Panama Boquete Cafe Garrido

From the Panamanian Highlands near Boquete comes this treat from Cafe Garrido. It's buttery, slightly complex and a bit herbaceous with notes of brown sugar, tangerine and walnut.

Arrival Date: May 12th, 2016

Acidity & Brightness: Complex 

Balance & Finish: Sweet with Dry finish

Body & Texture: Buttery Body 

Flavors: Brown sugar, tangerine and walnut

Grade: Hard and Dense, Bean Size Average

Processing: Fully Washed, Hand picked sun dried

Varietals: Catuai, Caturra, Bourbon, Typica and Villa Sarchi

Roasting: We liked this coffee best right at Full City (Medium), though you could take it as dark as Vienna and still retain the sweetness and dry finish. This coffee roasts very evenly!

Our Review: Boquete is a valley on the Eastern outskirts of the Baru Volcano with a river running through the lower part of the valley. This river serves as a collection point for many of the streams that run down the surrounding mountains. These rugged mountains, volcanic soil, plentiful rainfall and moderate climate accompanied by a predictable dry season make Boquete a great place to cultivate coffee. Boquete’s accessible roads have contributed to the development of excellent coffee plantations and we all benefit from the combination of these factors by getting a dependable and excellent source of great coffee. Despite all these things, Panama exports very little coffee to the states each year. This has caused Panamanian coffee to be something of a rarity so when it's available, we always grab some because it always goes quickly! 

This lot stood out from the rest to us and we're pleased we snagged some before it disappeared. It's got a slightly buttery body yet a lingering, dry finish, which we've come to expect from the best Panamanian coffees. We found this coffee to be surprisingly complex, though not as complex as a Sumatran or dry processed Ethiopian. Up front, the cup was sweet with notes of brown sugar and tangerine, but as we kept drinking and the coffee cooled a bit, we kept tasting walnuts and even something slightly herbaceous like thyme. All told, we couldn't be happier with this lot, grab some while its around!