Panama

Elida Estate

Natural anaerobic slow dry process Catuai

Flavour: plum, rosewater, blackberry, port

Very Special

This VS is a blast from Sample’s past, pre-dating even the Very Special designation. We last featured Elida Estate coffee back in 2014, and it was a hit with the roasting team and customers. Now, ten years later, we’re returning to Wilford Lamastus’ farm once again, to feature his delicious Catuai lot.

What makes this coffee so prestigious? For starters, Panama is one of the most revered coffee origins in the industry. The high altitude farms and perfect weather conditions make for a complex and dynamic cup of coffee. Plenty of Panama’s farms also feature competition grade varietals, like the infamous Gesha, and often use experimental processing to elevate the inherent flavours even further.

More specifically, however, Wilford Lamastus is a big name producer even within the context of Panama. He’s won the Best of Panama coffee contest multiple times in the past, bringing a high level of prestige to his farm and product. Elida Estate itself has a wealth of terroir benefits to offer, in addition to Wilford’s personal accolades. The coffee here is grown in deep young volcanic soil, with plenty of shade in a microclimate of very low temperatures. This coffee excels in every area, which we think makes for a Very Special cup indeed.

Location

More than half of this farm is located within the Volcan Baru National Park a protected ecological reserve and sanctuary for exotic plants, birds and mammals (like the tropical tiger). Hunting has been prohibited in this farm for decades. The Baru volcano is one of the highest volcanoes in Central America, with 14,000ha and 7 different climate zones depending on the elevation. Coffee in this farm is grown up to 1,950m.

This coffee is produced under a unique world-condition for several reasons: first the farm is located at a very high elevation, it is grown in rich young volcanic soils, the temperatures are low, there is lots of fog and mist during the dry season, the coffee trees are surrounded by virgin-native cloudy rain forest, the nights get cold here thereby taking a tree from 4 ½ to 5 ½ years to start producing (2 or 3 years longer to produce than average), these low temperatures also extend the ripening time 1 month longer (thereby the development of the bean). All these unique growing conditions show in a distinguished cup.

ASD processing

Wilford takes a lot of care in processing his coffee, using a method referred to as ASD: Anaerobic Slow Dry. The Anaerobic aspect in this case involves removing the carbon dioxide emitted by the coffee fruit from the tanks. The coffee is then left to ferment for 5 days. Additional oxygen is also prevented from entering.

Afterwards, the coffee fruit goes into drying beds for a period of 23 days. This is where the Slow Dry aspect comes into play. In coffee processing, any period of drying over 20 days is considered slow. This serves to deepen the flavour profile over a long period of time, and requires a great deal of care and precision to pull off with consistency.

Learn everything about this coffee:

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Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

• Dose: 20g ground coffee
• Yield: 60g espresso
• Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

• Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
• Labels: recyclable
• Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
• Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer

Wilford Lamastus

Farm/Coop

Elida Estate

Country

Panama

Region

Alto Quiel, Boquete

Altitude

1,670-1,950m above sea level

Variety

Catuai

Process

natural anaerobic slow dry

Harvested

January 2024

Importer

Condesa Co.Lab

Body

Acidity

Tasting notes

Plum, rosewater, blackberry, port

Roast style

Omni (filter + espresso)