Coffee in Panama

[Moderator_03]

Quote

Coffee in Panama

Posted 08/03/2024

In 2004, a Central American farm left an indelible print on the coffee market. That year, beans revealing a distinct jasmine aroma won the Best of Panama competition. The Peterson family, owners of La Hacienda Esmeralda in the Chiriquí Province, submitted a lot from an unusual variety they’d found growing on their farm. Identified as the Geisha/Gesha cultivar originating in Ethiopia, the delicate, bright cup with its singular translation of high-altitude volcanic terroir would go on to break records for the highest scores and highest prices ever earned for beans at auction. The Lamastus Family would eventually carry the torch, inviting enthusiastic consumers — like wine lovers flocking to Bourgogne — to peek inside the insular world of coffee cupping. 

“As a professional and well-trained taster, I cannot say Panama’s coffee is the best, but it’s special,” says Wilford Lamastus, Jr., a multi-generational owner of Lamastus Family Estates. “However, I can say that the international judges believe it’s the best, and the auction market has agreed,” he adds. To taste all the fuss, here are two ways to explore Panama’s coffee culture. 

Panama City

Start the journey at Sisu Coffee Studio, the most sophisticated café in Panama City’s Casco Viejo, or old quarter. Opened by the Lamastus family, Wilford Jr. has spearheaded the estate’s mission to educate and embrace consumers. He modeled the minimalist vibe of the studio after cafes in Scandinavia. (Sisu is Finnish for perseverance). Visitors can order pour overs of Geisha (spelled with an “i” in the U.S., but with an “e” in Panama), savor tender pastries from chef Ariel Zebede, and book a cupping class, the coffee equivalent of a wine tasting. 

Down the street, Zebede runs the diminutive A to Z restaurant which offers a seasonal multi-course tasting menu of Panamanian products, including coffee. This hidden, speakeasy-style restaurant accommodates 14 guests at the chef’s table on select nights. Zebede serves eight-day fermented Elida Estate Geisha with a dessert course and as a digestif. 

Don’t overlook Casco Viejo’s elegant hotels for great coffee, too. The new Sofitel Legend Casco Viejo has a strong program, offering Panamanian French press in its guest rooms and Café Vera. Tiempos Cafe at the stylish American Trade Hotel serves pour over Geisha, while La Panaderia, the bakery and coffee shop at historic hot spot Hotel La Compania, sources from Finca Lérida in Boquete.  If you want some really nice coffee, stop into the Haven Spa in Boquete pictured below. Coffee is always being brewed fresh.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/coffee-in-panama

[Moderator_03]

Quote

Your Morning Coffee

Posted 24/03/2024

Coffee is considered an energizing drink by some people. However, it is more of a stimulating drink, according to expert coffee growers and even scientists, who are dedicated to studying the properties of this grain on human health.  Even so, it is important to highlight what effects pure coffee can have on the body and what coffee with milk causes.  It is common for people to consume this drink in every corner of the world.  Just as tea is traditional in some sectors of society, coffee also represents a drink full of benefits, as long as it is consumed appropriately.  

Among the multiple formulas and recipes in which coffee is consumed, to get the most out of its benefits, elements such as milk, ice, sugar, water temperature, type of grinding and brand, must be taken into account to experience a truly exquisite drink.  Healthline, a portal specialized for health, determined that coffee manages to sharpen concentration and increases the level of energy, because it is a natural and healthy stimulant, even becoming essential for some people for their morning activities.  But for researchers at Harvard University, there are many more virtues of this drink, which, like tea, is healthy for consumption.  Coffee contains antioxidants and flavonoids, natural compounds that are necessary to eliminate free radicals and protect heart health, simultaneously strengthening the immune system.  This is true as long as you are consuming a truly good coffee, since not all commercial coffees are of high quality.   

A bad coffee might involve the improper grinding of a bean.  Being too roasted, has negative effects on the health of the consumer because the person would be ingesting coffee with carbon elements, which if consumed constantly can cause cancer in the long term.  This was determined by Santiago Patiño, an expert coffee grower from Antioquia in Colombia.  “Good, high-quality coffee should literally be brown.  The water should be 90° hot, not boiled because that burns the coffee.  If the coffee you are consuming turns black when served, this means that it is a bad bean, over-roasted and that you would be about to ingest something similar to a piece of charcoal with a coffee flavor.   There could be carcinogenic damage instead of the beneficial properties of coffee.” Santiago points out.  Additionally, scientists consider that coffee consumption, like everything else, should be moderate, since it could go from consuming beneficial properties to putting health at risk.  Regarding the consumption of coffee with milk, nutritionists mention that doing so somewhat calms the effect of caffeine on the system and that dairy enhances the supply of calcium, strengthening the bone system, the functioning of the muscles and even blood circulation.  The important thing is to do it in moderation and with a good coffee.

https://www.newsroompanama.com/health/your-morning-coffee