Panama Altieri Chombi Geisha Honey

We are honored to bring you our new Panama Altieri Chombi Geisha Honey from award-winning farmer, Eugene Altieri. Experience the floral and sweet acidity of jasmine, sugarcane, and peach, bursting with further complex flavors of lychee and mild berry. This coffee is clean and sweet with a smooth body, creating a new experience in each sip.

The Chombi lot was named in honor of Eugene Altieri's granddaughter. The Mima Estate farm is located in Alto Quiel at the foothills of the Baru Volcano, at an altitude of 1800 meters above sea level. The Mima Estate covers an area of approximately 1.5 hectares of volcanic soil where Geisha Green Tip grows. During the rainy season, the daytime temperature is around 18 degrees Celsius, and it drops to 14 degrees Celsius at night. This plot is managed with 70% of shade, which impacts the production and attributes of this coffee. 

After the Geisha is harvested, it is then transported to the facilities in Alto Lino the next morning, where it undergoes flotation to separate low-density cherries. One day after the harvest, it was pulped; honey processing starts with the fresh coffee cherry. There are several layers in the anatomy of the whole cherry, but the good stuff lies beneath the skin called the mucilage. Mucilage has a very sticky, gluey texture to it which is rich with sugars. Hence the nickname, “Honey”. In this process, the pulp has been removed, reducing the risks of poor fermentation, yet varying degrees of mucilage will remain (requiring less water to be used for this method).

The Chombi lot was then placed in African beds under the sun in the greenhouse at Mimas Estate for 18 days. After the drying process, it entered the resting warehouse; finally, it was transported to the United States where we are delighted to roast and deliver it to you to enjoy.

Eugene Altieri has a decade-long history of producing prize-winning speciality coffee in the annual "Best of Panama" coffee competition, taking 3rd place in the Natural Geisha category.

The microclimates of the Mima Estates, combined with meticulous care, ensures the best cup with a special and complex combination of many flavors.

This coffee comes to us from a family-owned group of coffee growing farms from Boquete in Panama. Altieri has two farms located in Boquete, called Mima Estate in the area of Callejon Seco and Pipim Estate in the area of Alto Lino. Founded by Eugene Altieri, (an Italian-American businessman residing in Panama) they produce varieties of Geisha, Typica, Catuai and Caturra.

These prize-winning coffees are grown on the Eastern slope of the Baru Volcano, surrounded by the virgin cloud forests of the Baru National Park, at a height of between 1,600 and 2,200 meters above sea level in an area known as Callejón Seco and Alto Lino. This area consists of volcanic soil, drained on the slope of the volcanic mountain, at an altitude where winds from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans collide creating microclimates different from the rest of the country. Mima Estate (Callejon Seco) produces Geisha, Typica and Catuai, while Pipim Estate (Alto Lino) produces Caturra.

After fifteen years of coffee growing and earning various awards, the second generation of the Altieri family are following Eugene’s legacy, working together to expand the Altieri Specialty Coffee brand. Given that family is in Altieri Specialty Coffee’s core values, the names of each lot have special meaning - they are named after each of the Altieri family’s 10 grandchildren!

Honey processing starts with the fresh coffee cherry. There are several layers in the anatomy of the whole cherry, but the good stuff lies beneath the skin called the mucilage. Mucilage has a very sticky, gluey texture to it which is rich with sugars - hence the nickname, “honey”.

In the honey process, the pulp has been removed, reducing the risks of poor fermentation, yet varying degrees of mucilage will remain (requiring less water to be used for this method).