an early age. Friends who know Geisha will not be unfamiliar with Willem, and may even find him familiar—he is the guide who led the Gesha Village team into the gesha forest, and is even known as the "Godfather of Geisha."

At age 14, Willem roasted his first batch of coffee; after earning a master's degree in business economics from the University of Amsterdam, he co-owned and operated a specialty coffee business with his family. In 1989, he moved to San Francisco, USA, and worked at Probat. In 1998, he founded Boot Coffee, providing consulting for coffee companies, coffee associations, development banks, and governments worldwide. In 2016, he also founded Boot Coffee Campus, a leading training institution near San Francisco, California, serving the coffee industry throughout the Pacific region.

Through an introduction by Panamanian estate owner Graciano Cruz, Willem found a high-altitude area near Baru Volcano very suitable for growing coffee, now known to us as La Mula, and bought it in 2005. Because he rode a mule on his first visit, he named the estate "Mule."

La Mula is located in southern Chiriqui Province, Panama, adjacent to Baru Volcano Park, on slopes at 1,700 to 1,800 meters above sea level, with soil rich in mineral elements, beautiful surrounding natural scenery, and a strong primeval jungle atmosphere. These conditions laid an inherent advantage for coffee cultivation, but also meant that the land-clearing process was extremely arduous.

Because the roads leading into the forest were not well developed, all coffee seedlings had to be carried manually, walking through winding forest paths before they could be planted in the fields. It was not until 2007 that Willem and his team successfully planted more than 6,000 Geisha coffee trees on this mere 5 hectares of land. Today, Willem owns three estates: La Mula, Cabra, and Sofia. Although La Mula is the smallest, it has won countless awards since entering competitions in 2014, becoming a high-quality famous estate that many Geisha lovers long for.

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.