Chevas Coffee Estate
Beyond the borders and across the ocean, Arkib continues its pursuit of coffees that match our journey. We focus on direct trade with clear information and full transparency. Panama is often seen as the holy grail of specialty coffee. It is a place where world-class coffees are grown and celebrated. But at Arkib we look for something more. We search for new voices and new relationships that reflect our values in ethical sourcing. This path brought us to Chevas Coffee Estate, a producer shaped by a rich farming history and guided by young energy.
Chevas Coffee Estate began in 2016 when José Luis was only 18. He grew up watching his grandfather work the land and took inspiration from his achievements in agriculture. José chose to continue the family legacy through specialty coffee. Under his care the farm has grown into an organised and well equipped estate. It carries a strong spirit of experimentation and is always exploring new processing ideas. This curiosity is what drew us to Chevas and what makes us excited to work with them for many seasons ahead.
The estate grows an impressive range of varietals such as Typica, Geisha, Maragogype, Pacamara, ET-47 and SL-28. Each one expresses the character of Panama’s terroir in its own way. José focuses heavily on anaerobic and yeast driven fermentations to bring out deeper and more complex flavours. Chevas groups its coffees into traditional lines, estate selections, limited releases and classic Geisha selections. Each category reflects a different level of craft from the producer.
This year Arkib is bringing in Typica, Catuai and Geisha from Chevas. Typica is often called the godfather of coffee varietals. It gives a clear picture of Panama’s flavour landscape. Catuai is widely grown in Panama and known as a dependable crop. Through natural processing it becomes more expressive and interesting. To complete the selection we chose a natural Geisha to showcase the height of José’s work. As we continue sourcing from Chevas we move closer to our goal of building a sustainable and traceable coffee model for Arkib.
