Panama Finca Berlina
There is a side of the coffee business far more valuable precious than the “economy of scale” or even a company’s worth on the New York Stock Exchange. In the highlands of western Panama, in this land rich in history and tradition, the local people quietly nurture their culture and their coffee. One generation teaches the next. Not surprising then, one of the most important values here at Casa Ruiz is the ties between generations. We appreciate the connection between the past and the present and even our accountability to the future generations. These ties, combined with the crisp, clean air and perfect climate of our mesmerizingly beautiful mountains, have enabled us to produce the finest and most flavorful coffee in the world - and to do so year after year.
La Berlina Estate Coffee Farm was founded by Mr. Segundo Diaz, one of the colombian soldiers sent to Panama to quash the separatist upraising at the beginning of the 20th century. Panama obtained its independence anyway, and Columbians were given the choice of returning to Colombia or settle in Panama. Mr. Diaz had fallen in love with Boquete and of course, with a Boqueteña girl, and decided to stay. When his family was old enough to help with the work, he decided to go higher in the mountain and start a coffee plantation.
There they look for coffee beans in the rain forest, at that time, were growing wildly in the rich soil How did the coffee come to be there? Probably “jujunas” (monkeys) eating the coffee berries, dropping the beans (seeds) wherever they went. The Diaz family found enough seeds to plant 80 acresof these “criollo” (Arabica) coffee plants.
This happened during the early 1920´s, while the coffee trees were growing, the family established a “perfect, sustainable farm”. They constructed a small sugar cane mill, powered by a water wheel. They grew corn and raised chickens and pigs. The whole Diaz family lived off the farm’s bounty. Soon, the Diaz children where the La Berlina coffee pickers, assisted by neighbors and some Ngobe Indians that had come to work for surrounding farms during the coffee harvest.
In time, the water powered wheel became the engine for the coffee processing mill. After removing the outer red berry the coffee bean was stored in the papery inner shell, or “parchment” stage. Storage was in a specially built attic, to take advantage of the dry conditions the sun-heated roof would create. Coffee became the currency for obtaining “luxury” items like new shoes and even education. When one of the older Diaz children became a teenager, for example, he dug a whole through the ceiling into the attic to get a couple of pounds of coffee to be use as money to go to visit his girlfriend!
By the early 1930´s La Berlina Estate Coffee Farm was producing a well-recognized, quality coffee.
In time, however, the self-sustaining farm could not produce enough to support the growing family now including more children a several new members through marriage. As years passed and depressed coffee prices took their toll, Don Manuel (Mr. Diaz’ son). Was forced to sell the farm and the only life he’d known.
A later cycle of low coffee prices brought the opportunity of acquiring the farm to Casa Ruiz, S.A., Mr. Plinio Sr. already knew, Boquete produced excellent coffee. Coffee tasting in the past had shown over the years that the “criollo” or “Typica” variety from the Horqueta region yielded and especially wonderful cup of coffee. This information made the farm more than worthwhile investment.
Now managed by the Ruiz Family, their efforts have since paid dividends in international competitions. In 1997 in the Panama presentation of The Taste of The Harvest at the Specialty Coffee Association of America convention in New Orleans, La Berlina Estate Coffee was chosen as the top Panamanian Coffee. In 1999, at the Philadelphia conference, the coffee was again recognize as the best from panama. In February 2000, La Berlina Estate Coffee, was chosen as the Number One coffee at the Specialty Coffee Association of Panama Cupping Event. And in June, 2000, it was also chosen Number One by the cupping panel of the Cupping Review Magazine of Kenneth Davids.
La Berlina Estate Coffee now represents Casa Ruiz, S.A. in the Specialty Market, promoting the genuine coffee originally planted from seeds in Boquete. And now a fourth generation of the Ruiz Family is learning about growing and processing coffee – not just through the use of current technologies, but also gaining experience from lessons learned in days gone by.
La Berlina Estate Coffee has been a product of Casa Ruiz, S.A. since 1997.
