On Tuesdays, as I sit behind my wood art table at the BCP market, I see people walking around with coffee they bought on the way to BCP, because no really good fresh brewed coffee was available on site.
But that has changed. Now, my friend and fellow woodworker Abel Rios, 5th generation coffee grower and the owner of Finca Villa Estrella in Alto Quiel, is offering cups of his excellent fire-roasted coffee. He and his "brewmeister," a certified food handler, heve been setting up at the bar in the lobby outside the BCP theater entrance.
Besides growing, roasting and brewing great coffee, like many of our local Boquetños - and many of our expats - Abel is a fascinating character. He is a 5th generation coffee grower from Alto Quiel - and a surfer. I met a group of his surfing friends recently - a great bunch of young Panamanians who speak excellent English. (Good for me, because my Spanish is coming along more slowly than I had hoped.)
I believe that Abel only person still doing commercial fire-roasting by hand, which means that the Villa Estrella coffee is only available in small quantities. I've watched the fire-roasting at Abel's classic old villa, and found out that it is a time-consuming and delicate operation that takes great skill and experience - but the results are excellent. Here's Abel nearly finished with a small batch of fire roasted coffee.
It's been fun living in Boquete for more than three years now. Before that, I lived for a couple of decades in Sonoma County in California's north coast wine country. I am still amazed that I buy excellent Sonoma County Russian River Pinot Noir here in Panama at PriceSmart. That plus the great coffees from Abel and several other friends from Boquete who grow and roast coffee locally, always makes me realize that:
¡La vida es buena en Boquete!
Replies
We've been buying Villa Estrella Coffee at the BCP for quite some time now and it is excellent! We had the pleasure of sitting with Abel and Luz for most of the Mayflower/Pacquaio fight Saturday night at Mike's Global Grill. Luz is such a sweetheart and we are going soon to visit their coffee finca.
yes! 6403-0668 or through his website (easier for international sales) www.villaestrellacoffee.com. He delivers.
He and his wife Luz are great!
Try the guanabana smoothies too!