Some tasted bergamot, or felt god, others wanted a cigarette, but the judges gathered in Panama on Saturday were agreed on one thing, the coffee they had swished round their mouths was outstanding.
The connoisseurs who met to judge a competition in the highland growing region declared the same Panamanian specialty coffee a world-beater for the third consecutive year and said such events have saved the industry from ruin.
A world-wide coffee glut that ran from late 1999 through 2004 sent commodity prices sliding and put many coffee growers out of business but some in Panama survived by focusing on quality and promoting their coffee in competitions, like the one this weekend in Bambito, in Panama's western highlands.
The winning coffee was a shade-grown arabica bean from the Hacienda Esmeralda-Jaramillo farm, 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) above sea level in the mountain town of Boquete - the third win in a row for the bean at the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama's (SCAP) annual competition.
"I'm the least-religious cupper here and when I tasted it, I found God," judge Dom Holly of US roaster Green Mountain Coffee said. The coffee came from a Geisha plant, a rare variety with Ethiopian heritage brought to Panama in 1963 from Costa Rica.
Coffee experts from as far afield as Japan, Holland and the United States gathered to "cup" or taste Panama's best beans, which will then be auctioned on the Internet in late May.
"Events like this saved the industry from disappearing," said Holly, who became interested in the sector when he tried last year's winner, and found a coffee with a complex taste and floral aroma.
Another said this year's winning coffee tasted so good it made him want to smoke; a rare comment in an industry that prizes purity of palate.
Doug Welsh, of US roaster Peet's Coffee said the taste was hugely complex.
"It's even more potent than last year. It has an intense citrus oil aroma, like Earl Grey tea. Its flavour skewers the imagination - people say it contains tastes as distinct as ginger, jasmine and oil of bergamot."
Comments
Comments are closed.