My and my family's history and connection to Panama began more than 30 years ago with the Panamaria, the fabulous coffee of the month of October with a deliciously broad layer of sweetness from fruits such as apricot and chocolate and which finishes subtly with a citrus acidity.

I remember again how my father Jacob and mother Marianne, guests of the Ruiz family, first tasted coffee in Panama almost 30 years ago. I think back to how we engaged in mutual exchange of coffee knowledge. Reflections come to mind of the first lot of Panamaria coffee that my younger brother Willem and I imported directly from Panama in 1993. That Panamaria coffee, even then it was so fantastic ...

Thirty years ago Jacob and Maria, with Maria Ruiz and her brothers Josue and Plinio, spent many days tasting at the tasting table. Professional tasting (called Q degrees) was not a common practice in Panama then. Each day, samples from a variety of coffee plantations were first roasted and then placed blind on the table. Then silent and sec a good hour of tasting. Only then followed the exchange about the flavors. During one such tasting session, they discovered in a coffee lot the basis of the Panamaria flavor: lots of sweet fruit with a broad body of chocolate and high fruit notes with a citrus aftertaste. Maria's astute inquisitiveness and my father's passion... it clicked with the Ruiz family. Not just for the coffee, but in other aspects as well: family Ruiz was genuinely socially involved with their Indian coffee pickers and workers. Thus, the name Pana(ma) - Maria was born. From that moment on, Maria is considered the archetypal mother of our connection with Panamanian coffee, and of course of our coffee classic Panamaria.

The Panamanian coffee with the sweet fruit flavors of ripe picked coffee berries caught on immensely with the Boot Koffie customers from 1993 onwards. In the Netherlands, all coffee brands tasted alike: bitter, burnt, hard and boring. The coffee drinker in the Netherlands knew no other taste: "Is this coffee too?" Boot Koffie sold more Panamaria coffee every year.

Maria Ruiz has dedicated her entire life both professionally, academically and with heart and soul to helping the coffee-picking local Indians, to improve their living conditions and preserve their culture. She has also established many training and education programs so that the Ngobe Bugle Indians learn to grow specialty coffee. She believes that the Ngobe Bugle can "hear the coffee berries and speak with them", have contact with their natural environment that we have lost. Throughout her life, she has always acted with respect and passion for everyone within coffee farming and because of her knowledge and experience, I believe her in it.


Barend Boot, Maria Ruiz and Jacob Boot

A big moment for me was when, early in 2001, I was able to welcome coffee farmer Maria Ruiz to our coffee shop in Baarn. Together we toured a number of bars and restaurants that served Panamaria. For the restaurant owner and certainly for both of us a great moment! With each subsequent visit, our businesses learned so much more about and from each other!


Coffee Roaster Rick Maas, Barend Boot and Ricardo Koyner

Due to business setbacks and the coffee crisis in Panama at the time, the Ruiz family coffee plantation was no longer able to supply Panamaria. For years, Panamaria coffee has been grown by Panamanian coffee farmer Ricardo Koyner, with whom Boot Koffie has worked for more than 20 years. An equally passionate coffee farmer with many awards and super-innovative. Ricardo is also a great ambassador for the Panamanian coffee sector and takes very good care of his pickers.

At the beginning of this year Ricardo was with us in the coffee shop in Baarn and together we proudly present the last harvest of "his" Panamaria, still with the same fantastic flavor tones as that first coffee of Maria Ruiz, she was and remains the archetypal mother of this great coffee.

Order the Panamaria as espresso or filter coffee