Nice tight range of fruity flavors like tropical fruit and berry roast light. Turn to dark sugars, caramel, chocolate bittersweet, almond biscotti, and dark chocolate-covered macadamia, when roasted darker.
Carmen Estate was passed down from one generation to the next within the Franceschi family, now run by Carlos Franceschi Aguilera (Carmen was his grandmother). In the past they simply harvested the trees and sold the coffee cherry at low prices to the large farms in the valley. Carlos realized that they had a better coffee on their family farm then something to blend with lower-grown coffees. He built his own mill for the Estate down in the valley using the latest equipment, and began a program to care for the trees using new techniques.
This farm uses the forced demucilage process where the fruit pulp is stripped from the parchment layer using friction, rather than traditional fermentation (similar to Costa Rica).
This coffee has been in the top 10 of the Best of Panama competition too many times to count. The entire farm is very high altitude; it starts at 1750 meters, an altitude many farms don’t even reach, and goes up from there! Altitude isn’t the only factor that matters with coffee, but it does allow coffee to ripen slower and creates greater bean density, both important factors in cup quality.
Bean Spec
- Origin: Panama
- Region: Paso Ancho, Boquete
- Producer: Carlos Franceschi Aguilera
- Farm: Carmen Estate
- Altitude: 1750m
- Cultivar: Caturra, Typica
- Processing: Mechanically Washed
- Sourcing: Sweet Maria’s