Panama Carmen Estate 1800

Cupping Characteristics: A very clean, bright cup, Carmen Estate is a classic Panama coffee full of subtle citrus acidity. It is refined and sweet with flavors including chocolate and fruit. Extremely well balanced with a pleasingly dry finish.

$18.99

Grind:

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Description

Arrived October 2019, new crop and a direct trade coffee. We have known our friend Carlos Aguilera, owner of Carmen Estate, for close to 20 years. However, we have not offered their excellent washed coffee in quite a long time and are pleased to have it available once again, albeit for just a few months.

Carmen Estate is located in the Volcan Valley part of the Baru Volcano region of Panama, the other side from Boquete and near the border with Costa Rica. The valley is considered the most important coffee growing region in Panama due to its elevation, dense vegetation, volcanic soil and diverse micro-climates. The cool, frost-free nights coupled with dry, sunny days create ideal coffee growing conditions. The farm’s coffee is grown at an altitude of 5,600 feet.

Carmen Estate is a family owned farm under the current leadership of Carlos Aguilera. They produce about 1200 bags of green coffee annually; the coffee is of the catuai, caturra and typica varietals. It is harvested from December through March, hand picked by the Nobes, the indigenous people of Panama. The coffee is process by the wet method and both sun and mechanically dried on the farm. Carmen Estate practices strict agricultural and environmental standards; the farm is more than half forested by native trees, which naturally shade the coffee; it is certified by the Rainforest Alliance.

Carmen is a serious entrant each year in the Best of Panama competition where they place solidly, signifying the consistency of growing and processing technique. In prior years they grew tradional varietals like this Caturra and Catuai and, also like this coffee, washed processing. Today, Carmen has successfully experimented with other varieties, notably Geisha and has become adept at natural processing as well. This traditional varietal and process is still the signature coffee of the farm and comes from its highest elevations of 1800 meters.

Carmen Estate has won numerous awards, or placed in the top tier of Best of Panama just about year, including:

2019 (Geisha $80 per pound)
2018 (Geisha and Traditional 3 awards ranging $32 to $94 per pound)
2017 (Geisha and Traditional 4 awards ranging $19.50 to $51 per pound)
2016 - Geisha $104.25 per pound
On and on back to at least 2003

Note, many of the above are for more costly varietals such as Geisha but some are for traditional varietals like this coffee.