Panamá Carmen Estate

Carmen Estate is located in the Chiriqui Volcano Valley in Panama, at an altitude of 1.800 meters above sea level. They have been producing and exporting high quality coffee for more than 50 years. Efrain and Carmen Franceschi established the coffee plantation in 1960; Carlos Aguilera, his grandson, is today in charge of the property. Carmen Estate produces 1.200 bags (60 kg each) of high quality green coffee harvest after harvest since then.

The coffee trees grow in steep hills, under centuries-old rainforest vegetation and with natural springs and streams that cross the property, providing a great habitat for the local fauna.

At Carmen Estate, they take care of each stage of harvesting and milling to maintain optimum results: safe and healthy conditions for workers and their families, environmentally friendly production practices such as integrated pest management, soil conservation, water springs, waste management and ecosystem conservation are part of their contribution to sustainable management.

Red and ripe coffee cherries are transported from the field to the mill as quickly as possible to be arranged in raised beds to be sun dried. Mechanical dryers fed with shelled coffee parchment are used to complete the drying process.

Once dried, they are packed in individual jute bags. These bags are carefully classified and numbered in batches, stored in wooden silos or warehouses for a rest period of 60 days. The coffees are tasted batch-by-batch in order to determine errors or defects in the field processes, harvesting, drying or storage. Finally, the parchment coffee is peeled and sorted by size and density before being packed.