Ed Kaufmann travels from Brooklyn to Panama to visit the Hacienda Esmeralda plantation and the farms of Boquete, in the state of Chiriqui at the foot of Volcan Baru.
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Posted Wed Mar 5, 2008, 7:35pm Subject: Re: Chasing the Geisha: Boquete 2008, Road Reports
Ed, You had a good experience in Boquete. We visited there in 2006, drove all around the area looking at plantations, and then went directly to one of the coffee producers (not sure which one, and being a newbie, I probably went to the wrong one) but cupped some really good coffee at their facility and proceeded to purchase a few pounds of roasted beans. When we got back to the States and tried them, they were terrible. We must have gotten the tourista chaff (or more correctly the tourista-shaft) version. 35 lbs of nasty beans in nice foil bags. I used to live there as a kid (Panama, not Boquete), so it double stings. So, newbies beware!
Now you may be thinking that I was just uninitiated at buying beans from the source countries. I purchased several pounds while I was in the Dominican Republic and every bit of it was great, I regret not getting more. I purchased some Kona in Hawaii, and was neutral about it.
Brought back a lot of memories for me. I visited Boquete many times between 1971 and 1998 and made friends with the Ruiz family there. Still have some of their beans in my freezer! Don't feel bad about getting lost! It comes with the trip.
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