Best of Panama 2022 | 1st Place Winner | Natural Geisha | Black Jaguar | Finca Guarumo
The Hartmann family are considered one of the pioneers of specialty coffee production in Panama. Their story starts two generations ago with Alois Hartmann, who settled in Panama in 1912 all the way from the historical region of Moravia, today a part of the Czech Republic.
His son, Ratibor Sr, established what we know of today as Finca Hartmann with 100 hectares of virgin rainforest he inherited from his father in the 1960s. Today, the land is shared by Ratibor and Dinorah’s five children: Ratibor Jr, Allan, Alexander, Aliss, and Kelly. The rainforest has been preserved with the coffee grown under the shade of the canopy, and the family continues to plant native trees to ensure the ecosystem's health. The land is famous for bird watching, with around 300 species recorded, and their coffee is bird-friendly certified.
Photographs and videos don’t really prepare you for how beautiful it is when you visit the Hartmann family. Just over the border into Panama, from Costa Rica’s Parque Nacional de La Amistad, Finca Hartmann emerges from the wild jungle.
We’ve been working with the Hartmann family for over a decade (since 2011), and going to visit feels like visiting family. Having passed the reigns of the family operation to her children, Dinorah Hartmann made it her priority to ensure we were never without a cold drink, a plate of food, or a warm hug during our time there.
At a staggering 1,800 metres above sea level, Finca Guarumo is a new farm purchased by Allan and Elke Hartmann, and Ratibor and Tessie Hartmann in 2016. The tiny 4-hectare farm was used as pasture for grazing cattle, but they've since allowed the native vegetation to take back the land. The farm is planted exclusively with Geisha, protected by the dense shade canopy of the old-growth rainforest.
Due to the high elevation, low temperatures at night, and heavy mountain rains, the coffee trees at Finca Guarumo have to work hard, they’re small and compact, and the coffee is exquisite.
Allan Hartmann, who oversees processing of all of the Hartmann family’s coffees, is understandably secretive of the exact techniques used to process such a spectacular coffee – but, he was willing to share the following with us; “the Best of Panama winning Geisha from Finca Guarumo was processed as a classic natural, with prolonged drying at low temperatures, for about 20 days, in a dark room.”
At the 2022 Best of Panama (BOP) auction, this 100lb. lot (45 kilos) sold for a staggering $200,000 (USD). At $2000/lb. this is the most expensive coffee we have ever had the privilege of sharing with you. In addition to taking 1st place in the BOP Natural Geisha category, the Hartmann family also placed 1st in the Varietal category, and 4th and 5th in the Washed Geisha category. This was their year! They are truly experts in their craft, and we couldn't be any prouder to present you with this spectacular coffee. Enjoy!
How to Drink: Just like you wouldn't add soda your best whiskey, this amazing coffee is meant to be drank black with no sugar or cream.
