Duncan Estate in Kotowa, Panama Sun-cured Kadura Coffee Beans

Front Street Coffee: Duncan Manor Kadura Coffee Beans

Country: Panama

Production area: Duncan Estate in Poquet

Variety: Kadura

Altitude: 1650~1750 meters

Treatment method: Sun exposure

Flavor: floral fragrance, red grapes, preserved fruit, prunes, fermentation

Coffee at Kotowa has a long history, and the story of the first generation of owners dates back to the end of the 19th century.

As a Canadian, Alexander Duncan MacIntyre was born in 1873. He started his career in the fruit trade with his brother Joseph Albert McIntyre. Later, the brothers entered politics one after another, and Alexander became the youngest mayor of Port Alberni.

In 1916, his brother Joseph bought a farm called Finca Carolin in Poquet, Panama. Although he only spent some time, he praised the land after returning to Canada. At the same time, Alexander also read several articles introducing Poquet in the press, so he was attracted by this land full of primitive customs and began to embark on a journey of searching for the unknown with curiosity and longing.

In 1925, Alexander decided to move from North America to settle in Poquette, Panama, married a local woman, Angela Rosas, and then, like other immigrants, chose to cultivate the land. After changing the name of the farm to La Carolina, Alexander also built a small coffee processing factory, which then opened the story of coffee growing belonging to the Kotowa family and opened the door for four generations to thrive here. A new chapter.

Catowa is located at the foot of Baru Volcano in western Panama. It has dense vegetation, unique microclimate and fertile volcanic soil. Water vapor from the Atlantic Ocean gathers on slopes at an altitude of up to 2500 meters and condenses to form rainfall. The sunshine in the dry season is relatively long, providing abundant water resources and sunshine for the coffee trees planted here, and allowing them to fully absorb nutrients.

Currently, Katowa Estate has passed down to its third generation and is jointly managed by Ricardo Koyner and his daughter Victoria.

It is worth noting that in addition to the owner of the estate, Mr. Ricardo also has another identity, which is one of the founders of the Panama Fine Coffee Association (SCAP) and the chairman of the first SCAP. Since the 1990s, many coffee farmers in Panama have realized the difficulties faced by the industry and wanted to find development opportunities, so they turned to the American Specialty Coffee Association (SCAA) for help. After several years of hard work, seven coffee farmers 'representatives started In 1996, a Panamanian exclusive coffee organization was promoted to help improve the overall competitiveness of the country's coffee.

After taking over the manor, Mr. Ricardo understood the importance of the brand, so he officially named his farm Cafe Kotowa Farms. In addition to retaining the raw bean processing plant left by his grandfather, he also purchased coffee bean roasters and other equipment, and opened a branded coffee shop in the local area. The purpose is to directly sell products with "Kotowa" to wider markets such as Europe and the United States.

Compared with other manors, the equipment in the Katowa processing plant is driven by running water. The entire machine is driven by wooden gears of different sizes and manually sewn animal skins that serve as transmission links. In an era of scarce resources at that time, it is undoubtedly considered very advanced equipment. What is even more rare and valuable is that this equipment is still intact and displayed inside the manor, allowing visitors to feel the true history of the Panamanian coffee industry.

Today, Katowa owns a total of seven farms, five of which are well known to coffee fans, including Finca Kotowa DUNCAN, Finca Kotowa Don K, Finca Rio Cristal, Finca Kotowa TRADICIONAL, and Finca Kotowa LAS BRUJAS. The other two new farms are Mango and Redondo. Coffee is not currently available.

According to data inquired by Qianjie, the word "Kotowa" originates from the language of local aborigine Ngäbe, meaning "mountain." Catowa's logo is based on the main force of coffee cherries picking in Panama, a local indigenous group called Gnobe Bugle, also known as "Guaymíes" by locals.

In memory of the first generation of farmers, Duncan Manor is named after Mr. Ricardo's grandfather Alexander. Don K Manor is in memory of his father Richard Koyner."Don" means sir in Spanish. The Witch Manor is named after the stream in front of the door, because it often makes a noise when it flows, just like a witch from a virgin forest making a "howling sound"; Crystal River Manor, as the name suggests, is that when the river rolls in the sun, you can see a dazzling light like crystal, which is why it has such a beautiful name.

Due to the success of its manor in competitions, the brand "Katowa" has long been a household name in the local area. If you mention Katowa coffee in China, I believe that many friends, like Qianjie, will first think of Duncan Manor, which is often active in major competitions, and the Witch Manor, which has been winning awards in recent years.

Front Street started this time with sun-cured cadura from Duncan Manor. Friends who often read Front Street articles know that the maturity of coffee fruits when picked has a great impact on the final quality. In order to present the fullest aroma of coffee, Katowa Manor requires workers to gently peel off the coffee cherries when they are wine-red, and quickly post-process them after harvesting to avoid excessive fermentation of the pulp and causing an unpleasant taste.

In order to present its fragrant flower and fruit tonality and highlight the sweetness in the caramelization direction, we adopted a medium and light baking degree and conducted a cup test in time.

This Duncan Manor Sun-cured Cadura presents a quiet pink flower and a strong fruit aroma when it is dry, which makes the people on the Front Street first think of cranberries, preserved fruits, grapes and other fruits. After breaking the shells and removing the dregs, you can feel the ripe Kyoho grape flavor, prune flavor, as well as the sweetness of honey. As the temperature drops slightly, the acidity of the hawthorn is gradually released, accompanied by the charm of brown sugar, adding an extra layer to the whole cup.