Panama Elida Estate Reserve
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About Panama Elida Estate Reserve
New 2012 crop arrived here late June 2012 packed in Grainpro bags to preserve the beans and protect them from moisture and outside odors. A direct trade coffee. More popular - and pricey - each year. We have a very limited quantity and it is sure to go quickly.
Elida Especial Reserve has been a multi-year favorite of our customers. Elida seems always in the top group of traditional Panamanian coffees, farmed from 100% catuai varietal, grown at very altitudes and given tremendous care and detail, all under the learned hand of Wilford Lamastus and family. Always in the top ranks of the Best of Panama competition, this year Elida took fourth place in the 'traditional' category and the coffee sold at auction for $21.25. In 2007 our sister company, Willoughby's Coffee & Tea, earned a 95 point rating in Coffee Review. Year in and out Elida Estate Reserve is a quality grown coffee and it seems to grow in popularity. Fans of this coffee will not be disappointed in the vibrant, complex flavors available in this crop.
Elida Estate is located in the Volcan Baru National
Park near Boquete. The farm is about 65 hectares (160 acres), 30 of which are planted
with coffee trees; it produces about 400 60 kg bags annually. Elida coffee is grown at
an altitude of between 5500 and 6000 feet above sea level, the highest level at which
coffee is grown in Panama. In fact, Elida is one of the two highest coffee farms in
Panama. Varietals grown are catuai and bourbon, with some geisha planted within the
past few years. The reserve lot is 100% catuai. Elida is a traditionally fully washed
coffee, fermented in tanks and sun dried. The farm has been owned by the Lamastus
family since 1918. Because of the very high elevations where the Estate Reserve is
grown, coffee is slow to mature and later to ripen and be harvested.
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Bob, Wilford Lamastus owner of Elida center, Barry
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Cupping Characteristics: First impressions of Elida are a delicate,
floral aroma in both ground and brewed forms. In the cup, it is very bright, with
piquant acidity and fruity, melon-like sweetness with hints of chocolate and berries.
It has medium/heavy body with a long, very smooth finish. This is truly an
extraordinary and satisfying cup.
Roasting Notes: Preferred roasting range is City+ to Full City. The floral qualities of Elida Reserve will be present throughout this range, with lighter variations highlighting piquancy and citrus notes. Full City will enhance body.
Panama coffee facts:
Population (2006): 1.3 million people
Coffee Production: 180,000 bags (60 kg)
Country bag capacity: 132 pounds - 60 kg
Domestic Consumption: 80,000 bags
Coffee Export: 100,000 bags
Cultivated Area: 26,000 Hectares (64,200 acres)
Harvests: October - February
Arabica Introduced: Arabica was imported from Costa Rica in 1820.
Specialty Coffee Regions: Boquete near Volcan Baru, Chiriqui.
Grades: Strictly Hard Bean (SHB), HB.
Farms: About 30,000 farms.
Botanical Varietals: Typica, Caturra, Gesha.
Comments
Panama is a rising star in the specialty coffee world. In the Boquete in particular, farmers are taking Arabica coffee cultivation to new levels and recent auctions of small, specialty lots have garnered record, if not silly, prices. Nonetheless, some of the coffee is excellent. Gesha, a varietal that stems from Ethiopia, has been grown here with good success, yet other cultivars noted above, can produce superb results.
