Graciano Cruz

Farm

Los Lajones, Emporium, Las Camelias (El Salvador)
Country

Panama
Region

Volcancito Arriba, Boquete
Altitude and size

1600 - 2000 m n.m., 160 ha (Los Lajones 35 ha, Emporium 14 ha)
Varieties

Catuaí, Typica, Geisha, Pacamara
Cooperation

Since 2010
Awards

Best of Panama 2025 - 7th place - geisha washed (1600 USD / kg), 6th place geisha natural (1620 USD / kg)

Farm

The Los Lajones and Emporium farms are located at an altitude of 1600-2000 m above sea level, making them among the highest in Central America. In the lower part, in the shade of Ingas trees, there are coffee trees of the caturra and yellow catuaí varieties. In the upper part, the owner's pride and a world unique feature - a garden of young coffee trees of the legendary Geisha variety, which grow in symbiosis with bamboo bushes.

Los Lajones covers an area of 160 hectares, of which 40 hectares are dedicated to grazing for cattle and 35 hectares to growing coffee trees. The farm was purchased by Graciano Cruz Sr. in 1992 together with his son Graciano Jr. Previously, the farm belonged to Mr. Alberto Rubio and was used for raising cattle.

The Emporium farm is a low-lying farm that covers 14 hectares and was originally called Dona Berta. Graciano bought the farm from his brother Eduardo in 2007. Originally, the farm was divided into three parts and belonged to three brothers who had been growing coffee there since the 1970s.

Both farms are the first organically certified farms in Panama. Most of the coffee pickers are members of the Ngöbe-Buglé minority ethnic group. They are paid about 25% more for selective coffee picking than is common in Panama.

The climate of the farms is significantly influenced by the continental divide between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on which they are located. The rainy season lasts from May to December. From January to April, the so-called bajareque, a fog specific to this region, hits the farms every day.

Producer

Graciano Cruz is one of the most famous coffee producers in the world. In addition to his two farms in Panama and one in El Salvador, he has also overseen projects in Ethiopia, Peru, Taiwan and Brazil in recent years. Graciano is a great promoter of organic farming and dry coffee processing.

When Graciano is travelling the world his father, Graciano Sr., takes care of his both farms. He drives the pickers and workers from Boquete up the treacherous road in his truck every morning to oversee the picking, processing and all other activities that take place during the harvest time. In his 80s, his vitality and energy is simply admirable.

Processing

Graciano is a well-known, and perhaps the biggest, promoter of coffees processed using the dry and honey methods. He does not use a single drop of water to process all his coffee. An important aspect is the precise and controlled drying on African beds. Only these guarantee sufficient ventilation so that the cherries do not start to mold. The result is a sparkling cup with the typical sweetness of tropical fruit and chocolate.

When we moved to Panama in 2009 and started working on the Los Lajones and Emporium farms, dry processing was not at all common for coffee farms in Central America. Most farmers mocked Graciano, saying that this method was absolutely not suitable for a very humid environment. Nowadays, it is almost unimaginable for baristas to win competitions with washed coffee. The very prestigious Best of Panama competition had to divide the categories according to processing methods, otherwise traditionally washed coffees would not be able to make it in the competition.

But Graciano's approach is also evolving. After several years of wild anaerobic fermentations, the staunch opponent of using water to process cherries has decided (or perhaps been persuaded) to process his best geishas using the classic washed method. In our opinion, these are perhaps the best coffees we've ever tasted from him.