Panama Boquete Cafe Ruiz

The two main coffee regions in Panama are Boquete and Volcan. We got to visit this farm (Cafe Ruiz) in Boquete a couple years ago and pick out this lot. Met the farmer Plinio Ruiz (he is crazy!) and hung out for the day. What I've found with Panama is that all of them are a bit pricey, but some lots are boring and more like a Nicaragua whereas some lots are well worth the money -- floral and sweet and a little fruity on par with a really nice Costa Rica. This is one of the very first arrivals from Central America this year, and it's not the best one that will come in, but it's good. It's fresh. It's well sorted and flavorful. It reminds me more of an El Salvador than a Panama -- it doesn't have those floral or fruity notes that you might be hoping for. But it DOES have a sweet, clean profile with nutty, brown sugar, vanilla, marshmallow notes. 

We roast it quite light. 8 degrees past the ending of the first cracks. Keep it out of the 2nd cracks. Even as you approach 2nd cracks, the bean has lost a lot of what makes it special. If you like microlot El Salvador and Costa Rican washed process coffees, you'll dig this one -- and you'll want to roast it pretty much under the same roasting curve and end points that you use for those beans. 

US Arrival: April 2021