Our notes: full, textural and tropical cup! Exciting Ethiopian Heirloom variety from Panama.

Chakira — Kotowa Family

Chakira is a unique coffee come out from the Kotowa family in Boquete, Panama. Believed to have Ethiopian origins, its exact genetic identity remains unknown.

The Koyner family first began experimenting with Chakira in their nursery, carefully observing how the plants performed and how their coffees developed in the cup. Seeing its potential, Ricardo Koyner continued to cultivate and develop the selection across the farm, eventually giving it the name Chakira.

Unlike established varieties such as Gesha or Caturra, Chakira is not yet formally classified. Instead, it represents Kotowa’s ongoing work in exploring new genetics and discovering what is possible from Panama’s unique coffee-growing environment.

A rare and evolving variety, Chakira offers a glimpse into the next generation of Panamanian coffee.

The story of Kotowa began in 1913, when Canadian immigrant Alexander Duncan MacIntyre established one of the first commercial coffee farms in Boquete. The name Kotowa comes from the indigenous Ngäbe language, meaning “mountains,” a fitting tribute to the volcanic highlands where the family’s coffees are grown today. Four generations later, the estate is led by Ricardo Koyner and his daughter Victoria, who combine more than a century of coffee-growing tradition with modern agronomy and fermentation research. 

Today, Kotowa manages several farms across Boquete, each with its own microclimate and personality. Their coffees have become regular finalists at the Best of Panama competition, winning awards across Gesha and traditional varieties. Beyond coffee quality, Kotowa has built a reputation for sustainability, preserving large areas of native forest, avoiding herbicides and chemical pesticides, and providing long-standing healthcare, childcare and education programs for their workers’ families - efforts that have earned recognition from both Panama’s environmental authorities and UNICEF.