Panama´s coffee plantations.

Trip Start Jul 27, 2008
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Trip End Mar 05, 2009


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Flag of Panama  ,
Thursday, September 4, 2008

Did you know that the best coffee in the world is produced in Panama?There are several hundred small groweres in this highland region and three of the estates between them have won the Gold Medal for the last several years. I went to one of the biggest plantations which employs about 1100 local indinas for 6 months of the year. Here the cooffee berry is individually hand picked and tit goes through about 16 processes before it is marketed. The beans are rosted abroad and are only for the Gormet, Classic and premier brands. Nescafe, Starbucks and the other filter coffee makes get the dregs which includes  twigs stones and other foreign matter which when roasted we cannot taste. Coffee from Costa Rica has dried blood included in the process to give it the dark colour.  

The best coffee from this region grows on a coffee tree called Gesha and has nothing to do with Japan. It is the misnomer of the coffee tree from a town in Ethopia. A kilo of this costs about 250 pounds. It was interesting to see that the coffee plants are not grown in rows but have fruit and other trees trees grown between them for shade and to encourage insects birds etc. It is a big eco programme. The pickers are well looked after and the estate provides free housing and health care whilst the pickers are there. Mnay of them come fron another tribal area where their tend the fields and tend the licestock. 

If the coffee tasts bitter is is bad in the sense that it has all the caffine burnt out. It was also interesting to smell the different aromas. I think that I can now tell good coffee and if its really good them no milk or sugar.

End of lesson. You may find some informtion on Cafe Ruis on the internet.    
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