  In the land of the Panama Canal, bird filled rain forests and world class fishing, lies coffee farms producing world class coffee. In Panama's highland region, the western province of Chiriqui, is the placid and wonderful town of Boquete. It is known as the "Valley of the Flowers and Eternal Spring." On the side 0f the Baru Volcano (over 11400 feet) near the border with Costa Rica, are some of the best, if not the best, Estate coffees in the world. The area has the perfect environment for growing world class coffee beans. The unique area receives winds from the north, known as the "barareque," along with a light drizzle accompanied by a cool breeze. The best and highest ranking coffees in the world come from this region of Panama. The Boquete and Volcano Baru region's high altitude grown Estate coffees consistently outperform the rest of the world.
What makes good coffee?
The first and most important part of producing good coffee is starting with good coffee beans. This means Arabica coffee beans. You should then have the best arabica coffee beans which are identified as Specialty Coffee.
Specialty? Estate? Goumet? Which is it?
It really is all the same or should be the same. Specialty Coffee is a term that refers to the highest quality green beans roasted by true caftspeople, has no defects and has a distinctive flavor in the cup. The Specialty Coffee Association of America says, "Sometimes called "gourmet" or "premium" coffee, specialty coffees are made from exceptional beans grown only in ideal coffee-producing climates. They tend to feature distinctive flavors, which are shaped by the unique characteristics of the soil that produces them". It is usually identified by the farm. Estate Coffee identifies that the coffee origin is from one farm. This signifies a high qualtiy bean with farm characteristics. Gourmet Coffee... Since a gourmet is a person with a discriminating palate and who is knowledgeable in fine food and drink, true gourmet coffee should be equivalent to specialty/estate coffee. However, it is often used to promote a coffee that is not a high quality specialty coffee.
The highlands of Panama has the perfect combination of soil and environment in many microclimates to grow unique specialty coffee and as a result, Panama produces outstanding and very unique beans rated the world's best.
Why Drink Specialty Coffee? And Why Panama's?
The simple answer is: Because it tastes better. "Grown only in ideal climates and prepared according to exacting standards, specialty coffee possesses a richer and more balanced flavor than mass-produced coffee. Plus, it must pass a stringent certification process to ensure that it is free of flaws and imperfections." according to the SCAA. Specialty coffees compete in "blind" tasting competitions which grade each coffee to a standard. Although many of the finest specialty coffees from the top 15 coffee producing countries enter these contests which are judged by panels of internationsl judges, Panama's specialty coffee stastically out cups them all. See our coffee ratings.
Then the beans must be roasted by someone who knows the beans intimately in order to know expected results of each estate/farm. Our U.S. roaster is from a long line of Panama Estate coffee growers and knows how to roast coffee so that the great origin characteristics of each bean comes through when brewed. The roasted beans are put into one-way valve bags which let the coffee beans de-gass without letting air in. These special bags insure a longer shelf life by keeping the beans fresher, longer.
CoffeeFromPanama.com is your source for the world's best gourmet coffee. They are all 100% Arabica mostly bird friendly and shade grown at the highest altitudes in the Chiriqui Provence of Panama. Our farms have close working relationships with their Gnobe - Bugle native workers and strive to enhance the communities as well as the social, medical, nutritional and educational services available to their workers. There is great pride in the traditions that have led the qualtiy and taste generated by these traditions.
Traditions such as hand picking, washed, and sun dried are still practiced. The Gnobe - Bugle natives of Panama have been growing and harvesting coffee for generations. These Gnobe - Bugle know the correct selection of the mature cherry and have the manual quality control that helps makes Panama Specialty Coffee so uniquely special.
Some of our coffees are Organic Certified by Bio Latino for USDA and Rainforest Alliance Certified. Coffees grown in the Boquete area that are not organic certified are very close to organic. Traditional methods include using the cherry bean process bi-products as fertilizer and hand spot treating for fungus - not overall application. Also, high altitude coffee by nature of the environment has less of a bug problem.
Enjoy what good coffee is all about!
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