Organization: Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Portland, Oregon
Coffee: Panama Esmeralda Especial
Reviewed: December 2006
Overall Rating: 95 points
Roast (Agtron): Medium-Light (56/69)
Estimated Price:
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Origin: Boquete growing region, western Panama

Notes: A prize winner in the 2006 Best of Panama competition, where as a green (unroasted) coffee it placed first out of hundreds of entries, attracting a score of 94.60 from an international jury. Produced from trees of the celebrated Geisha variety at an elevation of approximately 5,000 feet by farmers Price and Daniel Peterson on the Hacienda la Esmeralda farm. This renowned atypical coffee is without doubt the finest Ethiopian coffee Panama can produce - which is to say, while it's anything but typical of Panama, it is sublime, particularly for its aromatic complexity and powerful visceral reminder of coffee's tropical fruit tree origins. Stumptown Coffee is a small-batch premium roasting company that wholesales its coffees as well as serves them custom brewed by the cup in its Portland cafes. Under the youthful and enthusiastic leadership of Duane Sorenson, Stumptown has become a leading buyer and supporter of competition-winning coffees. Visit www.stumptowncoffee.com or call 503-230-7797 for more information.

Blind Assessment: Spectacularly aromatic in both dry and infused aroma: candied lemon peel, bergamot, hints of jasmine. Medium bodied and sweet, with superb acidity and flavors that suggest both the mentholated citrus of a Yirgacheffe and the blueberry notes of a Harrar, but without a trace of ferment or earthiness. Perfumed perfection.

Who should drink it: Any coffee connoisseur - at least once.

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