This Panama Kotowa Manor specialty coffee beans have a rich tropical fruit aroma. When dry, they show a quiet pink flower and a rich fruit aroma, mainly cranberries, preserved fruits, grapes and other fruits. After breaking the shells and removing the residue, you can feel the flavor of ripe cherries, prunes, and honey-like sweetness in the coffee mouth. As the temperature drops slightly, the acidity of the hawthorn is gradually released, accompanied by the flavor of brown sugar, adding an extra level to the whole cup.
FrontStreet Coffee: Duncan Manor Caturra Coffee Beans
Country: Panama
Origin: Pauquet Duncan Estate
Breed: Catura
Altitude: 1650~1750 meters
Treatment method: Sun exposure
Flavor: floral, red grape, preserved fruit, prune, fermentation
There are also several coffee beans with strong tropical fruit aroma:
1. Front Street Essai Oiran Coffee, you can drink strawberry, citrus, dried mango, cream, and black tea flavors;
2. Front Street Colombian Hija coffee, with passion fruit, apricot, preserved fruit, and fermented flavors;
3. Front Street Costa Rica Mozart coffee has the flavors of raisins, osmanthus, and pineapple.
The coffee history of Kotowa Manor is very long, and the story of the first generation of manor owners can be traced back to the end of the 19th century.
As a Canadian, Alexander Duncan MacIntyre was born in 1873. He started out as a fruit trader with his brother Joseph Albert McIntyre in the early days. Later, the two brothers entered politics one after another, and Alexander became the youngest mayor of Port Alberni.
In 1916, his brother Joseph bought a farm named Finca Carolin in Poquete, Panama. Although he only spent a period of time there, he was full of praise for this land after returning to Canada. At the same time, Alexander also read several articles introducing Poquete in newspapers, so he was attracted by this land full of primitive style, and began to embark on a journey to find the unknown with curiosity and longing.
In 1925, Alexander decided to move from North America to Poquet, Panama, and married a local woman, Angela Rosas. Then, like other immigrants, he chose to cultivate this land. After changing the name of the farm to La Carolina, Alexander also built a small coffee processing plant, and then began the story of coffee cultivation belonging to the Kotowa family, which also opened a new chapter for the next four generations to thrive here.
Catova is located at the foot of the Baru volcano in western Panama. It has dense vegetation, a unique microclimate and fertile volcanic soil. Water vapor from the Atlantic Ocean condenses on slopes as high as 2,500 meters above sea level to form rainfall. The sunshine is long in the dry season, providing abundant water resources and sunlight for the coffee trees planted here, and allowing them to fully absorb nutrients.
Currently, Catova Manor has been passed down to the third generation and is managed by Mr. Ricardo Koyner and his daughter Victoria.
It is worth noting that in addition to the owner of the manor, Mr. Ricardo also has another identity, that is, one of the founders of the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama (SCAP) and the chairman of the first SCAP. Beginning in the 1990s, many coffee farmers in Panama realized the difficulties facing the industry and wanted to find development opportunities, so they sought help from the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA). After several years of efforts, seven coffee farmer representatives began to promote the establishment of Panama's exclusive coffee organization in 1996 to help improve the overall competitiveness of the country's coffee.
After taking over the manor, Mr. Ricardo understood the importance of the brand, so he officially named his farm Cafe Kotowa Farms. In addition to retaining the green bean processing plant left by his grandfather, he also purchased equipment such as a coffee bean roasting machine and opened a branded coffee shop locally. The purpose is to sell products with "Kotowa" directly to broader markets such as Europe and the United States.
Compared with other manors, the equipment in the Catowa treatment plant is driven by running water. The entire machine is made of wooden gears of different sizes andArtificially sewn animal skins that serve as teleportation linksDrive operation, in an era when resources were scarce, it was undoubtedly a very advanced equipment. What’s even more valuable is that this set of equipment is still intact and displayed inside the manor, so that visitors can feel the true history of Panama’s coffee industry.
Today, Catowa owns a total of seven farms, five of which are well-known to coffee fans, including Finca Kotowa DUNCAN (Duncan Estate), Finca Kotowa Don K (Don K Estate), Finca RIO CRISTAL (Crystal River Estate), Finca Kotowa TRADICIONAL (Traditional Catowa Estate), and Finca Kotowa LAS BRUJAS (Witch Manor), the other two new farms are Mango and Redondo, and there is currently no coffee on the market.
According to information queried by Front Street, the word "Kotowa" comes from the language of the local indigenous people Ngäbe, which means "high mountain". Catova's logo is based on the main force of coffee cherry picking in Panama. This is a local indigenous group called Gnobe Bugle. The locals also call them "Guaymíes".
In order to commemorate the first generation of farmers, Duncan Manor was named after Mr. Ricardo’s grandfather Alexander, and Don K Manor was named in memory of his father Richard. Koyner, "Don" means Mr. in Spanish; and Witch Manor is named after the stream in front of the door, because the stream often makes a sound when it flows, just like the "howling" of the witch from the virgin forest; Crystal River Manor, as its name suggests, is that when the river rolls in the sun, you can see the dazzling light like crystal, so it has such a beautiful name.
As its estates have repeatedly won good results in competitions, the brand "Catowa" has long been a household name in the local area. And if you mention Catowa’s coffee in China, I believe many friends, like Front Street, will first think of Duncan Manor, which is often active in major competitions, and Witch Manor, which has been winning awards in recent years.
What Front Street purchased this time was sun-dried Caturra from Duncan Manor. Friends who often read Front Street articles know that the maturity of coffee cherries during picking has a great impact on the final quality. In order to present the fullest coffee aroma, Catowa Manor requires workers to gently peel off the coffee cherries when they turn burgundy, and quickly perform post-processing after harvesting to avoid over-fermentation of the pulp and unpleasant taste.
In order to present its fragrant floral and fruity tones while highlighting the sweetness in the caramelization direction, we use a medium-light roasting level.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
