What makes Typica coffee from Elida Estate distinct?
Elida Estate sits in the Boquete region of Panama's Chiriqui Province, next to Baru Volcano, where the Lamastus family has grown coffee for over a century. Its Natural Typica coffee is cultivated between 1,670 and 1,850 meters, with more than half of the 65-hectare estate inside Baru Volcano National Park. Cool high-altitude temperatures delay cherry ripening by about a month, concentrating sugars in the fruit.
That slow ripening, combined with fertile volcanic soil and the diverse Boquete microclimates, shapes the bean's character. Coffee here is evaluated as a coffee green bean before roasting, then profiled and cupped, and finally brewed by siphon or pour-over. The natural process leaves fruit-forward sweetness in the cup, and the estate's small 30-hectare planting area keeps output limited.
Located in the Boquete production region of Panama, Elida Estate is a renowned specialty coffee estate under the Lamastus family with over a century of history, where high altitude and volcanic soil nurture exceptional coffee. This article focuses on the estate's Natural Typica coffee beans, introducing in turn the terroir of the Boquete region, the background of Elida Estate, and details of cultivation and processing, combined with Front Street Coffee's green bean analysis, roasting records, and cupping performance, and finally offering siphon and pour-over brewing suggestions to help coffee enthusiasts gain a comprehensive understanding of this bean's flavor profile.
Panama Elida Estate
Panama · Elida Estate
Region: Boquete, Panama
Estate: Elida Estate
Altitude: 1,850 meters
Variety: Typica
Processing Method: Natural
01 | Region Introduction
Boquete Production Region
Boquete belongs to Chiriqui Province and is a small town located near the border between Panama and Costa Rica, adjacent to the famous Baru Volcano. It boasts beautiful scenery, fertile and deep soil, and climate and soil conditions highly suitable for growing high-quality coffee.
The microclimate of the Boquete highlands in Panama is the key resource that creates the unique style of specialty coffee in this region. Influenced by Panama's east-to-west topography, cold air converges along the central mountain range to areas above 6,500 feet, forming diverse microclimates in Boquete, with temperatures and rainfall both favorable for plant growth, so the coffee trees here grow very well.
02 | Estate Introduction
Elida Elida Estate Estate
Panama's Elida Estate is located in the renowned specialty coffee region — Boquete. The estate covers a total area of 65 hectares, of which more than half lies within Baru Volcano National Park, with only 30 hectares of land used for growing coffee trees, while the rest remains pristine forest.
Coffee cultivation extends from 1,670 meters to 1,850 meters in altitude, making it one of the two highest-altitude coffee estates in Panama (the other estate reaching the same altitude is Carmen Estate in Volcan Valley).
In the high-altitude environment, low temperatures delay the ripening of coffee cherries by about a full month compared to normal; while the fertile volcanic soil provides ample nutrients for the coffee, and combined with the excellent microclimate brought by Baru Volcano, Elida Estate has repeatedly achieved outstanding results in cupping competitions.
Elida Estate mainly grows three varieties: Catuai, Typica, and Geisha. The estate's processing plant is located halfway up the mountain, so after picking, the coffee can be transported to the factory for processing immediately, 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 are often reflected in Elida's coffee as well.
Elida Estate is the most famous estate of the Lamastus family, founded in 1918. From the planting of the first coffee tree by Robert Lamastus, founder of the Lamastus family's coffee estate, it has now passed a century and witnessed the worldwide popularity of specialty coffee.
Elida Estate is the most famous estate of the Lamastus family, founded in 1918. From the planting of the first coffee tree by Robert Lamastus, founder of the Lamastus family's coffee estate, it has now passed a century and witnessed the worldwide popularity of specialty coffee.
Elida Estate is the most famous estate of the Lamastus family, founded in 1918. From the planting of the first coffee tree by Robert Lamastus, founder of the Lamastus family's coffee estate, it has now passed a century and witnessed the worldwide popularity of specialty coffee.
To this day, Elida Estate is still passed down 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 long been embedded in their family genes. Wilford was born on a small coffee farm, and his parents were also born on coffee farms. Currently, the coffee produced by the estate comes from Elida Estate, Donkey Estate, and Luito Estate.
In addition to the unique ultra-high altitude and microclimate, estate owner Mr. Wilford has also devoted deep effort to harvesting and processing. To meet the highest standards, Elida Estate only allows hand-picking of the ripest coffee cherries (Ripe on Pinton). The high ripeness of the fruit naturally means high sugar content in the mucilage, which is also the foundation for Elida's high-quality flavor.
In addition to being extremely strict about coffee cultivation and processing, estate owner Mr. Wilford is also more rigorous than others in the industry when it comes to the "purification" of green beans after processing. Taking Panama Elida as an example, after processing is completed, the green beans need more than 5 months of low-temperature Resting to remove greenness, which allows the coffee's flavor to develop more balanced and full.
(Low-temperature Resting is a green bean purification concept strongly promoted by coffee master George Howell starting in 2006. We found that while green beans from subtropical regions certainly need to be stored in a low-temperature environment, different processing methods and altitudes will change the low-temperature Resting time. For Panama Elida, 5 months of low-temperature Resting is optimal.)
The oldest coffee estate in Panama's history and one of the highest-altitude estates in the Boquete region, it is an estate growing Geisha at ultra-high altitude (2,050 m). It has not only won multiple BOP championships, but is also the holder of the BOP cupping score record (in 2018, Elida Green Tip Washed Geisha broke the 2016 BOP Elida Green Tip Washed Geisha record of 94.15 with an ultra-high score of 94.66).
03 | Front Street Coffee Green Bean Analysis
Typica is one of the oldest varieties of Arabica coffee discovered to date, along with Bourbon. The Arabica species originated in Ethiopia, and this species still grows naturally in the highlands of its pristine rainforests.
Typica beans are slender, the tree is tall, the fruit is oval, and the branches are slightly inclined. Typica has four long branches spreading outward at an angle of 50–70 degrees. The coffee yield of each tree is very low, but the cupping score is very high.
04 Front Street Coffee Roasting Analysis
Because the beans are charged at a lower temperature, the flavor will not be as clean and intense as when charging at high temperature, but the advantage is that the mouthfeel will be very soft and smooth. Since the development time after first crack is very short, the heat must be sufficient; otherwise, the target drop temperature cannot be reached and the degree of caramelization will be insufficient.
Front Street Coffee will use coasting. This is what most roasting beginners ask about. Actually, the coasting action is cooling down or turning off the heat, using the roaster's temperature to continue roasting the beans. Throughout the roasting process, the beans are absorbing heat; only first crack and second crack are exothermic actions. During these two stages, it is best not to increase the heat, otherwise the beans can easily develop a spicy sensation.
Coasting emphasizes that with the heat off, using the residual temperature of the roaster and the heat released by the beans during the cracking stage, the roasted beans continue to roast slowly.
Front Street Coffee Roaster Yangjia 600g semi-direct fire
Charge when the drum temperature reaches 170°C, set airflow to 3, adjust heat to 140°C after 30 seconds, keep airflow unchanged, turning point at 1'25", adjust heat once at 140°C. At this point the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, dehydration is complete, adjust heat to 110°C, adjust airflow to 4;
At 8'45", ugly wrinkles and dark spots appear on the bean surface, and the bread-like aroma clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of the first crack point. At 9'07", first crack begins; reduce heat to 90°C, adjust airflow to 4 (adjusting heat must be very careful, not so low that there is no cracking sound), 1'45" after first crack , drop at 190°C.
Front Street Coffee Cupping:
Front Street Coffee Dry aroma: caramel, roasted almond, floral
Front Street Coffee Wet aroma: jackfruit, fermented wine aroma
Front Street Coffee Mouthfeel: smooth on entry, with obvious flavors of raisin, peach, orange, melon, sucrose, and caramel, green tea tea-like sensation, and high cleanliness.
05 | Front Street Coffee Brewing Analysis
Front Street Coffee recommended brewing methods: siphon, pour-over
Grind size: 3.5 (Japan Fuji Royal R440)
V60 dripper, 15 g coffee, water temperature 90°C, grind 3.5, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15
Bloom with 30 g water, bloom time 30 s
Stages: pour to 120 ml and pause, then slowly pour to 225 ml,
that is, 30-120-225
On entry, you can clearly perceive the flavors of peach, raisin, and orange, then the sweetness of sucrose and melon gradually emerges, with the finish carrying flavors of grapefruit and a green tea tea-like sensation.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
