Last year, we released our first coffee from the Hachi Project, a beautifully floral focused, round and tealike washed Caturra from Angelica Farm in Panama. Though our first round of buying from them was very small, we knew the next time around we wanted to dive a bit deeper. This time around, we decided to go with a an extremely fine-tuned and expressive "reverse protocol" Gesha and a classic washed Paraneima that leapt off the table with an explosive, but laser-focused clean and bright citric acidity. We have plenty of stock listed for both of these and they should stay up for quite a while!
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The Hachi Project is an international collaborative operation involving 4 different farms spread across Colombia and Panama, with a focus on careful scientific and agricultural guidance from the initial cloning selections to the final processing steps.Both of these coffees come from Rocky Mountain Farm in Santa Clara, Chiriqui, Panama, which sits between 1,400 and 1,600masl. Managed by 3rd and 4th generation farmers Allan and Diana Hartmann, Rocky Mountain has a very rich and biodiverse climate, employing many agroforestry techniques to maintain its rich volcanic soil. The farm acts as a centralized point for Hachi's operations and a model for scalable, sustainable farming practices that produce consistently high quality year over year.
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Panama Hachi Kokumitsu Paraneima Washed:
"Kokumitsu" meaning "black honey or molasses" might have been fitting for this coffee if it was taken to a comfort roast level, but on our ultralight profile it is singing with one of the cleanest and brightest acidity structures we have ever tasted. This coffee was taken through a classical washed process with meticulous care and precision, evidenced by its aggressively clean cup profile. Paraneima is a varietal we have been seeking since we started roasting last year, with the main hurdle being how many of them often land quite soft, easy to burn and hard to roast well light. This one instead landed quite dense and we were able to slam it with enough heat to really focus in on that brightness. In the cup, we find an immediate burst of lemon juice, like the last few drops of lemon-water at a restaurant that you squeezed a little extra into. Following this, the cup opens into a lovely depth of fruit with raspberry, fig and plum all crossing eachother's paths. The finish is sweet, clean and long lasting with a lovely cane sugar note that sticks around.
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Panama Hachi Keika Gesha Reverse Protocol:
"Keika" meaning "blessed fruit" rings quite true for us in this expertly processed Reverse Protocol Gesha. For this process, the team at Hachi chose to submerge fully ripened whole cherries underwater in a carefully temp-controlled culture medium with specific yeasts and enzymes to cause the exact chemical breakdowns and interactions that they desired. Once all of the intended metrics have been met, the coffee is fully washed and dried in a dark room at controlled temperatures. This coffee cracked quite early, and as a result landed at a very low end temp, one of our lightest production roasts ever. Despite the extremely delicate touch on the roaster, this Panamanian Gesha is highly expressive, bright, and aromatically complex. In the cup, we find incredibly loud jasmine green tea notes, complimented by a finger lime acidity and layers of bergamot, magnolia, and hibiscus. The processing here is extremely delicate, and seems to only highlight and refine the cleaner aspects of a Gesha rather than add any ferment-related flavors.