Panama - Lerida Coffee Estate SL34 Lot 0716 Cold Room Drying

Maria Antonella Amoruso, Boquete-born mother of six, entrepreneur, and coffee lover, is at the helm of the five-plantation Lerida Coffee enterprise in Boquete, Panama, which spans the flagship Finca Lerida in Alto Quiel alongside estates Michella and Flora in Volcancito, and Amelia and Esplenderosa in Jaramillo.

1st Place Best of Panama Geisha Natural Winner in 2026, 7th Place Geisha Washed, 9th Varietals, Maria has steered Finca Lerida toward global renown as a consistent Best of Panama producer of the highest-scoring lots within the Top 10 in both Geisha and Varietal categories since taking over the 100-year-old legacy stewarded over three generations across three families.

Finca Lerida was founded in 1924 by engineer Toleff Bache Mönniche and his wife, Julia. It continued to thrive in the 1950s, supervised by Alfredo and Inga Collins, and through to the late 2000s with their sons Hans and Charlie.

In 2008, when Maria — who grew up witnessing her grandfather’s passion for coffee farming — met the opportunity to acquire Finca Lerida, she embraced it and has been dedicated to sustaining and amplifying its prosperity since.

Cognizant that coffee farmers and workers’ well-being is a linchpin of Finca Lerida’s success, Maria Antonella has instituted quality of life inititiatives involving housing, food assistance, and a schooling program for their children, on top of competitive monetary incentives.

The 100-hectare expanse of the flagship Lerida plantation is situated among similarly revered heritage estates in prestigious Alto Quiel, where they maintain a healthy balance between eco-conscious production — having 70 hectares planted with Geisha alongside a diversity of varieties including Orange Bourbon, SL 28 & SL 34, Typica, and Catuai — and uncompromised environmental preservation, with 30 hectares of protected forests that safeguard natural habitats, supports biodiversity, and upholds ecosystem integrity.

SL-34 is a celebrated Kenyan coffee variety, originally selected at the Scott Agricultural Laboratories in the late 1930s, known for high yields and exceptional cup quality potential when grown at high altitudes. In the cup, this potential is generally expressed as a clean, tart, juicy, and complex character that tends to be fuller bodied than other varieties even when fully washed.

Adapted to the ideal growing conditions maintained through Lerida Coffee Estate’s stewardship of its El Salto farm, Michella, and processed through Honey - Mosto Fermentation, Lerida SL34 Honey Lot 0716 unfolds with the florality and a complexity in layers of candied sweetness, tropical fruit, and crisp, fragrant citrus characteristic of Boquete’s most prized coffees.