El Burro Lot E - Panama Natural Geisha

In the cup

We taste fresh raspberries, delicate white florals, and sparkling tangerine. This coffee has a light body and a long citric finish.

About The Producer

The Lamastus Family has been producing coffee for four generations since 1918. Their three estates—Elida, El Burro, and Luito Geisha—are located at a very high elevation in a microclimate with very low temperatures. The coffee trees are surrounded by the Volcan Baru National Park. The family tradition continues on strong, as they still produce, process, and export their own rare estate coffees. This Geisha is produced under unique conditions for several reasons: the farm is located at a very high elevation, it is grown in rich young volcanic soils, and the temperatures are quite low. This results in a tree taking from 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 years to start producing (2 or 3 years longer to produce than average), which extends the overall ripening time and development of the cherries.

Processing

The growing conditions for this Geisha lot are very specialized. The trees are shade-grown and surrounded by a private forest reserve. The El Burro Estate is home to many exotic native species of plants, birds, and mammals. This particular lot is natural. All of the natural mucilage surrounding the seed of the coffee cherry is left on the seed prior to drying. These lots are dried utilizing sunlight through bastidor/screens and Guardiola rotating driers. It takes approximately 10-12 days to finish drying.

Variety

This variety was originally collected from coffee forests in Ethiopia in the 1930s. From there, it was sent to the Lyamungu research station in Tanzania, and then brought to Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in Central America in the 1953, where it was logged as accession T2722. It was distributed throughout Panama via CATIE in the 1960s after it had been recognized for tolerance to coffee leaf rust. However, the plant's branches were brittle and not favored by farmers so it was not widely planted. The coffee came to prominence in 2005 when the Peterson family of Boquete, Panama, entered it into the "Best of Panama" competition and auction. It received exceptionally high marks and broke the then-record for green coffee auction prices, selling for over $20/pound.There is significant confusion about Geisha because there are multiple genetically distinct plant types that have been referred to as Geisha, many of which share similar geographic origins in Ethiopia. Recent genetic diversity analyses conducted by World Coffee Research confirm that Panamanian Geisha descendent from T2722 is distinct and uniform. It is associated with extremely high cup quality when the plants are managed well at high altitude, and is known for its delicate floral, jasmine, and peach-like aromas.

Transparency

Direct

$90 USD/kg

Roasted Costs

$108.50 USD/kg