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Qianjie Coffee: Panama Donkey Estate Geisha

In 1925, a French immigrant to Panama Boquete purchased a piece of land for coffee cultivation. Since this location was originally used for livestock farming, Mr. Aristides Boutet, who bought the land, named the estate — Donkey Estate.

In just over half a year, Donkey Estate will, like Elida, become a centennial famous estate, marking the second century-old farm under the Lamastus family. So today, Qianjie will take you to get to know this soon-to-be-century-old Donkey Estate.

Donkey Estate

Donkey Estate is located in the Baru Volcano Mountain Range of Boquete, Panama. I believe many have noticed that many famous Panamanian estates are clustered here. Because this area boasts exceptionally terroir resources, such as Panama’s unique microclimates!

As we can see from the map, the overall terrain of Panama runs from east to west in an S-shape. Every winter, two air currents collide at high altitudes in the central mountain range! One is the cold current from Florida, USA, moving from north to south, and the other is the warm, moist Pacific air current moving from west to north.

When these two vastly different air currents collide, they create variable winds and frequent rainfall in the region. These climatic conditions result in temperatures and rainfall levels highly suitable for plant growth. Hence, people often say this is Panama’s unique and vital resource. And Donkey Estate, being situated near the mountains, is also a beneficiary of this climate.

In addition, we must mention the Baru Volcano, as Panama’s main coffee-growing areas are centered around this volcano. The fertile volcanic soil is rich in organic matter, with elements like potassium and phosphorus providing substantial nutrients for coffee growth, yielding superior coffee flavors. Therefore, this land is also known as the “coffee paradise.”

Speaking of Mr. Aristides Boutet, he was not only the founder of Donkey Estate but also the grandfather of Mr. Wilford Lamastus of the Lamastus family. It is precisely because of this relationship that Donkey Estate became part of the Lamastus family.

For a long time in the past, the coffee market was oversupplied, leading to persistently low coffee prices. Many estate owners could not survive this downturn and had to sell their coffee farms, including Mr. Aristides Boutet. Mr. Wilford and his brother Patrick Lamastus could not bear to see Donkey Estate fall into the hands of outsiders, so they bought it back and continued its operation.

The size of Donkey Estate is slightly smaller than that of Elida Estate, at only about 50 hectares, but it is still a fairly large piece of land. Like most estates located in the Boquete region, part of Donkey Estate lies within Panama’s National Park. As the forest is protected by the state and strictly prohibited from being logged, this section of the estate cannot be used for coffee cultivation, spanning about 20 hectares.

Excluding the 20 hectares that cannot be planted, the remaining 30 hectares are allocated by the Lamastus family as follows: 10 hectares are reserved for planting, and 20 hectares are used for coffee bean cultivation, primarily growing the Geisha and Catuai varieties.

But for the circumstances of those years,  the Lamastus family’s operations were not optimistic either. So, to ensure the estate could operate and maintain daily life, the family had to engage in other work to secure the funds needed to sustain life and run the farm.

With the Lamastus family’s perseverance, the estate finally emerged from hardship and welcomed its own spring. Since 2015, Donkey Estate has continuously won awards, becoming a renowned coffee estate that excels in the Best of Panama ( BOP ) competition. Even in 2016, a contestant from Japan’s Maruyama Coffee used Donkey Estate’s Geisha to win the championship of the competition!

So, Qianjie brought in another Donkey Estate Geisha to taste its deliciousness again! That’s right! Just craving it! ! This Geisha is processed using the natural method. The natural process involves drying the entire coffee fruit with its pulp and skin intact, then drying it until the moisture content reaches a certain range, which typically takes about 2–4 weeks. Finally, a hulling machine is used to remove the outer shell encasing the beans, completing the green bean processing!

Coffee beans processed via the natural method possess a richer and more layered flavor profile. Therefore, Qianjie will apply a medium-light roast to this Geisha to better highlight its exceptional flavors.