Panama Boquete
Ahhh, summer. It has arrived. Actually, the term summer has been confusing in our house, since I keep commenting on how glad I am that summer started, and Caroline has informed me that it is actually still spring until the end of June. She’s right, but now that our schedule has flown away with the last day of school, it definitely feels like the warmth and freedom of summer is here.
I know that school vacation is stressful for some people, but I find it very liberating. My children actually get along better when they spend more time together. We have had a 9:00 am commitment every morning this week, and I have no idea why it was so simple to be there on time, when it was such a struggle to get to school merely a half hour earlier. Whatever the reason, I am loving our relaxed pace.
This week’s coffee comes from a tropical climate, where Summer reigns. The average temperature in Panama Boquete is approximately 75 degrees. This is a region that boasted a world record price for their coffee a few years ago: a testimony to the quality that can be found in these beans. I have never visited Panama, but if you look up photos on TripAdvisor, here, it looks like a marvelous place to travel.
Coffee loves volcanic soil, and this mountainous region on the western side of Panama boasts the dormant Volcan Baru, the highest peak in Panama. No wonder that coffee does so well here! Higher-grown coffee is generally of better quality, because the beans are denser, and the crop tends to be smaller. This bean in particular comes from Casa Ruiz, and you can read about their family business here.
We’ve roasted this light, so that you can taste all the sweet and nutty tones of the bean. The aroma is floral, but the predominant taste is a smooth almost hazelnut flavor. This is strictly from the characteristics of the green bean: we don’t add any flavoring to the coffee.
Come on in and sample this Panama by using the code in bold above: relaxed pace. I hope that you too are enjoying your summer, whether your routine has changed or not. Cheers!
–Holly Fike