Experience Panama’s coffee plantation culture in the Chiriquí Highlands

The peak of the volcano Baru in western Panama is one of the few places where you can see the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at the same time. But the area has regular rain and cloud cover and the nutrient-rich volcanic soil is naturally good for drainage, another reason for coffee production. The local Geisha variety, nurtured and hand-picked by the natives of the Negabe and Bugle communities, is one of the best coffees selling for over $1,000 per pound unroasted.

“they [the Ngäbe and Buglé] In the last hundred years, they have been most closely associated with coffee,” said climatologist and native Dwigdi Valiente. Travel + entertainment In the year “The reason coffee is so expensive in 2021 is because these farmers do all these things right. They listen to nature, they listen to science, and they listen to people.

Coffee first came to Panama in the early 1800s when an English sea captain married a Panamanian woman to bring him the plant. At first, the coffee was planted on the coast, but soon the locals realized that the microclimate of the Chiriquí highlands, located under the volcanic bar, was suitable for coffee growth. Coffee plantations have grown since then.

Although the country grows a relatively small amount—13 million pounds a year compared to Brazil’s five billion pounds—Panamanian coffee lovers today consume more coffee per capita than most coffee-producing countries. Even now, most of the coffee is exported, and the farming has led to the development of tourism. Founded by the Panama Tourism Authority and the 2019 Western Regional Competitiveness Center, the ever-expanding coffee circuit connects 15 farms that offer tastings and tours of their fields and production facilities.

“From families to nature lovers and adventurers, all types of travelers are welcome to explore the coffee plantations of the three main regions of the Chiriqui Highlands: Tierras Altas, Volcan, Bambito and Cerro Punta; as well as Renacimiento and Boquete,” said Promtour Panama, Panama’s official destination marketing organization. 2021 explained in the statement. After all, the highlands of Chiriquí have been called the “Coffee Valley of Napa.”

Here are five must-see farms:

Farm Lerida, Boquete

If it weren’t for Finca Lerida, the world might not know about coffee from Panama. Norwegian engineer Tollef Bache Moniche retired from his years working on the Panama Canal and moved to the site in 1924 with his wife Julia (a small mountain town 6 miles north of Boquete near the Costa Rican border). The couple built their house by hand and started planting coffee that same year. In the year In 1929, Mönnich sent the first Panamanian coffee to Germany to leave the country.

Today, the 900-acre Finca Lerida has a restaurant, coffee shop and rooms for rent for overnight stays. The tour of the estate begins with the coffee fields, to discuss the local terroir, and ends with a tasting of Pacamara, Katuai, Katura, Typica and Gesha varieties and learning the best practices of cup brewing. Visitors follow trails ideal for bird watching, with the local quetzal bird and more than 500 other bird species in the landscape.

Eleta coffee farm, rebirth

Neighboring La Amistad International Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the northwestern edge of Panama, Finca Cafe de Eleta is responsible for protecting its coffee production with environmental protection. In the year In 2003, the farm became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, a voluntary initiative focused on sustainability, to implement and measure sustainability initiatives. All of Finca Cafe de Eleta’s wastewater is treated organically and returned to the environment, and solid waste is composted.

Finca Cafe de Eleta was first established in 1978 as a vegetable and sheep farm. The first coffee plant, the Katuai variety, was planted in 1995. Now the farm has more than 457 acres with elevations ranging from 3,937 to 4,921 feet, with Bourbon, Catuay, Katura, Geisha, Maragogipe, Pacamara, and Typica coffee varieties. . A tour through the coffee plantation and packaging process lasts two hours. Visitors can add an hour-long tasting for an additional fee or spend the night at the farm.

Lamastus Family Estates, Boquete

The three farms of the Lamastes family estate—Elida, El Burro, and Luito Gesha—produce what is considered the highest quality coffee in the world. Elida Estate is the highest coffee plantation in all of Panama, from 5,200 to 8,500 feet above sea level. Due to Panama law, coffee plantations stop at 6,000 feet; The rest of the Elida Estate is an ecological park within the Volcanic Baru National Park.

Elida started producing coffee in 2011. Each coffee cherry (the coffee fruit is the seed of the cherry) is hand-picked by native Ngbe and Bugle, which fetches above-average prices, up to $1,000 per green pound. During a tour of Elida Estate, participants can pick coffee cherries, watch the coffee production process, taste tree tomatoes (a roma-tomato-sized fruit that grows on trees and resemble unripe tomatoes), and taste coffee with the farm. Owner Wilford Lamastus or his son Wilford Lamastus Jr

Janson Coffee Farm, Highlands

At Janson Coffee Farm, located on the slopes of the Tisingal and Baru volcanoes at an altitude of 5,000 feet, the main goal is to grow coffee in harmony with the surrounding environment. The team grows green tip geisha, catuaí, caturra and pacamara varieties in the soil, using enzymatic microorganisms to maintain optimal nutrient levels. None of the coffee at Janssen is grown with pesticides or herbicides; Different areas differ in forest levels that control pests and allow native flora and fauna to flourish. The farm is powered by 400 solar panels and all waste is used as fuel or fertilizer. The plantation owners are also committed to reforestation by cultivating indigenous seedlings in the nursery to be planted outside the coffee fields.

Swedish farmer Carl Axel Jansen started his farm in 1941 as a cattle ranch. When the second generation took over, they opened Janson Coffee Farm. Today, the coffee produced by the fourth generation of Jansen regularly scores high in the Best of Panama and World Beers Cup competitions. The farm tours are an overview of the different coffee plants that grow there as well as the coffee production process from start to finish and include a tour of the property and the nursery. The taste of coffee is more.

Don Pepe Estate Coffee, Boquete

Located at the foot of Volcan Baru, Don Pepe Estate Coffee opened in 1898, making it the oldest coffee farm in the region and the first Panamanian farm to specialize in coffee. Now in its fifth year of ownership, the Vasquez family focuses on geisha coffee, but with three different processing methods: natural, honey and washed. In a natural process, the coffee beans are completely dried, filling the coffee with less acidity. The honey process removes the pulp layer before the coffee is dried, leaving a sweet acidity in the finished beer, and the washed process removes everything else, leaving the beans for a light body and fruit-focused flavor.

Tours at Don Pepe run twice a day and cover the growing and production of eight of their varieties: geisha, java, pacamara, bourbon, typica, catuaí, caturra and mixed. The tour ends with a tasting. Don Pepe Estate also offers transportation – they will pick you up and drop you off from nearby accommodations.