The Lamastus Family has being producing coffee in Elida Estate for four generations since 1918. Elida Estate coffee are produced under a unique world-ecological condition: it is shade-grown, bird friendly, the farm is located at a very high elevation, in a micro climate with very low temperature, the coffee trees are surrounded by the Volcan Baru National Park -a virgin native cloudy rain forest-.
At the turn of the century Kentucky born Robert Lamastus started an Arabica coffee plantation in a farm located at around 5,600 ft (1 700 m) above sea level in the skirts of the Baru Volcano in Boquete, Panama. At the time our grandfather processed and exported what is still today considered as one of the highest quality coffees in the world. Now a days and three generations later the tradition continues, the Lamastus family, still produces, processes, exports, and now roast its own rare estate coffees.
The Estates:
The Lamastus, produce these estate coffees in three different farms located in Boquete, Panama. El Burro Estate, Luito Geisha Estates, and Elida Estate. These three estate coffees are located in the highest area of the country in steep hills in the skirt of one of the highest volcanoes in Central America, the Baru Volcano. El Burro Estate is located between 5,200 and 6,500 ft (1.575 and 2,000m) above sea level and Elida Estate is the highest coffee farm in Panama located between 5,500 and 8,200 ft (1.700 and 2.500m) above sea level.
These estates are planted with Arabica coffees in rich deep young volcanic soils and are kept in optimum conditions to develop the best quality coffee that the trees can produce. The cherries are delicately hand-picked, at strict full maturity, by native Ngobe-Bugle Indians in an area where our main objective is to keep the environment to its most pristine and natural condition. The coffee are then processed with most care to keep the rich flavour of the coffee in three different processing methods (Natural, Washed, and Honey). Then, the coffee is carefully selected, rested for 60 to a 100 days (depending on the process) in burlap sacks on wooden floors and then exported directly by the Lamastus family.
In these estates, Estate only, the area that goes up to 6,000 ft is planted with coffee (in Panama coffee cannot be grown at altitudes higher than 6,000 ft) and the other part is an ecological reserve area, located within the Volcan Baru National Park, where you can go bird watching and see many beautiful plant, animals and bird species including the Quetzal.
Because of the high altitudes where the coffee is grown the beans are very dense and uniform and they are mild with a medium body, good aroma and high acidity. These estate coffees are considered among the best in the world.
