Café Don Benjie Estate, home to Café Don Benjie, consists of 33 hectares in the Highlands of Boquete, Chiriquí, located in the Bajo Mono Canyon, at the slopes of the Barú Volcano.

The farm lies alongside the pristine waters of the Caldera River in the Bajo Mono Canyon. The altitude of the plantation ranges from 1400 to 1550 meters. Bajo Mono is known amongst the best regions for growing great quality coffees, as the region is blessed with volcanic soil, crystal clear spring water fountains, and the afternoon mist, that locals call Bajareque, forming one of the many microclimates that make the region famous for specialty coffee growing. Their coffees are carefully processed and fermented with different techniques such as wild yeasts, carbonic maceration, or other innovative processes that they have learned to apply over the years.

HISTORY

The De Dianous Family arrived in Boquete in 1914 where Gabriel De Dianous purchased the first coffee farm also in Bajo Mono. Ever since then, the family has been in the coffee business.

The name “Don Benjie” comes as a tribute to Mr. Benjamin de Dianous Henriquez, who has been well known in the town of Boquete for many years as a successful coffee producer and as a gentleman who has contributed to the town and the community of Boquete in many ways.

Cafè Don Benji Estate produce many varietals, but they’re especially famous for their geishas, many of their experimental geishas are award-winning competition lots, and this is one of them.

THE FATIMITA LOT:

This Geisha Lot was harvested on their Fatimita plot, on the South-Eastern slopes of the plantation, with beautiful views, plenty of shade trees, volcanic soils, and good sunlight during the day.

After picking and processing the cherries that are manually preselected, these are then floated in natural spring water from their farm. After floating, the cherries are placed into fermentation tanks, injecting CO2 into the closed fermentation environment creating their Carbonic Maceration, keeping the inside temperature between 18 and 25 degrees C. After 172H of controlled fermentation (process #7), the cherries are then placed for slow drying on beds under constant movement and supervision for approx. 25 days. During the resting period, they are stored in Grain Pro bags in a controlled environment for 4 months, until they are hulled and selected by machines and then again manually. They take very good care of these precious beans, using the above fermentation technique in order to enhance the characteristics of the varietal, showcasing the aromas and flavours and their unique terroir.

Their team is committed to picking and hand-selecting the ripe cherries, floating, processing, and slow drying under constant movement, always looking for the final result of a perfect cup.

In the cup:

Crispy raspberry, sweet mango, vanilla, tropical flowers, super juicy.

Minimum resting period: 7 days from roast date.