Introduction to the Origin, Development, History, and Culture of Guatemala's El Injerto Estate Pacamara Pandora Fatima

About the Pacamara Variety

Pacamara first won worldwide fame through the Cup of Excellence (COE) in 2004, and it has gone on to take championship titles with remarkable regularity, often within 2-3 years of each other. The Pacamara grown at Guatemala's El Injerto estate set a record price of $80.2 per pound of green beans in 2008.

Origin of the Variety and Name

Pacamara is a hybrid of Maragogype (Elephant Bean) and Pacas, its name formed from the first four letters of each parent. Developed in El Salvador, it is an exceptional variety whose beans are very large, much like Elephant Beans, and measure roughly 21-22 screen size. In recent years it has become one of the standout varieties of Central and South America, with every country and farm hoping to find the right terroir to grow it well, much as Panama has done with Geisha.

Pacamara coffee is characterized by bright fruit acidity and an exceptionally pure, delicate sweetness, even though the variety's appearance closely resembles that of its cousin, the Elephant Bean.

Since 2006, the COE has cupped Pacamara from 30 estates, and some of those lots have tasted truly star-worthy: Honduras's 2006 champion Santa Martha, El Salvador's 2007 third-place Cerro Negro (Black Mountain Estate), Guatemala's perennial COE champion El Injerto, and El Salvador's 2008 runner-up Pacamara estate. All are outstanding examples of the variety, but every one of them is an award-winning lot, which makes them very expensive.

Pacamara offers full, rich, and complex flavors. Few coffee varieties combine fruit acidity with such noticeable sweetness, and its flavor notes range widely across drupe fruits, vanilla, tropical fruits, chocolate, and spice sweetness.

Product Information

Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 100g
Packaging: Bulk
Organic: No
Bean State: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar Content: Sugar-free
Origin: Guatemala
Roast Level: Medium roast

Coffee Details

Guatemala La Libertad, Huehuetenango El Injerto Pandora de Fatima

Country: Guatemala
Grade: SHB
Estate: El Injerto
Roast Level: Medium roast
Processing Method: Washed
Variety: Pacamara
Batch: Competition batch Pandora de Fatima EI07
Flavor Notes: Chestnut, plum, chocolate

Guatemala Pacamara - Competition Batch Pandora - Fatima Pacamara PI07

The World's Coffee Estate - El Injerto

There are more than ten thousand coffee estates worldwide, spanning commercial coffee beans, high-quality estate lots, and rare varieties. Today I'd like to introduce you to a renowned top-tier estate from Guatemala: El Injerto.

Estate Introduction

El Injerto Estate sits on the famous Huehuetenango plateau in Guatemala, where the Aguirre family has grown coffee since 1900. The estate's name, "Injerto," comes from a local fruit. El Injerto places special emphasis on ecological protection and organic cultivation, applying strict quality control to safeguard the quality of its green coffee beans. Through the Aguirre family's efforts, the estate has also earned Rainforest Alliance certification and has been a frequent winner in international coffee competitions since 2002.

El Injerto Estate (also translated as Grafting Estate) ranks among the very top estates in Guatemala; if it claimed second place, few would dare claim first. It has won numerous world-class competition awards, and that record built the reputation it enjoys today. Last year the estate owner pushed its standing still higher. Like Panama's famous Hacienda La Esmeralda, El Injerto (Grafting Estate) runs a global competitive bidding event, and the competition lots it offers are exceptional. The first batch of its "Mocha variety" in 2012 set a world record, reaching an astonishing $500.5 per pound, making it a genuine star estate.

For this competition, El Injerto specially presented its "BEST El Injerto" series, carefully selecting small lots of exceptional quality and distinctive varieties from within the estate. Experienced farmers hand-pick only ripe coffee cherries, after which cuppers eliminate any batch that fails to meet the quality standard. Under such strict selection, Pacamara from El Injerto accounts for only about 8% of total production.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The Pacamara story is inseparable from the Geisha phenomenon that Panama's Esmeralda estate ignited, and FrontStreet Coffee lets you taste both sides of that rivalry. Its Esmeralda Red Label Gesha is grown at 1,600-1,800 m and cupped above 90 points lot by lot, delivering the jasmine-and-citrus profile that made Geisha famous. For an easier entry point, the Esmeralda Green Label Gesha (Private Collection) blends several plots into a more affordable expression of the same high-altitude character. Either makes a fitting companion to a washed Guatemalan Pacamara such as this El Injerto lot.