We had to miss it for a while, but it's back, and how: the Panama Birdsong! For those not yet familiar with this high-profile coffee, here's a brief introduction

We drive in Panama from the town of Volcán toward the Costa Rican border. After an hour or two on winding roads with breathtaking views, we arrive at a piece of heaven on earth. In the middle of the misty, green mountains at 1,300-1,800 meters, in the shadow of a rainforest reserve, the coffee bushes of the Hartmann Plantation are flourishing. It is never quiet there: the twittering and singing of hundreds of bird species fills the air.



The Hartmann Plantation is a true family business. Generations back, the first Hartmann emigrated to Panama from Moravia. His son laid the foundation for today's plantation, Finca Hartmann, which is run by 4 brothers and 1 sister: Ratibor, Alexander, Allis, Allan and Kelly. From generation to generation, this enterprise has grown into a way of life, a culture closely intertwined with nature, the history of the area and, of course, with the coffee itself.

Besides love of coffee, respect for the flora and fauna of the rainforest is an important pillar. Thus, no pesticides have been used for decades, and the plantation is not artificially irrigated. During the harvest, some 200 indigenous families live on the plantation. They receive good shelter and income, which affects the way they do their work. They can afford to pick only the ripe berries, and this results in more flavor and higher quality in the coffee beans.

All this care and passion is undisputedly reflected in the coffee beans. The Hartmann family has already won the Best of Panama award several times, a prestigious award in the Specialty Coffee world. Here in the Netherlands, Birdsong in turn blew judges away during the 2018 Misset Horeca test. This won Boot Koffie the award for the #1 best coffee in the Netherlands


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Meanwhile, Birdsong has gotten even better from harvest to harvest. The current composition is ⅔ washed coffee and ⅓ natural. Our roaster Rick, who traveled to Finca Hartmann in April to taste the new harvest, concludes after careful testing that this is the perfect composition. The natural adds an intensely sweet, fruity flavor to the blend, but does not overpower it in combination with the washed coffee. The new harvest is, in his words, "a real Birdsong. Delicate, complex, fruity.... basically a little bit of everything."

Don't just take it from us that this is a great coffee, taste it for yourself! You can order your own pack of Birdsong here and make it at home. Want to brew Birdsong the way Rick does? Then use 17 grams of ground coffee for a double espresso (~40 grams out). Allow the espresso to brew around 28 seconds (but mainly experiment with a few seconds more or less). Savor this taste sensation in all its purity, or make it your favo coffee drink.

Most importantly, enjoy!