Pennsylvania Man Takes Up Growing and Roasting in Panama

coffee grown in Boquete

A Pennsylvania tiki bar owner who eventually bought a house near the Panamanian town of Boquete after falling in love with the area during a hiking trip there has taken to growing and roasting coffee on his property.

Jim Finegan, who was recently profiled by International Living magazine, packs up his tiki bars each fall and heads to his second home, which he bought 10 years ago for $9.29 per square foot in the heart of Panama’s coastal coffee country. In recent years, Finegan has taken to coffee farming. Here’s more from IL:

“Coffee grows like roses here, so I decided to try my hand at farming. I bought 1.2 acres from a local farmer. The front half is on a steep hill and had a few coffee trees. I planted 225 more coffee trees last year,” says Jim. The cost of the trees and labor was just $87.

Finegan then roasts the harvested beans in his front yard and sells them locally under the name “Bad Ass Beans.”

Boquete is actually known for producing some of Panama’s top coffees, with several larger working farms in the area.

The full story: International Living