There are over 200 coffee farms in Boquete, it is one of the most famous regions in the world for specialty coffee production. I visited ‘El Milagro’ or ‘The Miracle’ which is a small Panamanian owned coffee plantation that produces a specialty coffee known as Geisha. This variety demands one of the highest prices on the coffee market and Mr. Tito, the owner, exports almost 100% of his coffee to other places around the world. In the 2010 National Coffee Competition, Mr. Tito won second place for the best specialty coffee in all of panama. This is no small feat given that his modest plantation is merely 12 acres; he is competing against huge plantations of over 900 acres.
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| El Milargo Coffee Plantation |
Of the over 200 plantations in Boquete only 6 or 7 have the equipment to process and roast their harvests. Almost exclusively these are the large plantations, because the machinery required is very expensive. Mr. Tito has engineered all of his own processing and roasting machinery from old jeep parts and other recycled materials. For example his roaster is made out of a dryer bin with tin foil for insulation. It cost him a few hundred dollars to make, versus the 15K it would cost for an industrial roasting machine!
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Large Dryer Bin Roaster in the Back
Test Roaster Upfront Made of a Jeep Headlight |
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| Many Salvaged Parts Came From This Jeep! |
The cycle from planting a coffee tree to drinking a cup of coffee is very long and involved. Approximately two to three years after a coffee tree is planted it will start to produce a crop. The tree flowers, and then when the flower falls off a bud slowly grows into a berry. Berries take around 9 months to ripen to the point of harvest. The berries are fleshy and contain 2 seeds; they have a mild coffee flavour.
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| Coffee Beans on the Trees |
Once the berries are harvested they go into a machine to remove the outer skins. After this they go into a basin for 30 hours to ferment (this is a special process that larger plantations don’t incorporate). Fermenting allows the beans to soak in the flavor of the flesh. After fermentation, beans are separated and dried. They sit in drying racks outdoors for 15-20 days, followed by 3 months indoors in a secluded room so they don’t absorb any other smells or tastes.
Once the beans reach the proper humidity level they go through another machine to remove the next layer of skin. At this stage they are called green beans and smell like dark chocolate. Over 60% of the crop is exported at this stage, as many specialty coffee shops like to roast the coffee beans in house. The name on the hand screen printed coffee bags is ‘Royal’, which is a combination of Mr. Tito’s parents’ names, Rosa y Alfredo.
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| Beans Drying |
I had the opportunity to actually do the roasting process. The beans were roasted for around 12 min; a glorious 12 minutes where the entire place took on the smell of chocolate. The difference in roasting a light to a medium to a dark roast is about 45 seconds. Light roasts have the lightest flavor but the most caffeine. I learned that lower quality beans do not come in light roasts, because it is necessary that beans of lower quality be roaster longer to slightly conceal the flavor of the actual bean.
After the roasting I tried each bean to taste the difference, and then we ground it up and drank an amazing cup of coffee; plain black, very smooth and not bitter at all. The morning was very motivating. Mr. Tito’s plantation and processes are ingenious engineering, a feat of amazing creativity. He is truly an inspiration, proving that we should all follow our dreams, no matter what the odds!
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| Our Roasted Beans |
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| Mr. Titto & I |
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