What Makes El Burro Estate Geisha Coffee Distinct?

El Burro Estate, founded in 1925 by French immigrant Aristides Boutet in Panama's Boquete region, is nearing its centennial and now operates under the Lamastus family. Its Geisha, grown near the Baru Volcano, is naturally processed and roasted medium-light, cupping with green grape, apricot, orange, dried longan and floral notes. In 2016, Maruyama Coffee won the world championship using this estate's Geisha.

The estate's terroir depends on Panama's unusual microclimate: cold air from Florida meets warm, moist Pacific air over the central mountain range each winter, producing changeable winds and frequent rain. That combination of temperature and rainfall supports coffee growth at high altitude, and the estate also cultivates Catuai alongside Geisha, with repeated success at the annual Panama coffee competition.

The Boquete region of Panama has given rise to many world-class coffee estates, and El Burro Estate is one of them, soon to enter its centennial history. The estate was founded in 1925 by French immigrant Aristides Boutet, and was later acquired and managed by the Lamastus family due to family ties. Its unique location—near the Baru Volcano mountain range—gives the coffee excellent terroir conditions. The estate mainly cultivates Geisha and Catuai, and in recent years has achieved repeated success in the Best of Panama competition. In 2016, Japan's Maruyama Coffee even won the world championship with El Burro Estate Geisha. This time, Front Street Coffee brings a naturally processed El Burro Estate Geisha, using a medium-light roast, whose cupping reveals a rich layering of green grape, apricot, orange, dried longan, and floral aromas. This article will take you deeper into the history, terroir, and unique flavors of El Burro Estate's Geisha.

In 1925, a pioneer who had immigrated to Panama from France acquired a piece of land in the Boquete region for coffee cultivation. This land had originally been used for livestock grazing, so Mr. Aristides Boutet, who bought it, named the estate "El Burro Estate." In a little over half a year, El Burro Estate will, like Elida Estate, join the ranks of century-old famous estates and become the second hundred-year farm under the Lamastus family. Today, Front Street will take everyone closer to this nearly hundred-year-old El Burro Estate and explore its charm.

El Burro Estate

El Burro Estate is located in the Baru Volcano mountain range of Boquete, Panama, an area where many well-known Panamanian estates are concentrated. It enjoys exceptional terroir resources, especially Panama's unique microclimate.

On a map, Panama's terrain runs east-west in an S shape. Every winter, two air currents converge in the high-altitude area of the central mountain range: one is a cold current from Florida in the United States moving from north to south, and the other is a warm, moist Pacific air current moving from west to north.

When these two air currents of very different natures meet, they trigger changeable winds and frequent rainfall. Such climatic conditions provide suitable temperatures and precipitation for plant growth, so people often say this is Panama's one-of-a-kind important resource. El Burro Estate happens to be located near the mountain range and likewise benefits from this climate.

In addition, the Baru Volcano is also worth mentioning. Panama's main coffee-producing regions are all distributed around this volcano. The fertile volcanic soil is rich in organic matter, and elements such as potassium and phosphorus can provide ample nutrients for coffee growth, helping to shape better coffee flavors. Therefore, this land also enjoys the reputation of a "coffee paradise."

Mr. Aristides Boutet was not only the founder of El Burro Estate, but also the maternal grandfather of Mr. Wilford Lamastus of the Lamastus family. It was precisely because of this kinship that El Burro Estate later became a member of the Lamastus family's holdings.

For a long period, the coffee market was oversupplied and prices remained depressed. Many estate owners could not hold on and had no choice but to sell their estates, and Mr. Aristides Boutet was among them. However, Mr. Wilford and his younger brother Patrick Lamastus could not bear to see El Burro Estate fall into the hands of outsiders, so they bought it and continued to operate it.

El Burro Estate is slightly smaller than Elida Estate, at about 50 hectares, but it is still a considerable piece of land. Like most estates in the Boquete production region, part of El Burro Estate lies within Panama's national forest park. Because the forest is protected by the state and logging is prohibited, this portion of about 20 hectares cannot be used for coffee cultivation.

After deducting the 20 hectares that cannot be cultivated, the remaining 30 hectares are allocated by the Lamastus family as follows: 10 hectares are reserved for future planting, and 20 hectares are used for coffee cultivation, mainly Geisha and Catuai.

But at that time, the Lamastus family's business situation was not optimistic either. In order to keep the estate running and maintain daily life, the family also had to take on other work to obtain funds and support the farm's operations.

With the Lamastus family's persistence, the estate finally saw a turning point. Since 2015, El Burro Estate has continued to win awards and has become a renowned estate with repeated success in the Best of Panama (BOP) competition. In 2016, a contestant from Japan's Maruyama Coffee even won the competition championship with El Burro Estate's Geisha.

So, Front Street got hold of another Geisha from El Burro Estate and is ready to taste something delicious! That's right, we simply couldn't resist! This Geisha is naturally processed. Natural processing means drying the whole coffee fruit, skin and pulp included, directly until it reaches a certain moisture content, taking about 2 to 4 weeks, and finally using a huller to remove the outer shell wrapping the beans, completing the green bean processing.

Naturally processed coffee beans often have fuller flavor layering, so Front Street uses a medium-light roast for this Geisha to better showcase its excellent flavors.

Front Street Coffee: Panama · El Burro Estate Geisha

Country: Panama

Region: Boquete

Altitude: 1,800 meters

Variety: Geisha

Processing Method: Natural

Grade: SHB

Flavor: green grape, apricot, floral, dried longan, orange

Eight hours after roasting was completed, Front Street immediately conducted a cupping. In terms of dry aroma, this naturally processed El Burro Estate Geisha gives off rich orange and floral notes. After breaking the crust and tasting, one can perceive a rounded acidity like green grape and apricot, as well as the high sweetness brought by orange and dried longan, accompanied throughout by elegant floral notes and a slight fermented sensation. As the temperature drops, the sweet-and-sour flavor of orange becomes more prominent.

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