Panamania: The Ruiz Coffee Company

Today I'm going to talk about one of the main industries here in Panama: Coffee Growing.

I took a 3 hour tour (which cost $30) and saw everything from start (the planting of the seeds) straight up to finish (the roasting and then brewing of the final product).

I learned a whole lot about coffee on this tour-probably more than one person ever needs to know in a life time (especially one that doesn't drink coffee!).

Some interesting facts (as told by my tour guide,Carlos):

-Coffee is the second most lucrative commodity in the world (next to oil)

-It originated in Africa

-The most expensive coffee in the world is Geisha (which is grown here and trades at peak price for $130 a pound in the USA)

-Coffee can have mucho, mucho (lots, lots) of smells (wet dog, chocolate, fish, soil etc). similar to smells that wine can give off

-There are many different classes of coffee from gourmet to premium etc. (there is even a class for foreign objects-this is where roasters put sticks, rocks- basically anything but coffee into the roasting pot)

-In Costa Rica there is a dark roast coffee that gets much of its colour from cows blood-you gotta wonder who gets up craving a cup of that in the morning!

-coffee farmers plant fruit trees to encourage birds and other small creatures to inhabit their fields in order to lower the amount of insects who can destroy the crop

The company I took a tour with is called Cafe Ruiz and has been going strong for a very long time. The owners have made a conscious decision to treat the workers here with respect and gratitude-they offer free accomodation, health care and have even opened a general store onsite so that families don't have to find their way to town for groceries.

Panama itself has very strict guidelines regarding coffee producing and must adhere to age restrictions (children under the age of 14 cannot be hired), growing standards and processing standards. These values have placed Panama's coffee in first place for the last 8 years in a row at the top Coffee Exposition in the world.