Bambito Estate – Typica

Bambito Estate is a coffee farm located in the Bambito region of the Tierras Altas of Panama. A narrow canyon between high mountain ridges with a rushing river running through it makes a beautiful and unique setting. A family-owned farm for decades, Bambito Estate is relatively small. In 1945, Rafael’s grandfather Alberto purchased this farm from his father, and began a hobby
coffee farm. Until 2006, it was nothing more, and specialty coffee was not nearly what is today.
In 2006, Alberto passed away, and the farm sat with two bankers managing it. As a kid, Rafael
would come visit his grandfather’s farm on the holidays, and later on, bring his own children out.
When his grandfather passed away, he realized the opportunity to turn his grandfather’s hobby
farm into a producing farm. Two neighboring farm owners began to introduce him to the ways of
producing specialty coffee. His first exporting was done in cooperation with neighboring farmers
who sold their coffee to Starbucks in 2006-2008. However, in 2007 they joined the Best of
Panama (BOP) competition and placed as a runner-up in the Geisha category, next to Finca La
Esmeralda. This gave them the confidence to pursue the boutique coffee market. In 2017,
Rafael’s sister Priscilla joined the family business, contributing to marketing and sales. Together,
they each do their part to make the family business work. Rafael understands the systematic
approach necessary to ensure coffee is properly picked and processed. Implementing simple,
effective, and efficient strategies for caring for the plants is a big priority. “It works like a clock.”
Twice a year, they take soil samples and determine what chemicals/minerals need to be added
to keep the plants healthy. Recently, they decided that to maintain 100% control, it was
necessary to do all the processing themselves. With up-to-date equipment and careful quality
control, they aim for no more than a 1% error margin. This results in exceptional quality coffee.
Experimenting also has a place at Bambito Estates, and they are trying more recent processing
techniques such as fermentation and darkroom drying.

At harvest time, 25-35 additional workers come in to harvest the coffee plants for 3-4 moths of
the year. They consistently have an 80% return rate year to year, which Rafael attributes to how
they treat the workers. Taking care of their own workers as well as providing support to a local
elementary school is a way to help the community. “I think it’s important, to give back, to the
community around.”

Being economically sustainable is also an important part of producing coffee for Rafael. The
leftover parchment from each harvest is enough to power around 50% of the drying in the next
year’s harvest season. Water comes from the creek flowing down through the coffee, which they
clean of garbage and trash every year.

Green Coffee Cost including Shrinkage: $8.90 usd/lb
Green coffee cost is the price that we paid for this coffee, per pound including shrinkage (when we roast coffee, it looses about 10-15% of its weight). When we can’t purchase directly from producers, we work closely with trusted import partners and always ensure the producer was fairly compensated.

Production Cost: $5.73 usd/lb
These production costs are basically what it costs us to provide this coffee to you. This includes our utilities, labor, packaging, quality control, licenses, taxes, shipping the coffee from warehouse to our roastery.

Length of Relationship: 1 year

Transparency
We firmly believe that transparency in the coffee industry is of utmost importance, even though it is inherently complex. Our mission is to provide a candid account of the various factors involved in the production and preparation of this coffee, spanning from the farm to your cup. Furthermore, we aim to actively contribute to fostering open communication among the individuals who play a role in bringing this coffee to life. Nurturing this cycle of communication is crucial for advancing our industry, ensuring fair compensation for producers, and continuing to bring you better and better coffees each year. While this report may not cover every detail comprehensively, it is meant to initiate more profound discussions with you. If you have any inquiries, please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. I would be honored to continue these meaningful conversations with you. – Nick Yost, founder