Aroma of Organic Coffee
Just what is responsible for the wonderful aroma of organic coffee? Volatile aromatic compounds in healthy organic coffee are responsible for the aroma that helps wake us up each morning and gives us a boost during the day. Interestingly most of these compounds and much of the aroma of organic coffee is lost in making instant coffee. So, even though one can purchase instant organic coffee, the aroma is sadly missing. The taste of sweet versus sour or bitter versus salty comes from the tongue. However, much of what we perceive as taste is heavily influenced by the aroma of what we eat or drink, including the organic coffee in our cup every morning. This is because we experience smells (aroma) two different ways. What is obvious to everyone is that we sense aromas in the air that passes into our nose. However, we also sense aromas from food and drink that pass through the back of the throat. This retro-nasal sense of smell picks up drink and food at a much closer range and can be a much more powerful factor in our sense of smell.
Just how many compounds contribute to the aroma of organic coffee? Research has indicted close to a thousand different aromatic compounds in roasted and brewed coffee. The ability to sense the presence of an aromatic compound depends upon how much is present, its concentration, and how much is required to cause the lining of the upper part of the nose, the olfactory epithelium, to note its presence and send a signal to the brain. This later factor is referred to as the odor threshold of a compound. The general consensus of researchers is that several volatile organic compounds in high concentration in authentic organic coffee and with low odor thresholds are responsible for the aroma of organic coffee or regular coffee.
The chemistry of just how volatile organic compounds contribute to the aroma of organic coffee is complex. Many aromatic compounds as well organic coffee antioxidants are present in the coffee bean when it is picked. However, it is roasting that converts chemicals in the coffee bean by breaking them down into constituents or combining them with other chemicals. The list of amino acids, phenols, hydroxyl-acids, phenolic acids, alicyclic compounds, 70 pyrazines, heterocyclic compounds, sugars, and lipids as well as the list of interactions between compounds is something that only an organic chemist could love.
The descriptions of the aroma of organic coffee sound like those of a wine connoisseur. There are no fruits or nuts in Panama mountain grown organic coffee , for example. However, such award winning coffee may be described as having a honey-like, buttery, spicy, caramel like, or fruity aroma. This aroma of organic coffee comes from specific volatile organic compounds present in coffee when grown or produced during roasting. A compound known as 4-Vinylguaiacol is typically responsible for a spicy aroma while 4-Hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl- 3(2H)-furanone is responsible for a caramel like aroma. Not surprisingly an aroma of vanilla comes from a chemical called Vanillin. Unless you are an aspiring organic chemist you can ignore the chemistry involved. Here are the take home points. If you like the aroma of organic coffee, skip the instant. If you like a stronger, caramel-like, and roasted aroma, go with a longer roasting process. And remember, there is no perfect aroma or combination of volatile chemicals in coffee that we should all prefer. People experience aromas differently. The sense of aroma starts when volatile compounds touch the olfactory lining the sense of aroma. The complex experience of mixed aromas is experienced in the brain. Having said that, buy organic coffee , enjoy organic coffee, and save the planet.
Buy Organic Coffee
For the best combination of coffee flavor, healthy antioxidants, and purity buy organic coffee. When you buy organic coffee you help the environment and family coffee growers in remote parts of the world. Healthy organic coffee has fewer, or none, of the hundred and fifty or so contaminants found in regular coffee. What it still has are the natural chemicals that help prevent Type II diabetes and reduce the incidence of prostate cancer, colon cancer, and endometrial cancer. All of that from a good cup of organic coffee.
When you buy organic coffee make sure to look for evidence of organic coffee certification on the package. USDA organic coffee is certified by the Department of Agriculture or one of their affiliates. For example, an agency in Lima, Peru certifies much of the organic coffee and other organic food production throughout Latin America. Bio Latina organic coffee certification means that someone from their agency has personally visited the coffee farm or plantation where your coffee originated. They have also certified processing, storage, and shipping. This is no mean feat as much of the organic coffee in Latin America is grown on mountain slopes as steep as 70 degrees. Certifying organic coffee from a small grower or cooperative may mean flying to Bogota, Colombia, driving all day through mountainous terrain and then going by burro or on foot through a cloud forest to the coffee farm. It also means not only speaking Spanish but also any of a number of regional indigenous dialects.
When you see a USDA seal or seal of a certifying agency such as Bio Latina on the package when you buy organic coffee you can rest assured that you are getting organic coffee. Organic coffee is grown using sustainable agricultural practices. Growing Shade grown organic coffee helps preserve natural habitat for birds and small animals. The use of natural composting and spacing of plants helps avoid the use of toxic herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides that can too often be found in regular coffee. For a coffee grower to maintain his certification he must demonstrate on a regular basis that his growing practices, processing, storage, and shipping all conform to organic standards. He may not comingle regular coffee with organic coffee, for example. Some the best coffee in the world, such as Panama mountain grown organic coffee, is grown by families that have used the same patient and careful growing techniques for generations. Many of these growers did not have to change their way of growing coffee in order to obtain and maintain certification. They simply needed to demonstrate how they have grown and processed coffee for generations.
If you would like to buy organic coffee from Panama, or anywhere in Latin America, check with us at BuyOrganicCoffee.org. We can ship selected fine organic coffee directly to your home. If you are interested in wholesale coffee from Latin America contact us at BuyOrganicCoffee.org. We speak Spanish as well as English and at BuyOrganicCoffee.org we speak organic coffee as well.
Authentic Organic Coffee
A European research project will soon help decide if you are drinking authentic organic coffee, wine, or olive oil. Because of the higher price that healthy organic coffee and other organic products command there is always the risk of fraudulent packaging of normally grown coffee or other products. According to press reports a research group at the University of Copenhagen is set to develop procedures for identifying the origin of food and drink items and finding out if they contain non-organic substances such as synthetic fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides, or fungicides. The researchers will test for impurities which will help assure the consumer that his coffee or other product has been grown and processed using organic procedures. In addition they intend to be able to determine the region in which a product was grown as well. This would be accomplished by measuring trace elements that vary in composition from place to place about the globe. However, it is not as though no one is checking to verify that products such as organic coffee are, indeed, organic.
As an example of organic coffee certification, Bio Latina of Lima, Peru, sends employees throughout Latin America to verify that growers and processors are actively following sustainable growing practices and not mixing organically grown coffee or other products with their normally grown cousins. Agencies throughout the world rely on organizations such as Bio Latina to verify organically produced products. The United States Department of Agriculture, the Japanese Agricultural Ministry, the European Union, and many other accept Bio Latina certification of organic coffee and other products grown throughout Latin America. For a consumer who is aware of who reliably certifies coffee it is an easy task to look for a label confirming Bio Latina organic coffee certification.
Another safeguard already in place is the vigilance of the growers of organic products. A recent example is a law suit filed against an individual in California who was selling coffee labeled as Kona Coffee. As it turns out, to be labeled Kona coffee, which is grown in Hawaii, the coffee needs to be 100% Hawaiian grown. The coffee growers in Hawaii are a relatively small group and they noticed that someone, that was not a Hawaiian producer, was selling bogus coffee and sued to stop him. Organic Kona coffee is a unique product and its producers are a vigilant lot. Growers and processors of authentic organic coffee everywhere are interested in keeping fraud out of their trade.
For the average person who wants to make sure that he is drinking authentic organic coffee the quickest and easiest method is to only buy certified USDA organic coffee in the USA or coffee certified by the corresponding responsible agency the nation in which you live. If you have serious doubts about the validity of an organic coffee label speak to the vendor. It is also possible to check with the USDA itself or the Consumer Protection Agency. Organic coffee brings the consumer the same healthy antioxidants that are found in regular coffee but without the up to 150 impurities that can be found in regular coffee. Make sure that you are drinking authentic organic coffee. Check the label first and look for evidence of USDA or Bio Latina certification. If you are looking for Panama organic coffee, or coffee grown throughout Central or Latin America ask us at BuyOrganicCoffee.org. about purchasing for home use for purchasing wholesale coffee from growers that we deal with face to face.
Wholesale Panama Organic Coffee
An often overlooked coffee producer, Panama grows excellent regular and healthy organic coffee . Wholesale Panama organic coffee is readily available from the long list of organic growers in Panama. Panama grows its coffee in the Chiriquí highlands in the West of the country. The rich volcanic soil, shady mountain slopes, and frequent cloud cover help produce award winning coffees even though Panama ranks very low in tons of coffee produced. The country is a transportation hub for the Americas. It is known for the Panama Canal connecting the oceans and is the isthmus that connects Central to South America. Shipping is easy via Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, the various ports on the entrances of the Panama Canal, and the Pan American Highway that heads north out of Panama City over the Bridge of the Americas.
Coffee is grown on the slopes of the Cordillera Central of Panama, its mountainous spine. This mountain range is an extension of mountains of the American West. Central Americans refer to life at this altitude as living in the land of Eternal Spring. There is relief from the coastal heat but nighttime temperatures rarely reach as low as 50 degrees. Although the region is ideal for growing coffee it was not used as such until the beginning of the 20 th century when a number of families entered the region around today’s towns of Boquete and Volcan. The same families produce shade grown coffee today as growers have left much of the natural habitat in place. These growers have used sustainable growing procedures for years. So, it was easy for many to obtain Bio Latina organic coffee certification . Bio Latina certifies growers for the United States Department of Agriculture as well as the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, and agricultural authorities in the European Union and Canada. The highlands of Chiriquí are a great source of wholesale Panama organic coffee.
A North American or European coffee chain looking for dedicated organic coffee growers could do worse than use wholesale Panama organic coffee. Coffee growers such as Kotowa have won international honors for their organic coffee. Coffee from Panama has the same excellent organic coffee antioxidants and health benefits as any of the best organic coffees grown worldwide. In addition shipping is easier and quicker from Panama than from many remote coffee growing regions of the world. English is commonly spoken in Panama and agents such as BuyOrganicCoffee.org stand ready to assist buyers in arranging dedicated contracts with growers and setting up storage and shipping. Although it is more common to ship green coffee beans and roast close to the point of sale it is absolutely possible to roast and bag processed wholesale panama organic coffee in Panama before shipping.
Coffee from Panama can also be shipped directly to your home anywhere in the world by the postal service. Panama organic coffee has the organic coffee antioxidants that help reduce the incidence of type II diabetes as well as colon and prostate cancer. Sustainable techniques used to produce wholesale Panama organic coffee help consumers avoid the 150 possible contaminants found in regular coffee. If you are looking for a bag of safe organic coffee or wholesale Panama organic coffee, contact BuyOrganicCoffee.org today.
Reduced Endometrial Cancer Incidence in Coffee Drinkers
Researchers have noted a reduced endometrial cancer incidence in coffee drinkers. Data from the Harvard School of Public Health Nurses’ Health Study indicates that high coffee consumption is related to a twenty-five percent lower incidence of cancer of the lining of the uterus, endometrial cancer. Endometrial cancer is the most common type of cancer of the uterus. The incidence of this disease is related to estrogen levels. High levels of coffee consumption have been found to be related to lowered estrogen levels. The cancer most commonly is seen in women between ages 60 and 70 but can be seen in women before the age of 40. Two risk factors for endometrial cancer that have to do with drinking coffee are diabetes (high insulin levels) and estrogen replacement therapy. Researchers have known for some time that more coffee or more organic coffee can lead to less diabetes . Likewise, higher coffee consumption tends to be associated with lower estrogen levels, which is the other reason researchers believe that coffee consumption results in a reduced endometrial cancer incidence in coffee drinkers.
Researchers will not say that a reduced endometrial cancer incidence in coffee drinkers is a matter of cause and effect. This because drinking coffee or not, in this case, is matter of personal selection. To pass the strict scientific criteria needed to report a cause and effect of reduced endometrial cancer incidence in coffee drinkers women would have to be randomly assigned to coffee drinking and non-coffee drinking groups. Nevertheless, the one forth reduction in incidence of this type of cancer in female coffee drinkers is statistically significant and highly suggestive of cause and effect. The real life problem here would be to convince coffee drinkers to not drink coffee for a decade or so and convince those who do not like coffee to drink it for a decade in order to decide if the same results appear in a randomized study. This is a disease with an incidence of over 40,000 new cases a year in the USA alone. The good news that drinking more coffee is associated with less endometrial cancer is another piece of good news about coffee and healthy organic coffee .
To achieve the results of this study researchers followed women for more than a quarter of a century. They asked a variety of questions about health and habits. An interesting part of the study is that drinking decaf coffee was also associated with a reduced incidence of endometrial cancer. Thus researchers believe that substances such as regular and organic coffee antioxidants are largely responsible for the favorable effects of coffee consumption in this case. Researchers warned that taking a lot of cream and sugar with your coffee may reduce the effectiveness of the coffee as too much cream and sugar can raise insulin levels in diabetics. The consumption of coffee has also been found to be associated with lower incidence of both prostate cancer and colon cancer. The effect in both cases is believed to be related to the antioxidants found in both green coffee beans and those produced when roasting coffee. These findings have come to light from studies similar to this one that showed a reduced endometrial cancer incidence in coffee drinkers. Groups of individuals are followed for years and data collected. These studies produce real world results and useful information for those interested in their health.
Organic Coffee Roasting Companies
In order maintain the quality of healthy organic coffee, organic coffee roasting companies need dedicated equipment, storage, and processing. Organic coffee is roasted just like regular coffee. Roasting organic coffee produces the unique aroma and taste that consumers desire. The heat creates chemical processes within the coffee bean. Green coffee beans expand and they change color. Once coffee has been roasted it is less stable than in its green form. Thus roasting ideally takes place shortly before use. Although the vast majority of organic coffee is roasted commercially by organic coffee roasting companies it is possible to roast organic coffee at home as well.
Organic coffee roasting companies do more than just heat up green organic coffee beans. Beans are sorted and debris removed. Green coffee beans are placed in measured amounts in storage hoppers and then moved to roasters. Coffee roasters operate at between 240 to 275 degree Celsius (464 to 527 degrees Fahrenheit). Roasting takes anywhere from three to thirty minutes. During the roasting process, when a set of chemical reactions begin within the bean the coffee bean starts to generate heat and the external heat source must be turned down. At the end of the roasting process beans are commonly cooled by forced air. Organic coffee roasting companies use a variety of setups but the basic idea isto heat and then cool the organic coffee beans. The degree to which coffee beans are roasted is a major contributor to the flavor of organic coffee and the degree to which organic coffee antioxidants are created or modified.
The roast profile of a batch of green organic coffee beans produces various degrees of caramelization, color change, and aroma. Here are a few coffee types and the roasting temperatures required to obtain them.
Cinnamon Roast 195 °C (383 °F)
New England Roast 205 °C (401 °F)
American Roast 210 °C (410 °F)
City Roast 220 °C (428 °F)
Full City Roast 225 °C (437 °F)
Vienna Roast 230 °C (446 °F)
French Roast 240 °C (464 °F)
Italian Roast 245 °C (473 °F)
Spanish Roast 250 °C (482 °F)
The original quality of the organic coffee beans survives through most of the range of roasting but at the higher temperatures it the roasting process that dominates and produces the majority of flavor and aroma. Organic coffee roasting companies commonly make a variety of roasts; the specific ones depend upon the likes and dislikes of their customers. The commonality of these coffee roasting companies is that they only roast organic coffee or that they roast organic coffee in dedicated storage units and roasting facilities. Organic coffee comes a long way from the various tropical highlands where coffee is grown. Shade grown organic coffee is a unique product, free of many of the contaminants that can be found in regular coffee. The dedication to sustainable growing practices and the production of an excellent coffee could, sadly, be undone by organic coffee roasting companies that do not follow strict protocols in storing, processing, roasting, cooling, and packaging good organic coffee.
Panama Organic Coffee
For a cup of excellent coffee produced by sustainable growing techniques try Panama organic coffee. Panama is not a large volume producer of healthy organic coffee but it produces award winning organic coffee in the volcanic soil of its highlands. In fact, a Panama mountain grown organic coffee was the winner of best in the world organic coffee honors in 2006. The coffee growing culture of the Chiriquí highlands where most of Panama organic coffee is grown is only about a hundred years old. The lands around the present towns of Boquete and Volcan were largely empty until settled near the beginning of the 20 th century. Today much of Panama coffee production in the region is grown and processed by descendants of the original settlers. These families have treated the soil in such a way as to preserve its nutrients and avoid pollution. These folks were practicing sustainable coffee production before the concept of organic farming and organic coffee came to be.
Because the growers of Panama organic coffee already had been practicing sustainable agriculture for generations is was a short step for a number of them to seek and obtain Bio Latina organic coffee certification. Bio Latina is the organization based in Lima, Peru that certifies many growers and processors on behalf of organizations worldwide. Thus organic coffee certified for the USDA, Japanese Agricultural Ministry, the European Union, and many specific organic coffee brands are commonly certified directly by Bio Latina. The towns of Boquete and Volcan are in the Western end of Panama in it “dry arch” or arcos eco which is the main agricultural region of Panama. Coffee is grown at altitudes of 3,000 to 7,000 feet on volcanic soil left over from the eruption of a giant volcano well over a million years ago. The 11,000 foot volcano, Volcan Baru, looms over the region. The cloudy conditions and cooler climate (due to elevation) give Panama growing conditions like Hawaii where organic Kona coffee is produced. Much of the coffee in Panama is grown in the shade as it has been naturally grown for years.
Although you can easily buy Panama organic coffee in Panama it is not as easily found outside of the country. Panama wholesale organic coffee can be found using contacts such as BuyOrganicCoffee.org. Likewise individuals who want to buy individual bags of Panama organic coffee can order through BuyOrganicCoffee.org. Coffee can be sent directly to your home in North America or anywhere in the world via regular post. Panama organic coffee contains the same organic coffee antioxidants that help reduce the incidence of type II diabetes and cancers of the colon and prostate. The sustainable growing techniques used to produce this coffee help keep the more than 150 possible contaminants found in regular coffee out of your coffee cup each morning. Whether you are looking for a bag of safe organic coffee or wholesale coffee from Panama, contact BuyOrganicCoffee.org. We at Buy Organic Coffee .org would love to be of assistance.
Panama Wholesale Organic Coffee
If you are looking for healthy organic coffee in bulk consider Panama wholesale organic coffee. Panama mountain grown organic coffee is some of the best in the world. Panama is the transportation hub of the Americas. English is commonly spoken. Panama is the site of the Panama Canal that connects Atlantic to Pacific. And its Tocumen International Airport handles well over a million passengers a year. Panama is also the southernmost stretch of the Pan American Highway before it reemerges in South America. Thus, if you purchase Panama wholesale organic coffee you have the ability to easily ship by land, sea, or air to any point in North America, or the world.
The Cordillera Central of Panama, its mountainous spine, is extension of the mountains of the North. Here, in the tropics, the highlands are referred to as the land of eternal spring. The elevation provides a relief from the coastal heat but, because Panama is in the tropics, it does not get cold. The highlands of Panama are ideal for growing coffee. The highlands around Boquete and Volcan in the province of Chiriquí have rich volcanic soil and a coffee growing culture going back a century. Small, family, farms grow coffee on the slopes of the mountains and hills of Panama. Many of these coffee farms produce shade grown coffee as growers have left much of the natural habitat in place. In addition, many growers have uses sustainable growing techniques for coffee for years. Thus it was a small step for many to receive Bio Latina organic coffee certification. Bio Latina certifies producers and processors in behalf of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, and agricultural authorities in Canada and the European Union. The highlands of Panama can be your source for individual bags of coffee or large shipments of Panama wholesale organic coffee.
Panama is a small country about the size of South Carolina. Panama grows the bulk of its coffee in the Province of Chiriquí. Thus Panama does not compete against the likes of Brazil and Colombia for quantity of production. It competes on the basis of quality. An excellent example is Duncan Estate organic coffee by Kotowa. This coffee won best organic coffee in Panama honors in 2005 and then best organic coffee in the world honors in 2006. The growing conditions in the highlands of Panama are sometimes compared to those in Hawaii where organic Kona coffee is grown at altitude, in volcanic soil, and in a similar cloudy habitat.
If you are looking for a cup with great organic coffee aroma and healthy organic coffee antioxidants consider Panama organic coffee. There are many available organic coffee growers and processors. If your interest is in green coffee beans, Panama wholesale organic coffee may be for you. If your interest is in processed, bagged, and labeled organic coffee that is always an options. Check out the facts and if you interest is in purchasing Panama wholesale organic coffee in bulk please feel free to contact us at Buy Organic Coffee today.
Wholesale Coffee
Where do you find wholesale coffee if you prefer healthy organic coffee? Much organic wholesale coffee is purchased directly from coffee growers and cooperatives while standard coffee commonly enters a worldwide supply chain and ends up where price, supply, and demand dictate. A prime example for the purchase of organic wholesale coffee is Starbucks. This worldwide chain of coffee houses purchases in multiyear contracts from organic growers in the four corners of the coffee producing world. But what about a smaller company that wishes to purchase organic wholesale coffee? Where do they go? Who do they deal with and what are the problems they need to overcome?
The Coffee Industry Commodity Chain
The cup of coffee on your table for breakfast starts as coffee beans produced by an individual grower. Large coffee producers often export their own coffee beans. Smaller coffee growers sell to an exporter, a middle man. He sells to coffee importers who sell to roasters who sell to retailers. Much of the cost of a good cup of coffee full goes to paying all of those folks in between the coffee farmer and the customer.
Coffee importers typically buy and hold very large quantities of coffee and sell at optimum prices as the market allows. Roasters are to a degree at the mercy of importers for quantity, quality, and price of their coffee beans. Nevertheless, roasters, who sell prepackage coffee to large retailers, are said to have the highest profit margin of any individual segment of the supply chain.
Organic Coffee versus Regular Coffee
Organic coffee is roughly one percent of world production (67,000 tons versus 69,000,000 tons). Organic coffee sells at a premium to regular coffee. The average premium over regular coffee has ranged from ten to forty percent in the last decade. However, a poor cup of organic coffee does not fetch nearly as much of a premium over regular coffee as does a good cup. Also, when coffee prices go down in general, so can the price paid for organic coffee. Well known and trusted producers commonly command a higher premium than unknowns. This presents a problem for unknowns who pay for Bio Latina organic coffee certification or certification by other reputable certification agencies. Certification does not guarantee sales or profits! For the individual who would like to buy, roast, package, and sell organic coffee in the USA or Europe how does he go about finding an organic grower with product to sell?
What if You Want to Buy Organic Wholesale Coffee from the Grower?
There are a couple of approaches to obtaining a reliable supply of high quality organic wholesale coffee. One is to contact the various certifying agencies around the world and request a list of the growers and processors whom they certify. Then one needs to contact these folks, typically in their native language, and negotiate price. The other approach is to contact someone “on the ground” in the area in which one is interested. For example, to find a source of Panama mountain grown organic coffee one can contact an agency such as Buy Organic Coffee.org in order to find promising sources of organic wholesale coffee and to help with the logistics of collecting and sending a shipment of green organic coffee beans, roasted organic coffee beans, or bagged and labeled organic coffee from countries such as Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, and more.
Panama Mountain Grown Organic Coffee
Some of the best coffee in the world is Panama mountain grown organic coffee. Panama is the small Central American country that serves as a land bridge between North and South America. Many recognize the name because of the Panama Canal that connects Atlantic to Pacific. Panama has a mountainous spine, the Cordillera Central, in Spanish. This region is ideal for growing healthy organic coffee. It is in the rich volcanic soil of the Cordillera Central in the highlands of the province of Chiriquí that Panama grows some of the best coffee in the world. This is a relatively small region so Panama does not compete for tons of coffee produced against the large scale coffee producers like Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, or Indonesia. What Panama lacks in volume of production it more than makes up for in the quality of coffee that it produces.
A prime example of Panama mountain grown organic coffee is Duncan Estate organic coffee produced by Kotowa Coffee in the Chiriquí Highlands of Panama. This Arabica coffee grown by sustainable practices received honors as the best organic coffee in Panama in 2005 and the best organic coffee in the world in 2006. Duncan Estate organic coffee by Kotowa is certified by Bio Latina. Other Panama mountain grown organic coffee certified producers receiving Bio Latina organic coffee certification include the following:
- Los Lajones Estate Coffee S.A.
- Leap Of Faith Farms, Inc
- Hacienda La Esperanza
- Hacienda Barbara Jaramillo
- Finca Señor Ramón Arauz
- Finca San Miguel de La Montaña
- Finca Ramon Arauz
- Finca El Remedio – Ama de Casa
- Finca Dos Jefes
- Asociación de Caficultores Orgánicos Ngöbe Ascon
Coffee growing in Panama centers on the towns of Boquete and Volcan. This area is the Northeastern end of the arco seco, Spanish for dry arch, which is the agricultural breadbasket of Panama. The town of Boquete lies at 3,000 altitude and the highlands above the town range above and below 4,000 feet. The weather is often cloudy and the elevation gives relief from the heat of the coast. The soil is volcanic due to the eruption long of ago of the 11,000 foot volcano, Volcan Baru. The growing conditions are very similar to those in Hawaii where they grow organic Kona coffee.
The Boquete – Volcan region was discovered by many North Americans during the California Gold Rush. One of the means of getting from the East Coast of North America to the gold fields was to take a steamer to Panama and cross the isthmus on foot. One of the routes passed through a gap in the Cordillera Central of Panama. The Spanish word for gap, breach, or hole is boquete. The region was not heavily populated and experienced a population surge around the beginning of the 20 th century. It was in 1918 when Canadian Alexander Duncan McIntyre came to Panama. His family has grown coffee in the Chiriquí highlands of Panama for three generations. This story of family coffee farms, devotion to the soil, and pride in producing excellent coffee runs throughout the region. Thus Panama mountain grown organic coffee is some of the best in the world. Whether your interest is organic coffee aroma or healthy organic coffee antioxidants, Panama is place to find great organic coffee. For more useful information about Panama mountain grown organic coffee feel free to contact us at Buy Organic Coffee today.