Please note: WHOLEBEAN ONLY
The Geisha varietal grown in Panama has become incredible sought after over the last 10 years. Panama produces some incredible coffees but generally at a fairly low volume output with total production at less than 0.5% of the global coffee market. Rather than focusing on volume coffee producers in Panama have concentrated on varietal separation combined with advance and very focused processing methods. We are incredibly excited to have been able to find a pair of outstanding Geish varietal coffees from the Kotowa farms in the famous Boquete region.
The Kotowa farms (which include Finca Don K – where this particular Geisha coffee was grown) were named by Alexander Duncan MacIntyre, a Canadian who settled in the Boquete region in 1918. Inspired by the high, cool climate of the area, he used the name ‘Kotawa,’ meaning "mountain" in the local Ngobe language to designate the land that currently composes the Kotowa estate.
While in Canada, Alexander had read a newspaper article about a mountainous region called Boquete, an unexplored region in Panama located on the slopes of a mysterious volcano. The stories captured his imagination and led him to visit the region, where he fell in love with the magic of the valley and its people. Four generations on, and Alexander's family are still cultivating and processing coffee in the same traditional way. On the volcanic slopes of the farm, you can see the distant Pacific Ocean on one side and the near-by rugged mountains of the continental divide on the other. This area is naturally blessed with a climate where the perfect combination of rain, wind, sunshine, clouds and temperature.
Finca Don K is located at 1700 meters above sea level and is right in the middle of Panama - only 40 km from both the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans. As well as benefiting from the rains from both oceans, the land receives a cool dry breeze from the Atlantic and the moisture from the Pacific. Furthermore, Finca Don K. is situated on the rich, nutritious slopes of the Baru Volcano. Temperatures range from 12°C at night to 25°C during the day. This variation in temperature triggers the formation of sugars in the coffee cherry, and the volcanic minerals make for the development of full and complex fruit flavours.
The coffee cherry is hand-harvested with careful focus on selecting on perfectly ripe cherry. This is then delivered to the mill location where the coffee is laid out to dry on raised tables and turned regularly to ensure even drying. The total drying stage takes about 14 days. Once complete the coffee is rested in climate-controlled silos at a cool temperature of 15 degrees C and a humidity of 65%. At the farm, extensive testing has been done and they have found that this stable resting stage helps to develop complex and balanced flavours.
