Pu’er Coffee

 A while ago, a friend mentioned a coffee estate to me during our conversation—Finca Lérida from Panama. I felt like I had heard the name before, but I had never actually tried their beans, let alone learned anything about them. Naturally, my curiosity kicked in, and I decided to look into it. When I opened their website and social media pages, I was surprised to see that their branding leaned toward “boutique resort.” After digging further, I realized that this place isn’t just a coffee farm—it’s also a boutique hotel. Honestly, this “all-in-one” Panamanian version of a farm-stay makes it even more appealing to a coffee lover like me. Finca Lérida truly is a farm with a rich and distinctive history. Its founder, Toleff Bache Mönniche, came to Panama from Norway in 1907 as an engineer working on the Panama Canal (I even found old newspaper records showing his involvement in designing the dam!). He retired in 1924 and bought a small farm in Boquete with his wife. The land was purcha...

 When Julith Café in Dubai introduced a cup of coffee priced at 3,600 dirhams, the drink—made from beans grown near Panama’s volcanoes and known for its floral and fruity notes—quickly became the talk of the high-end coffee world. More than a luxury beverage, it became a prism reflecting the deeper split within the global coffee market. At the same time, coffee futures on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) have been surging due to growing supply concerns. Together, these developments point to a clear reality: the global coffee market is entering an era of sharp divergence. On one side is the pursuit of extreme flavor—“liquid luxury”; on the other is the essential commodity that millions rely on—“black gold.” Both coexist in the same global marketplace yet follow dramatically different paths. 01 The Luxury Summit: A Flavor Masterpiece Born From Volcanic Soil** The story of Dubai’s sky-high coffee is, at its core, an extreme expression of scarcity and sensory experience. Its key ...