Baru Black Mountain, Chiriqui, Panama

About

This coffee is produced at the Baru Black Mountain farm, situated at an altitude of between 1,350 and 1,500 metres in Chiriqui Province. It benefits from ideal production conditions, in terms of both its environment and climate. Grown in mineral-rich volcanic soil under natural shade, the cherries are harvested selectively by hand and dried by dehydration using a system of African beds placed inside an oven. An innovative preparation technique that gives this well-balanced and aromatically complex coffee its characteristic sweetness.

Baru Black Mountain

Baru Black Mountain is located in northern Panama, in the Chiriqui Province and near the La Amistad International Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Standing 3,800 metres above sea level, Volcan Baru overlooks the national park and marks the country’s highest point. The farm is named after the region’s very dark volcanic soil. It is situated to the west of the volcano at an altitude of between 1,350 and 1,500 metres, midway between the cities of Volcan and Rio Sereno. It is an ideal environment for growing coffee. In addition to its mineral-rich soil, streams and century-old trees, which provide natural shade, it benefits from perfect weather conditions, all of which optimise production.
The Baru Black Mountain farm is not only committed to environmentally-friendly farming practices, by using stream water to wash its harvested cherries for example, but also respects its workers, who receive medical and educational support for their families.
Our agricultural engineer, who helps our producers improve the quality of their coffees, visited the Baru Black Mountain plantation in 2017. The aim being to help them experiment with natural and honey processes, never before used at the farm.

STRENGTH

Red catuai | Flavours and body perfectly balanced | innovating process | Century-old trees | River water using

THE STORY OF THE PRODUCER

Pedro Rodriguez Escribano is a former entrepreneur in the printing industry. After a successful career in Spain, he decided to invest in Panama, where he bought a cattle and coffee farm. Initially, he wanted to make a living from his cattle production, but it was not until he met his daughter and her future husband, a German coffee enthusiast, that he decided to expand his coffee production. For the past 10 years, Pedro has invested fully in his coffee farm and is constantly learning and improving his production methods. This includes the diversification of his varieties, which allows him to obtain very good quality coffees. On site, Ezequiel Batista, called Quielito (pictured opposite) is the manager and administrator of Baru Black Mountain. He manages the relationship with the producers, the processing and the harvests, and conveys the importance of good agronomic and post-harvest management, the conservation of biodiversity and the well-being of their employees.