Carmen Estate is an award winning family farm in the Chiriquí province of Panama. It was founded by Efrain and Carmen Franceschi, who began cultivating arabica on their various estates in the heart of the Barú Volcano coffee-growing region. The estate is now run by Carlos Aguilera Francheschi and his family, and produces around 1,200 bags per year of SHB arabica of the Caturra and Catuai varieties, both washed and natural process. The farm's top lots consistently place highly in the annual 'Best of Panama' competition and took first place in 2008. 

 Country of Origin: Panama

Region: Paso Ancho, Tierras Altas, Chiriqui

Producer Type: Single Estate

Farm Name: Carmen Estate

Processing: Washed

Processing Description: Selective hand-picking, mechanical dryers

Growing Altitude: 1600 MASL

Plant Species: Arabica

Varietal: Caturra

History of Coffee in Panama  

There are some indications that green coffee first arrived in Panama as early as 1742, but the first attempts at commercial cultivation didn’t occur until the 1780’s. Planting at low altitudes around the port city of Portobelo, these efforts failed. It would be another 100 years, when coffee was planted in the highlands around the Volcano “Baru,” before commercial cultivation of Panama coffee was successful; however, nearly all coffee grown in Panama was used for internal consumption and the country was better known for exporting tea. Panamanians drank more coffee than they grew and had to import coffee to meet demand until the 1940’s. Exports grew slowly over the years, peaking in 1996 at 181,000 bags.  Although there have been a few spikes since then, exports have settled down around 50,000 bags for the last 10 years as producers shifted their focus from volume to quality. More than 50% of coffee production is still consumed domestically.

Growing Coffee in Panama  

Panama coffee grows in the west, near the border with Costa Rica in the highlands of Chiriqui, which means “Valley of the Moon.” Most coffee grows in two areas near the volcano Buru: Boquete and Volcan-Candela above 1,500 masl. Many coffee estates in Panama are 30-50 hectares and many coffee families are descendant of American and European immigrants, but there are indigenous farmers and farms as small as a few hectares. Most Panama coffee is washed and sun or machine dried. Panama grows Typica, Caturra, Catuai, Bourbon,  San Ramon, Pache,  Mundo Novo and, of course Geisha