Elida Estate Espresso

About the Coffee

The Lamastus family has been farming coffee at Elida Estate in Boquete, Panama for over 100 years. The farm sits in the Boquete highlands on volcanic soils at high elevation, surrounded by old-growth forests. Elida Estate is the oldest and most recognized of the Lamastus family's farms, and the Catuai variety grown here has been shaped by generations of continuous farming on the same land.

Processing at Elida Estate is handled with the same care as the farming. This coffee is naturally processed, meaning the whole coffee cherry is dried with the fruit still intact, which takes longer but gives the bean more time to develop in contact with the fruit. At their lower-elevation drying farm, the Lamastus family has installed bioreactors that convert organic waste into compost and capture gas for use by farm workers. They also provide regular medical visits for pickers and organize holiday celebrations for workers and their families.

Monogram's relationship with the Lamastus family started in 2019 when Ben Put met Wilford Lamastus Jr. while coaching him for the Brewers Cup competition. Since then, the two teams have spent years tasting coffees together and working closely on quality. That kind of long-term relationship is part of how Monogram selects the coffees they roast.

About Monogram

Ben Put, Justin Eyford, and Jeremy Ho started Monogram after meeting as baristas, all coming from different backgrounds: music, health sciences, and development. They opened their first cafe in Calgary's Altadore neighbourhood in 2014, starting from a hand-built coffee cart. Their goal from the beginning was to make specialty coffee feel approachable rather than exclusive.

Monogram builds long-term relationships with their producers rather than buying coffee at arm's length. Wilford Lamastus Jr. of Elida Estate, Jamison Savage of Finca Deborah, and Mariana Iturralde of Finca Takesi are all producers they work with directly and repeatedly. Ben Put has won the Canadian Barista Championship seven times and placed third at the 2025 World Barista Championship, and that same attention to detail carries through to how Monogram sources and roasts.