About the farmer

Panama’s Finca Hortigal has been a family business since 1920. Today it is enirely owned and managed by women – Eira Maria Suarez and her daughters. Situated in the highlands of the Boquete region at an altitude of 1400-1600 metres, they grow 100 per cent Typica cherries.

In the 2017 Yara Champion programme, the producers of El Hortigal won first place with the Rosé Bourbon, and silver in the 2018 Yara Champion with the same variety.

In 2019, Roasters United came to them, winning first place with the washed purple caturra and then third place with the same variety. For them and their whole team, it is very gratifying to see that their coffees manage to remain among the best, conquering not only palates but also hearts.

About the farm

On their 34.5-hectare estate, Eira Maria Suarez and her daughters use precision technology to apply fertiliser to maximise yields while minimising production costs and waste. And at the end of each harvest day, the coffee cherries are weighed and sent to a nearby processing mill (beneficio). At the mill, the cherries are washed and sun-dried on terraces before being transferred to drying machines to ensure consistency. Afterwards, the coffee is stored in the warehouse to rest until its specific attributes and characteristics develop.

The Beneficio’s warehouse is built with Ternium, which helps to regulate the humidity and temperature inside the building. The Hortigal estate overlooks the Baru volcano and the Horqueta (Hortigal) mountain – the two highest points in Panama – and benefits from rich volcanic soil, native shade trees, diverse bird populations and unique microclimates. These have allowed the estate’s coffee trees to grow between 10 and 12 feet tall, with dark green, almost blue leaves.

History of coffee in Panama

Commercial coffee cultivation in Panama began in the 1780s in the highlands around the Baru volcano. However, it took another 100 years before it became successful: The country was better known for exporting tea. At that time, Panamanians drank more coffee than they grew and had to import coffee to meet demand until the 1940s. Exports grew slowly over the years, peaking at 181‘000 bags in 1996. More than 50 per cent of coffee production is still consumed domestically today.