This Serious Select coffee will be roasted and shipped on
Tuesdays 5/21 and 5/28. |
Panama Kotowa Duncan Organic comes from the same farm as the Don K that we offered last year. The auction lot of this coffee won 1st place in the traditional group at the 2012 Best of Panama competition. That small lot was purchased for more than $26 per pound and all of it went to a buyer in Japan. Through our relationship with farm owner Ricardo Koyner over the years, we were able to acquire the same coffee outside of the auction process, same as we did with last year's Don K. And, like that coffee, cherry was kept on the trees to very last moment for their ultimate ripeness. This comes at a cost as windy days blow cherry to the ground where they go to waste.
Ricardo Koyner: This "lot is another example of the Premium ripe which we let go way into ripeness. As I mentioned before, we don´t dare to do much of this because we always lose cherries that fall with the wind when they are too ripe. We also need to be extremely cautious and quick in the process in order not to get ferment taste. But if done right we get this special attributes in the flavor."
Once processing and drying completes, beans are rested for at least two months in wooden silos, a step taken to allow full flavor to develop. We have cupped this coffee many times over the years, always enjoying it. But this year, it is really a special achievement. Extremely lemony, lightly elegant and with a long
finish.
The Kotowa Farm is located on prime land in the Boquete area of Panama's Chiriqui province. The farm operates its own wetmill and oversees every part of the coffee cycle from nursery to finished green coffee. Now in its third generation, it has several outstanding plots of land. The plot where Duncan grows is organically maintained and certified as such, and this holds throughout processing. We have had the pleasure of visiting Kotowa's farms, their old wetmill and their wonderful home, overlooking the beautiful Boquete mountainside and the Baru Volcano. Ricardo Koyner owns coffee shops too, located throughout Panama City and elsewhere in Panama, so much of Kotowa's production is used at home, reducing exportable quantities.
PANAMA KOTOWA FARM PHOTOS
An excellent value for a coffee with pedigree. Arrived packed in Grainpro bags.
- Farm Name: Café Kotowa
- Coffee Name: Kotowa Duncan Organic
- Crop Year: 2012
- Variety: Caturra
- Process: SHB, fully washed
- Elevation: 1700 meters (5600 feet)
- Growing Region: El Salto, Volcancito
- Owner: Ricardo Koyner
- Certifications: Organic Certified for NOP, USA
- Exporter: Specialty Coffee Association of Panama
- Mill: Café Kotowa
In 2006, The National Environmental Agency presented Kotowa Coffee as the winner of The Panama National Award for "The Year´s Environmentally Cleanest Industry". They provide free medical attention for their workers, and for the children they have a nursery with meals and a school program. Kotowa's social programs for the children and families producing this great coffee has earned them recognition from UNICEF nine years in a row.
Cup Characteristics: Super clean and silky. Smooth soft Dutch cocoa finish on the palate. Piquant mixture of apples and citrus. Jammy, stone fruit flavors like pear or pluet.
