Panama · Deborah Estate Morgan Estate GeishaCoffee Bean Intro:
: Panama · Deborah Estate · Savage Series Geisha bright Processing Method: Carbonic Maceration Washed
Flavor: Longan, sugarcane, green grapes, guava, oolong tea aroma
The BOP is the most prestigious green coffee competition in Panama. Every year, this event gathers countless renowned Panama estates to compete for the top spot. Winners not only earn well-deserved recognition but also substantial income through post-competition auctions. Therefore, participating in the BOP is a universally beneficial choice for all Panama coffee estates.
However, there is one estate in Panama that never participates in this fame-boosting BOP competition. Yet, its reputation remains on par with those celebrated estates that shine in the competition. So today, still shares the legendary story of one of Panama’s top Geisha estates. And the protagonist of this story is—‘Deborah Estate’.
Deborah Estate （Deborah） was established in 2006 by Mr. Jamison Savage （Jamison Savage）. Like most Panama coffee estate owners, Mr. Jamison Savage is not a native Panamanian. He was born in the United States and was originally a banker. It wasn’t until he met and married his Panamanian wife that he immigrated to Panama and began working in the coffee industry.
Deborah Estate is located in the Volcán Region, one of Panama’s three major coffee-growing regions, deep within the tropical rainforest of the resource-rich Barú Volcano area. It not only boasts fertile volcanic soil, but also receives abundant rainfall, with annual precipitation reaching up to 2200 mm. The estate sits at an elevation of over 1900 meters, making it one of the few high-altitude estates in Panama. This elevation ensures that Deborah Estate is often shrouded in clouds, significantly reducing sunlight exposure. Such an environment is absolutely ideal for the delicate Geisha variety. The high altitude also results in significant day-night temperature variations at Deborah Estate. Nighttime temperatures can drop as low as 10°C. The cold environment slows down the ripening process of coffee cherries while prompting the coffee plants to accumulate more low-molecular-weight substances at night to lower the freezing point and resist the cold. These substances produced are key factors that enhance the sweetness of the coffee. In the cultivation process, Mr. Savage adheres firmly to one principle: nurturing delicious coffee in the most natural way possible. He never uses gas-powered machinery, chemical pesticides, or herbicides. This approach has a professional term—
—Biodynamic Farming . The so-called （Biodynamics）。 Biodynamic Farming is a comprehensive organic agricultural system that treats the entire farm ecosystem as a unified whole, maximizing the use of natural cycles and biodiversity to cultivate crops. As a result, besides coffee trees and other plants, you can also find herds of livestock at Deborah Estate, which play an important role in the farm’s operations. But not all estates can implement such farming methods because
without the use of pesticides, coffee is highly susceptible to pests and diseases. Fortunately, Deborah Estate is situated at a high altitude. The environment at high altitudes has lower temperatures, which are unsuitable for the survival of pests, fungi, and other pathogens. Thus, Mr. Savage can fully implement biodynamic farming methods. It’s worth mentioning that when the estate was first established, many were skeptical about its success. After all, the altitude is extremely high, and coffee trees are not fond of cold weather, often leading to total crop failure due to frost. But fortunately, Mr. Savage persevered, which led to the estate’s achievements today. Although Deborah Estate does not participate in the BOP, we often see contestants from various countries using Deborah Estate beans to achieve outstanding results in global coffee competitions. And besides the name of Deborah Estate, we also see the ‘Savage Series’ accompanying these entries.
Savage? This name may sound familiar to many. That’s right—it’s the name of the owner of Deborah Estate. In addition to managing Deborah Estate, Mr. Jamison Savage also founded a brand named after himself—the Savage Coffee Project . Due to the limited production capacity of Deborah Estate, Mr. Savage wanted to conduct more experiments and share more high-quality coffee with the market. Thus, he created the Savage Coffee Project and named it after himself, demonstrating his high regard for this initiative. （Savage Coffee）。
This project focuses on sourcing premium coffee from estates that collaborate with Deborah Estate as well as nearby smallholder farms (primarily Geisha) , then processing them using Deborah Estate’s coffee processing techniques, followed by sorting and selling them. Mr. Savage divides the products into three series: the ‘Ascension Series’
, the ‘Savage Selection Series’ （Ascesin Series）, and the ‘Savage Foundation Series’ （Savage Anthologies）. The Ascension Series mainly offers experimental micro-lots with limited production （Savaga Fundamentals）。; the Savage Selection Series features Geisha from four estates under the Deborah family or in collaboration, hence often referred to as the Geisha Series ; the Savage Foundation Series includes Geisha from nearby smallholder farms as well as non-Geisha varieties grown and processed by the estate. The Selection Series beans are arguably the most commonly encountered products from this brand in daily life. The four
estates that produce Geisha for this series are: Deborah Estate , Morgan Estate （Deborah）, as well as Ellis Estate （Morgan） and Edward Estate （Iris）. In addition to the estates, Mr. Savage also categorizes these Geishas based on different processing methods. They are: Traditional, Anaerobic, Yeast, and CM categories （Don Eduardo）。. And if you place a large enough order, you can even request custom-processed batches from the estate. Here, we must highlight CM. CM stands for ‘Carbonic Maceration’, a technique mastered by estate owner Mr. Savage. Drawing inspiration from the wine industry, he collaborated with other experts to develop carbonic maceration and anaerobic processing methods, sparking a new revolution in global coffee processing.
So, to taste this successful and delicious coffee, specially procured a CM-processed Geisha from the Savage Selection Series. The information shows that this Geisha comes from the ‘Morgan Estate’. Morgan Estate is a collaboration between Mr. Jamison Savage and the Morgan family, currently managed by Mr. Savage. This estate is also located in the Volcán Region, at an elevation of 1850 meters, covering an area of 5 hectares, with approximately 2000 coffee trees planted per hectare. Many may notice that the Geisha name includes a new term—‘Liang Guang’ (Brightness)
. Liang Guang is a unique name given by Mr. Savage to this processing method, which is a carbonic maceration washed process. （Illumination） This processing method is quite special. After harvesting, the coffee cherries undergo floatation, then the selected cherries are placed in sealed tanks, where carbon dioxide is injected to assist fermentation. Once fermentation is complete, the washing process begins: removing the coffee cherry’s skin and mucilage, followed by sun drying to reach the specified moisture content. This processing enhances the original flavor profile of the Geisha while maintaining exceptional cleanliness.
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