I visit the Hartmanns during the harvest and hand pick each day-lot of washed and natural to create this blend. The result is a creamy, sweet, fruit-forward and slightly juicy espresso that works great as a standalone shot or as a milk drink.
The Hartmann family is one of the great coffee stories of Panama. They are a multi-generational coffee family that rose through hard times and are one of the most respected coffee producers in Panama. We have been working with them since 2010!
The family is made up of four brothers and a sister, their spouses and their grand or their children. Their grandfather Alois Strasil Hartmann first mountaineered through the Santa Clara region in the late 1800s. He found a remote, beautiful, fertile, forest enclosed region that would later become Finca Hartmann. Alois’ son, Ratibor “Chicho” Hartmann was responsible for growing the plantation and establishing Finca Hartmann as a coffee farm. Chicho’s children now run the farm.
Chicho passed in 2016, but years before his passing, he sat his Children down and gave them two options on how to move forward. Option one was the traditional way of dividing the land up by five and each sibling doing their own independent thing. Option two was to keep the land intact and have them work as a team, each focusing on their own strength. They chose…drumroll… option two.
OK, so let’s talk about the coffee. It’s grown at 1300m, which should just be an average coffee that you drink and forget about. It should be nothing special, yet it’s amazing coffee. So, what’s their secret?
It’s all about love, care and attention to detail. First, they've planted varieties that they've experimented with at that elevation and they are varieties that thrive both in the cup and in the field - mostly it’s caturra.
Second, they've taken these plants and they've given them lots of care and nurture. When I walk through the farm, the trees are some of the happiest and healthiest I've seen. Then when it's time to pick, they're super punctual. Everyday during the harvest, they find the plot of land that has the most ripe cherry and pick that day.
And then in the processing, they do a spot on job of sorting out under ripe cherry and over ripe cherry and really selecting and processing the cherry that’s perfectly right. For the washed coffees, they de-pulp, ferment, wash and dry with precision. For the natural component, they dry on raised beds, then use the incredible dark room dehydrators, and if the harvest is a big one, they finish the natural process in mechanical dryers.
In the washed coffee, the end result is a coffee that punches way above its weight class. Those dominant peanut notes that you get in a 1300 m coffee now become these really pleasant background nugget notes that add body creaminess and richness to the coffee and the simple citrus notes that you get in a 1300 m coffee now become more complex and interesting orange and grape notes.
In the natural coffee, the cup profile is predominantly fruity and juicy, with a super sweet finish. Most importantly, it’s super clean - many naturals can easily achieve a fruity profile, but at the expense of other, unpleasant, flavours.
