Panama - Bambito Estate Caturra Catuai | Anaerobic Natural - Archived

Origin

• 🇵🇦 Panama· Chiriquí

Tasting notes

Character

• Experimental
• Funky

Alberto Sitton Rios acquired his family's farm in the mountains of Bambito, Chiriquí Province, Panama, from his father in 1945. The farm remains a family business today, now in its fourth and fifth generations, with Priscilla currently at the helm as producer. Bambito Estate sits at an altitude between 1,660 and 1,800 meters, nestled between two national forest parks. Two mountain ridges cross the farm from east to west, creating two distinct microclimates and shielding the coffee trees from summer's north winds. Two naturalNatural processThe whole cherry is dried with the fruit still on the seed. Gives heavier body and big fruit flavors — think berries and wine — sometimes with a fermenty edge. water springs on the property supply the wet millWashing stationA central mill where many smallholder farmers deliver cherry for processing. In Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda the station name (e.g. Idido) often identifies the coffee., and the estate maintains its own greenhouse to preserve coffee tree genetics and keep the plantation young, along with an on-site cuppingCuppingThe standardized tasting ritual — coarse grounds steeped in hot water, crust broken, slurped from a spoon — used to score and compare coffees. room for quality control. Pulp and other processing byproducts are recycled as organic fertilizer. Harvesting is handled with close attention to detail. Only expert, long-tenured pickers work the farm's GeishaGesha (Geisha)A rare, jasmine-and-bergamot scented variety originally from Ethiopia's Gesha forest, made famous by Panama's Hacienda La Esmeralda. Routinely the most expensive coffee at auction. lots (Nos. 4 and 5), while any Geisha trees found elsewhere on the property are marked with red ribbons. Pickers receive weekly seminars on harvesting technique and ripeness selection, with random Brix grade checks throughout the day. As Priscilla explains: "Our production is very small. We pay very strict attention to the harvesting process. Only expert pickers harvest our geisha plantations, permanent workers that have been on the farm for many years. Our lots No. 4 and No. 5 are Geisha; any other Geisha tree in the other lots is marked with a red ribbon. We give harvesters weekly seminars about the picking process and the colour of the correct bean to be harvested, Brix grades are taken randomly during the day. We even have a weekly reward for the best picker. Even though Bambito Estate is a small farm, we do our best to be an example for other farms. We recycle, we have a Summer school for our worker's children, and we sponsor our local primary school with breakfast all year around, to name a few things. Every Friday, we have our plantation Foreman t