The return of this beautiful coffee from the Hartmann family, considered to be one of the leaders in Panama speciality coffee
I was lucky enough to meet them at them back in 2017 at the London Coffee Festival and their passion and energy was intoxicating and I knew then that it wouldn't be long before one or more of their coffees would make an appearance on the Crankhouse list. In previous years we've had this natural Maragogype, a crazy Caturra and delicious Gesha. This year through our import partner Volcafe we were lucky to get access to this natural Maragogype again.
Alois Strasil Hartmann, born in 1891 in the region of Moravia, then Austrian-Hungarian empire, came to Panama in 1912 in search of adventure, which made him follow the telegraph lines all the way to Volcan instead of staying in Panama City. He was the first resident of Volcan, where he settled and bought 500ha from the Panamanian government and gave 100ha of this land with virgin forest to one of his sons, Ratibor Hartmann, who was working with the US army in Panama City and turned that land into the Finca Hartmann coffee farm. In 1966 Ratibor married Dinorah Sandí from Costa Rica. Together they raised 5 children, Ratibor Jr, Allan, Alexander, Aliss and Kelly.
Finca Hartmann is a family enterprise, and all members of the family are passionately involved in it's management. Each performs a different function in the growth, production, quality control, marketing and tourism aspects of the farm. Coffee for them is a way of life, their culture, their family. Their harvest employees return every year, as do their buyers, because they like their vision: work together with nature, work the land without destroying it.
The finca consists of several smaller farms/lots, all located between 1300 and 2000 mts above sea level with nearly 100has of forest reserves bordering on the Parque Nacional de La Amistad. The coffee is grown under the shade of native rainforest trees that have been there for many years. The Hartmann's try not to cut trees, they replant native trees and plantains to maintain the natural cycle and a healthy soil and fauna, all with the aim in mind to sustain a long-term quality coffee production cycle.
They grow Catuai, Caturra, Pacamara, Typica, Maragogype, Bourbon and Geisha and process in a variety of ways including recently some experimental extended anaerobic fermentations.
Allan Hartmann at the dry-mill (nice Tee-shirt)
The processing area is located at the main farm at 1300 mts. As mentioned before the Hartmanns are 5 siblings, and each one of them has their area of expertise: Alexander Hartmann is in charge of growing and the fields and then passes the beans on for processing to Allan Hartmann, who is in charge of the beneficio. Ratibor Hartmann is in charge of quality control and sales (incl. roasting, cupping), and there is a constant feedback loop between all the siblings.
Maragogype is a natural mutation of Typica first discovered in the town of Maragogipe, Bahia, Brazil.
The Maragogype coffee plant is large and is taller than either Bourbon or Typica; however, the plant is known for its low productivity. It's most distinguishing feature are there size, which can be at least twice as big as normal coffee beans (sometimes referred to as ‘Elephant’ beans).
The variety is most common in Brazil, Guatemala and Mexico but can also be found across Latin America. It is well-adapted to lower altitudes but its cup profile becomes more pronounced and pleasant above 1,500 metres. The maturing process is slow, which contributes to its complex cup.