LA MILAGROSA COFFEE FARM

Last week I had the opportunity to tour a local coffee finca in Boquete.  As mentioned in previous blog posts, Boquete is known for its coffee production.  Of course, there are various tours to choose from, and instead of doing one of the more popular and well-known tours at a larger coffee finca, my Spanish school (Habla Ya) arranged a tour at a smaller but very reputable farm called Finca Milagrosa.

Finca Milagrosa produces 5 different varieties of organic coffee, and for each of these varieties, 3 different methods of processing the beans are used.  The finca is a small farm of just 12 acres at an altitude of 1500 meters and produces 50,000 pounds of coffee per year.  I learned that there are 150 different coffee producers in Boquete alone.  While Panama does not export a large amount of coffee in comparison to other countries around the world, the quality of coffee that it does export is among the highest.

While Finca Milagrosa is certainly one of the smaller farms in the Boquete area, it has produced some of the finest coffee, and 6 years ago, won 2nd place position for one of its coffees in the world coffee competition - very impressive!  One other Spanish student joined me on the tour, and our guide for the day, Plinio, was a pro and walked us through the coffee growing process from start to finish.  Plinio has a passion for coffee and enjoys giving tours and teaching others.  His family owned a coffee farm, and at a young age, Plinio worked on the farm.  In addition, he has traveled to many other coffee fincas in various countries to learn about their coffee production and how it is both similar and different from that of Panama's.

So many factors influence coffee production, such as altitude, general climate, type of tree, amount of precipitation...etc., and of course, several of these factors vary from year to year.  I found it interesting that on the Finca Milagosa property there are two different microclimates just within a few feet of each other, and that the coffee grows differently depending on the area in which the plant is located.

At Finca Milagrosa, the bean is put in the ground, and a small plant grows within 3 weeks.  The coffee plant is removed from the ground and placed in a bag for 1 1/2 years.  Later, this same plant is put back into the soil again.  After 3 years, this plant is producing at 25% of full production, and after its 4th year, is producing at 100% of full production.  According to Plinio, coffee plants can have a 100-year lifespan!  Countries around the world use different methods of growing their coffee and processing their beans, and some methods take longer than others.  In Panama, the time to process the coffee bean is 5 months, which is a relatively long period of time.   

Finca Milagrosa's coffee sells in Panama for $10 per pound, is exported for $16 per pound, and sold in stores in other parts of the world, such as Europe or the United States, for between $35-60 per pound.  This does not include Finca Milagrosa's Geisha coffee, which sells for significantly higher prices.  Can you imagine buying a one-pound bag of coffee for $60 or more?  Yes, this is top quality coffee!

A typical worker on a farm in Boquete makes $10 per day.  Coffee pickers come from the Ngäbe- Buglé comarca to Boquete for the coffee picking season, which lasts 5 months out of the year, generally from November to March.  Coffee pickers in Boquete are paid between $35 and $40 per day.  While this amount may seem extremely low for our standards, it is a relatively high amount by Panamanian standards, and certainly a significant increase in income for a farm worker.  I have always heard that a significant number of Ngäbe-Buglé people migrate from their comarca to Boquete for coffee picking season but never quite understood the motivation.  I now have a better understanding and appreciation for why a Ngäbe-Buglé family might leave the security and sense of belonging at their comarca and come to Boquete.

This coffee tree is loaded with coffee berries, also known as "coffee cherries".

The coffee berries, or cherries, are ready to be picked when they turn red.  There are generally 2 coffee beans (or seeds) within each cherry.  Just one small red cherry on this tree - not quite ready for picking!

Finca Milagrosa not only grows the beans, but they process them as well.  These beans are going through the drying process.

Finca Milagrosa roasts some of its beans to test the flavor and to sell within Panama.  All of the beans that are exported are not roasted, and are green in color.  This coffee roasting machine was handmade by the owner of Finca Milagrosa.

This is what the coffee beans look like when they are ready to be be exported.  They are not roasted and are green in color.

During the roasting process, beans turn darker within just a matter of minutes, and the color, taste and smell of the beans are modified.  It was fascinating to experience these transformations in person during the coffee tour.

In addition, the roasting process also impacts caffeine levels.  I found it fascinating to learn that there is more caffeine in the lighter roasts and less caffeine in the darker roasts.  Plinio was proud to inform us that while one might assume that an espresso coffee has more caffeine because it is dark in color, in reality, it has lower levels of caffeine than lighter roasts.

This is Plinio, our knowledgeable and skilled coffee tour guide for the day, showing off the different beans that we were able to taste.