I have a long history with Carmen Estate. I started buying Carmen’s caturra in 2010 and became great friends with Carmen’s owner, Carlos Aguilera. The farm is named after his mother, Carmen. It’s situated in one of the most scenic and fertile coffee regions in the world: Paso Ancho. Paso Ancho is considered to be the area where the Baru volcano deposited the most volcanic material during its last eruption. The result is one of the most fertile and giving soils in Panama and the coffee at Carmen is forever grateful. The conditions of amazing soil, high elevations and native forest give Carmen the magical combination for incredible quality.
This Geisha is a green tip Geisha variety that was planted in 2010 in a section of Carlos’ farm that sits at 1900m. The coffee trees had a hard time growing at the early stages due to the cold and windy conditions of the farm at that elevation. Carlos and his team gave the Geisha trees a lot of love and helped them overcome the elements and in 2013 there was just enough production from the trees to allow Carlos to cup his Geisha for the first time. I actually cupped the first production in Panama in 2013 and the results were very amazing; the coffee showed incredible potential.
The coffee was carefully processed under Jean Paul’s careful watch. The cherries were picked then oxidized in stainless steel tanks for 36 hours. Afterwards, they were dried on raised beds for two weeks. The coffee was then dried in a dark room the rest of the way. The result is a super complex coffee full of tropical fruits but still showcasing the virtues of the Geisha variety. This was my favorite coffee in Panama this year!
