Panama Hacienda La Esmeralda - Natural Catuai

Tropical Fruit. Orange. Nougat. Biscuit.

250g pack whole bean ship within 24 hours
100% specialty arabica coffee beans only
April Coffee Roasters' coffee beans are at their peak 2 to 3 weeks after roasting

About this coffee:

Sweetness: ●●●○○
Body: ●●●○○
Acidity: ●●●○○

It is our second season buying from Hacienda La Esmeralda, but our first time purchasing their Catuai varietal. This lot is called "Diamond Mountain", and is spread on the Jaramillo Farm, surrounded by Gesha lots. Diamond Mountain offers a different flavor profile from the surrounding lots, with orange, Nougat & biscuit character.

Catuai is a cross between Mundo Novo & Caturra, first introduced in 1979 in Honduras, then commercially introduced in 1983.

About the farm

The lands that make up Hacienda La Esmeralda were first brought together as a single estate by a Swede named Hans Elliot in 1940. This land comprised several hundred hectares in what are now the Palmira and Cañas Verdes farms. In 1967, a Swedish- American banker by the name of Rudolph A. Peterson (1904-2003) bought Hacienda La Esmeralda as a retirement venture. At the time, the land was predominantly pasture for beef cattle, with some small smatterings of coffee mixed in.

By 1975 the Petersons had switched the farms over to dairy cattle which performed quite well and continues to make up half of Esmeralda’s farm land today. In the mid- 80s, the family was looking to further diversify and coffee, with its rich production history in the Boquete region, was a perfect opportunity.

Coffee had been growing on lands in and around Hacienda La Esmeralda since at least 1890. It was this huge reservoir of coffee knowledge and culture that helped the Petersons redevelop much of their land for coffee farming and even make their first coffee farm expansion at Palmira in 1988. It bears mentioning that coffee at this time was almost exclusively an undifferentiated, mass-market, endeavor in Panama. It was not until the mid-1990s that some North American coffee buyers started talking about Specialty Coffee widely.

In 1997 the Petersons purchased the land that became the Jaramillo Farm. This plot on the sides of Volcan Baru was selected for its high altitude, in hopes of developing higher scoring, livelier and more nuanced coffees. That said, it was only by serendipity that the famous Geisha coffee was planted on this farm.

Brewing Recipe:

Filter Brewing:

Dose: 12g
Water: 200g at 92°C
Grind size: 11.5
Brew time: 2:30-3:00
Target TDS: 1.25 - 1.35

Begin your brew with an initial 100g pour. Use your first 30g of the pour to saturate the coffee bed evenly whilst implementing a circular pouring technique.
Continue your pour by completing the final 70g pour into the center of the coffee bed. Replicate this pouring format once again, commencing your second pour at 35 seconds. Finish the brew with a total brew time in 2:30-3:00 minutes.

Example of the pouring structure:
1. 30g Circle Pour - 70g Center Pour (0:00)
2. 30g Circle Pour - 70g Center Pour (0:30)

Espresso Brewing: 

Dose (in): 19g
Dose (out): 55-56g
Grind Setting: 0.7
Brew Time: 19s
Target TDS: 6.5 - 8

Dose and distribute carefully using a scale capable of reading to an accuracy of 0,1g. You must first identify the size of your filter basket - preferably of the brand and variety 'VST 'Ridgeless'.

We recommend using a dosage within +/-1g of the size of the basket.Please adjust your grind settings as necessary and use the recommended brew time as a reference.