Panama — Cafelino Santa Elena Geisha (Pinnacle Hybrid Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍊 Orange • 💜 Violet • 🫐 Blackberry • 🌸 Jasmine

DETAILS

• Producer: Cafelino — Santa Elena Estate
• Farm: Finca Santa Elena
• Region: Boquete, Chiriquí, Panama
• Varietal: Geisha
• Process: Pinnacle Hybrid Washed (Double Fermentation)
• Altitude: 1,250–1,530 MASL
• Score: 90 SCA
• Roast: Filter

INTRO

From Cafelino's Finca Santa Elena in Boquete — a 90-point Geisha processed through the proprietary Pinnacle method, a hybrid washed protocol of absolute precision. Double-fermented and slowly dried for 24 days under a solar greenhouse, this is a Geisha of great purity, vivid aromatic clarity, and perfect balance. In the cup: orange, violet, blackberry, and jasmine.

THE PRODUCER

Cafelino is a family business based in Boquete, in the mountains of Panama's Chiriquí province. Specialising in sustainable specialty coffee, the company balances tradition, innovation, and respect for the natural environment to produce coffees of exceptional quality. At the heart of their operation is Finca Santa Elena — an estate perched between 1,250 and 1,530 MASL, where unique volcanic terroir and meticulous production methods yield coffees celebrated for their rich aromatics and outstanding cup quality.

Boquete has been synonymous with Geisha since the Peterson family's landmark 2004 Best of Panama victory — and Cafelino's Santa Elena has established itself within that celebrated landscape through the Pinnacle process: a proprietary hybrid method that combines anaerobic and aerobic fermentation phases with precision timing to reveal the variety's fullest aromatic potential.

THE PROCESS

The Pinnacle Hybrid Washed process at Finca Santa Elena involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Geisha cherries selectively harvested at full ripeness 🔒 24-hour whole cherry anaerobic fermentation — Whole cherries sealed in anaerobic conditions at ambient temperature for 24 hours 🔧 Depulping — Outer skin removed after the first fermentation 🌬️ 24-hour open-tank aerobic fermentation — Depulped beans transferred to open tanks for a second 24-hour fermentation in aerobic conditions to develop the mucilage 💧 Full washing — Thoroughly washed to remove all fermentation residue ☀️ 24-day solar greenhouse drying — Dried slowly for 24 days under a solar greenhouse

The double fermentation — anaerobic in the whole cherry, then aerobic after depulping — is the defining step. By working with two contrasting fermentation environments back to back, Cafelino builds the aromatic clarity, vivid acidity, and layered complexity that define this Geisha, before the patient 24-day solar greenhouse drying locks in the purity and balance that complete the cup.

THE CUP

A vivid, pure, and beautifully balanced 90-point hybrid washed Geisha from one of Boquete's most innovative family estates — a delicate bouquet of violet and jasmine intertwined with the bright vivacity of orange and the indulgent sweetness of blackberry, in a cup of great finesse and aromatic clarity. The Pinnacle process at its most expressive.

Flavour Notes

🍊 Orange 💜 Violet 🫐 Blackberry 🌸 Jasmine