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Beans: Cabrera Coffee Roasters, Pacamara, Chilled Cherry, Boquete, Panama.
Shop: Cabrera Coffee Roasters, Panama City, Panama.
Cabrera Coffee Roasters – Background information.
Cabrera Coffee Roasters has opened it’s doors during the covid19 pandemic and, although the clientele was at an all time low, still managed to live through the situation. In August ’21, Abu Coffee owner Jose brought me to this place since it was unique and special. And he was not wrong.
Cabrera Coffee Roasters was founded by Yeneavski Cabrera, a man who worked his life abroad and didn’t own a coffee shop ever before. Starting over was his grand whish and one day he just did it. Yeneavski already owned, and bought, state of the art equipment, a City Mill Roaster and started to learn how to roast. With dedication and perceveirance, Yeneasvki managed to pull it off and now owns a Star Wars themed coffee shop just outside Panama City.
The coffee that I am reviewing here is a Pacamara that has undergone a Chilled Cherry process. There is little more information on the coffee but that doesn’t withhold me from reviewing it.
Opening the package.
The package of Cabrera Coffee Roasters (Creativa Coffee) comes in black with a logo up front. The package has a ziplock and degassing valve to keep the coffee as fresh as possible.
On the front of the package you will see a beige/yellow label that has some information about the coffee. You will find the region of the coffee, the variety, process the roasting level and three tasting notes. On the right you will find the roasting date as well. More information is, not yet, to be had which is sad because I would like to know ALL there is about this particular coffee. When opening the package you will find medium/dark roasted coffee with HUGE beans inside. I think that even for a Pacamara they are big beans. The beans are brittle and have dark tasting notes and when you chew on one you will get raisin, chocolate and spices. The aroma coming from the package is sweet, chocolate and soft spices as well. After griding the coffee gives off the notes of whole grain cookie, sweetness, a soft terpentine/fermented aroma and a hint of cherry. If this is just from smelling and chewing on a bean, I cannot wait to brew this!
Cabrera Coffee Roasters – Pacamara: The tasting.
When brewing this coffee, especially when it’s hot, will give off the terpentine/alcoholic/fermented aroma that is pungent yet sweet. Pour your coffee into the glass and for a shirt moment you will get a hint of lemon and then thick creamy dark chocolate, black pepper and sweet cedar wood.
Take a sip of the coffee, slurp oxygen inside and swirl it round in your mouth. You will notice how balanced and light this coffee is in terms of mouthfeel. A soft fermented note is carried by a dark thick chocolate note. As you swallow the coffee, a hint of cocoa comes through. Let the coffee cool of a little before taking another sip. Here you now have hints of spices such as clove and cinnamon that accompany the chocolate note again. There is also a fruity aspect; dried fruits such a plum, raisin, sultana and dried cranberry. The dried cranberry and cocoa produce soft tannins underneath your tongue. All the while you cannot help but to get attracted by the mouthfeel and acidity in this coffee. The mouthfeel and acidity are winey, Bourgondy and juicy. Not overly juicy but just enough to have your coffee get sweeter with every sip. After swallowing the coffee, focus on the aftertaste. Black pepper (in the upper back of your mouth) dark chocolate, cocoa, raisins, plum and a hint of cedar linger long after you swallowed your last cup.
The verdict.
When I talked to Alt Wien Kaffee owner Oliver Goetz about this coffee, I described it as weird. Oliver was also pleasantly surprised by this weird coffee and, as you read, it IS a weird coffee. And this Cabrera Coffee Roasters Pacamara is weird in all the right ways. The coffee is flavourfull, heavy on the aroma’s and so fluffy. There are only two other coffees that I can recollect to be a little bit like this one: Jamaica Blue Mountain (on the chocolate note) and the Yamada Coffee charcoal roasted coffee. Feast on the chocolate and fruity notes, savour the aroma and drink this coffee with someone to share it with.
I know this coffee comes from Panama and not a lot of you will be able to try it, but if you have the chance, by all means do! Thank you for roasting this coffee Yeneavski Cabrera.