Panama Altieri Chombi Geisha Dry Fermentation Process

We're thrilled to introduce you to our latest masterpiece: Panama Altieri Chombi Geisha Natural Cold Dry Fermentation, crafted by the renowned and award-winning farmer, Eugene Altieri. Get ready to dive into an extraordinary flavor journey with notes of apple, cherry blood orange, a vibrant fruit acidity with a hint of creamy custard. Every sip reveals layers of red fruits, wrapped in a clean, sweet, and silky-smooth body that promises a delightful new experience with every pour.

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.

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!

Process DFS (Special Dry Fermentation): The cherry is manually selected and cleaned, to make sure it is completely mature. The beans are later sun dried in our greenhouse to lower water levels and to achieve optimal sugar concentration for 4 days. Then, they are placed into silage bags where they undergo an anaerobic fermentation process with natural soil wild yeast from our farm (natural bacteria) for 5 days under the shadow. They are later placed in our dark drying room in African beds for 40 days at a control temperature of 18C. This dark room also counts with special fans to ensure the proper oxygenation of all cherries. Afterwards, the beans are placed in our controlled temperature warehouse for resting in grain pro bags.


In Dry Fermentation, the coffee cherry is manually selected and cleaned, to make sure it is completely mature. The beans were later sun dried in the greenhouse to lower water levels and to achieve optimal sugar concentration. Then, they were placed into silage bags where they underwent an anaerobic fermentation process with wild yeast from our farm (natural bacteria) for a couple of days with the minimum oxygen possible. Afterwards, the coffee was placed in African beds at 1800 masl to slow dry until 11% humidity was achieved. Finally, the lot ended resting in our temperature and humidity-controlled warehouse.