Characteristics of Panamanian Coffee introduction to Panamanian Coffee Flavor Manor

Willem Boot, owner of two Panamanian farms Finca Sao í an and Finca La Mula, also grows Rosa Coffee, which is also an award-winning variety. In February 2015, I went to Finca La Mula Manor with the professional manager of Boot, along with my friend Kelly Hartmann, a Panamanian native. In summer in Panama, the climate from January to April is much drier than when I first visited Panama. But Boot reminds me that when you get to the farm, you will find that "dry" is only relative. "this is basically a forest in the clouds, and when the clouds come, the temperature will drop sharply." This is how Boot describes it. We climbed the steep hillside of the manor and passed through the thick clouds, which covered everything that La Mula was a dense forest and huge shade trees covered most of the planting area. There is also a second layer of shade trees that grow lower than them, and under this vault are rosy summer coffee trees that have a unique flavor because of the environment.

Boot told us: "if the cloud period is regular and becomes a regular phenomenon, it shows that it can cause some unique situations for trees." Especially in the presence of fruit trees, plants will respond to the environment and adjust themselves. When there is no sunlight, the leaves get a higher water supply, and the photosynthesis of the trees is slow, which lengthens the ripening period of cherries, making the flavor stronger, especially in terms of sweetness and acidity. " So will humidity make it more difficult to grow? "it doesn't matter," Boot said. "We want these unique things to happen, and that's what makes them unique."

The thick forest ensures that the clouds can last on the hillside. Under the joint action of trees and clouds, combined with high altitude, coffee can grow in a cool and humid environment with a unique geographical location to create a unique flavor.

Finca Nuguo Manor is getting better and better on the world coffee stage, with the exception of some coffee that won senior competitions, where beans were used in the 2016 US barista champion Lemuel Butler competition. Finca Nuguo Manor is located in Chiriqu í in western Panama, close to the Costa Rican border.

"it's raining hard here, and even in the dry season, Rain Water continues to be here." Jos é Gallardo, the owner of Finca Nuguo, said, "I think these trees will love the rain, which means the nutrition will be good all year round." Water brings all the nutrients of the year to the root layer. In addition to the formal rainy season, Finca Nuguo Manor also experienced an unusual rainfall (as did La Mula), which Panamanians call "bajareque". The rain was coming so fast from the Atlantic that I even saw clouds like waves covering a corner of the hillside. Standing on the top of the mountain, the second before it was covered by strong sunlight, you could see the clouds sliding slowly between the two slopes, like a blanket. Before you realize what happened, the next second you are already in the bajareque. The cold Rain Water is very small, just like a silver needle, the temperature plummets and almost tingles your skin. Bajareque has caused a lot of trouble for local farmers, but Finca Nuguo Manor's Jos é Gallardo told us: "in a tropical rainforest, trees love the rainy season. The trees in the dry areas are very similar, the leaves are scarce and the ground is dry. But in Nuguo, if you go into the jungle, you will find leaves everywhere. Everything is soft. Boot commented on the phenomenon: "it's a combination of several factors: a unique forest climate, a lot of rainfall, misty woods." Because of this unique climate, we get a lot of planting materials, which create a very complex organic matter in the soil. Constant moisture helps these materials degrade, while hyperactive microbial bacteria create a special metabolism to help trees get nutrients. Higher elevations and cold weather conditions mean more complex oils in coffee. We can't measure this accurately, but we can taste it, and I've consulted botanists that the unique color of coffee, such as the unique reddish hue observed at Finca Nuguo Manor, is also related to these complex oils. "

● is not just happy.

Under such exciting conditions, it will bring a lot of challenges

As you can see, all coffee cultivation depends on the unique growth environment of western Panama. The weather is the most important part of the whole story. Fortunately, these special environments create a special flavor, which makes all the hard work valuable.