Panama Santa Clara Capuchin Monkey Washed (green)

Description

Region: Santa Clara, Chiriqui
Variety: Caturra and Typica
Processing: Washed
Altitude: 1400-1700masl
Rainfall: 3500-4000mm/year
Harvest: November-March

In the cup: Creamy cup of toffee, chocolate & stewed fruits with a long finish.

Panama borders Colombia and Costa Rica. Panama’s coffee producing areas are
located in the regions around one of the highest inactive volcanoes of Central America,
the Volcan Baru, Boquete, Volcan, and Renacimiento. Panama has a very unique
microclimate and its surrounding land is full of rich nutritional and fertile soils, making
these highlands perfect conditions to cultivate and harvest a great variety of special
coffees.

This lot is one of the more affordable options coming out of Panama. The coffee comes
from Casa Ruiz and the name “Capuchin Monkey” was given to it because of monkeys
that are emblematic to the Santa Clara region. Casa Ruiz was created as an
anonymous society (a corporation) in 1979. The company was founded by the Ruiz-
Arauz couple. Their children became part of the Board of Directors and in the present,
all of them are shareholders. The corporation came about from the natural growth of a
personal trade activity conducted by Mr. Plinio Antonio Ruiz González with the support
of his wife Mrs. Elisa Aurora Araúz de Ruiz. The trade activity began in 1969.
The coffee is processed as a fully washed lot, meaning that red ripe cherry is picked,
pulped and fermented for 48-72 hours depending on the climate conditions at the time.
After that the coffee is washed to remove the mucilage and laid out to dry. Once the
parchment is dried to the optimal moisture content, it’s bagged up and stored in the
warehouse so that the coffee can rest and stabilize. After the coffee is rested it’s hulled,
milled, graded and bagged up ready for export.

(Information courtesy of MTC Group)