Volcan, Panama: Santa Teresa Devastated

We made it to Volcan today.  Like Boquete, the weather on this side of the Volcano Baru has been brutal.  We are scheduled to tour the farm of the Berard's who grow Transcend's beloved Lot 87.  When I finally connected with Maria (no phones or power for two days) she informed me that they had lost half of their farm to the bad winds and rain.  This is devastating and I feel so bad for them.  She simply said that it would be best if we didn't go to the farm as it has virtually been destroyed.  So we are cupping coffee in the morning, and will likely head out to visit their beef farm instead.  Tim O'Brien, who is with us from Exclusive Coffee in Costa Rica, has a huge family ranch in the Kansas panhandle, so he and I are both interested in the Berard's beef operation.  The trees that have fallen and the beans that are bursting on the branch are hard to take.  It is like a huge hail storm in Alberta during the peak of harvest season, where you see huge potential and then nothing.  Thankfully, the Berard's have finished most of their harvest this year, and this devastating loss will not settle in until next year.

Nonetheless, it is hard to describe the craziness of the weather and its effects over here.  Global warming is starting to have a huge effect on the coffee farms in Central America.  Tim O'Brien is planting coffee in the Terrazu region of Costa Rica where it would never grow before.  Growing coffee at over 1700 meters was simply unheard of.  In Panama, we are seeing very confused plants.  This rain is tricking the coffee trees into thinking it is April, instead of February (normally very dry).  So they are starting to bloom, while still having green and ripe cherries on the branch.  This confused behavior of the coffee plants totally impacts the quality and volume of the next year's harvest.  In short, the weather is changing dramatically over here, and not for the better of the specialty coffee industry.

On a more exciting note, we got to visit the Don Pachi estate today, and meet the man himself.  Don Pachi is a man in Boquete who is simply a legend in the coffee world.  He has brought and nurtured varietals of coffee to the Boquete region, and is single handedly responsible for bringing the Geisha to Panama from Costa Rica, when they thought the varietal was garbage.  The Serracin family coffee farm is now in its 6th generation, and continues to grow and treat the coffee plant with respect and honour.  It was an amazing experience to hear Don Pachi expound on his intimate knowledge and wisdom of coffee first hand.  Our translators Tim O'Brien and Jose David, were so excited to share what the Boquete sage had to offer us.  Imagine, tasting Java in Panama, and watch out Indonesia, if this plant continues to develop, it could be a new cult coffee like the Geisha.  Some days I have to slap myself in the face to ensure that all I get to experience in the world of coffee isn't simply a dream.