Cuban Cigars, Mojitos, and Panamanian Coffee

by islandjoe
(panama)

Smoking the faties with our friends Lance and Muriel

"These are a few of my fav-or-ite things"

As I sit on the roof tonite of our wonderful condo, I'm thinking, "hey this ain't too bad!" I'm smoking the best cigar, drinking a Mojito and enjoying the wonderful skyline in Panama!

My new best friend, Lance, explained to me why Cuban Cigars are so rich. It's all about the Lithium in the soil. A lot of places, including Panama(which rolls a great cigar by the way,) will give you the proper climate, provide wonderful wrappers, and have the dudes that can roll... but Cuba's got the Lithium!

Not only is the smoke rich, but there's a kinda "high" that Cuban cigars offer that makes it the best. I'm smoking this "Hoya de Monterrey" Robusto that I picked up today for $6. Wow! You haven't smoked a cigar until you've tried this one.

I claim to make the best Mojito of everyone that will believe me , but I gotta admit, most countries leave you short on supplies. In Turkey, the mint is wonderful and it was everywhere. Helen and I had it growing wild everywhere in our yard, and it was fantastic. But a bottle of Rum there was an investment. It was about $40 for a good bottle. The other problem we had was finding limes. They just don't grow them in Turkey. They are real big on lemons and some strange kind of green mandarins, but you really want limes.

Here in Panama, a nice big bottle of Bacardi or other great Rums will run 5 or 6 bucks.Check! Limes are plentiful at 15 cents a piece and they're juicy!Check! But where's the mint? We finally found a place that sells the plants for $2 and we have added this to our ever-growing garden on the roof. Now we're on a roll!

The coffee is easy. I'll put Panamanian coffee up against anyone's, Columbia, Italian, French, you name it. Panama has the best coffee in the world, and I haven't even tried their best (Geisha)yet!

Panama grows coffee all over ... with the best in the Baru mountain area of Boquete. With rainforests, and 85 deg temperature and high humidity all year round, Panama is emerging as the world leader in the coffee market. In fact ,Panama produces enough for every person on earth to slurp down 100 cups of joe a year! They say the best is the Geisha that only grows on the top third of the 11,000 ft Baru Volcano. It has the title of the Worlds Best Coffee by The Specialty Coffee Asssociation of America for 3 years running, then it broke a record on Ebay as the most expensive coffee ever sold at $130 a pound! When you go to Boquete, it's a dollar a cup{or Free}. I'll give you the poop on the black gold when I give it a try on our next trip to Chiriqui region.