Christmas Coffee 2024 Panama Quetzal: the origin of a unique flavor

It seemed like yesterday that we celebrated last Christmas, and now we have them here again. Either one is getting older every day, or time really flies... or it is probably both... 

As has been tradition at Cafés Caracas, for the Christmas holidays we opt for coffees with very sweet and aromatic profiles... ideal to accompany long after-dinner conversations. This year we wanted to give it a more chocolatey and fruity touch. We have put on our best clothes and traveled to Panama, a country with a small volume of coffee, but with great quality and international recognition.

Panama, Land Of Exceptional Coffees

We have gone to the cradle of Panamanian Arabica coffee, the province of Chiriquí, in the west of the country, near the border with Costa Rica, to offer you this surprising coffee. There is the great Barú volcano which, with a height of 3,474 meters, dominates and conditions the entire province. At the level of curiosity, it is the only place in the world where you can see the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans at the same time. The main coffee-growing areas of the country are concentrated on its slopes, each with its own microclimate and cup profile. Our coffee comes from arguably the most famous origin, Boquete, named after the charming mountain town home to around 14,000 inhabitants. Its people live off tourism, which is concentrated to see the Barú Volcano National Park, with its multiple waterfalls and rivers, the Quetzal route (the Quetzal is an elusive, highly colorful bird that can practically only be seen in these lands) and its coffee farms, all of them very well cared for and focused on specialty coffee. The result is the ideal place to go on vacation for the most coffee connoisseurs.

Supervised quality coffee

From a purely coffee point of view, the Lorayne farm has it all. A tropical climate with abundant water, a good altitude, 1650-1700 m, being on the slope of the great volcano, a volcanic soil rich in natural nutrients, a crop in the shade, where coffee trees, in this case of the Catuaí varietal , are interspersed with trees and native flora, thus achieving this richness of nuances that characterizes this coffee. To this we must add the expertise of the Rosas family, whose fourth generation is in charge of this farm with the passion and desire to produce one of the best coffees in the world. If we add to this its natural processing, the result is a sophisticated coffee of exceptional quality.

It is important, in the case of Panama, to highlight the focus on quality in all processes. This is due, in large part, to the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP), which since its inception in 1997 has spread the focus on high cup quality, above economic performance. Its “Best of Panama” (BOP) contest encourages this process of continuous improvement, rewarding the best coffees in the country each year.

Today, Panama is synonymous with high-quality Arabica coffees and international reputation. Its most recognized variety coffee is the “Geisha”, which has the honor of being possibly the most expensive in the world: in 2021, the BOP winner was the Nuguo Fermented (a natural Geisha from the Nuguo farm), for which 2,568 dollars per pound, which would be about €1,260/kilo, at the exchange rate. I can't even imagine the nerves of the staff the day they roasted this treasure! 

Tasting notes: the experience in every cup

Our Boquete coffee is characterized by its complex and aromatic flavor in the cup, with notes of cocoa and light nuances of red fruits and lychee. It has a pleasant and long-lasting chocolate aftertaste, creamy and balanced body. Medium acidity and high sweetness. Ideal to surprise and enjoy the best moments that Christmas brings us. Now available in our “Cafés Caracas” stores in bulk format and 250 gr ZIP bag. Also on our website www.cafescaracas.com.