Guatemala Finca El Injerto Pacamara Pandora Fatima Grind Size Roast Level Processing Method

Guatemala Pacamara Competition Batch Pandora Fatima-Pacamara EI07

A World-Class Coffee Estate - Finca El Injerto

More than ten thousand coffee estates operate around the world. Some churn out commodity-grade beans, some focus on high-quality lots, and a handful dedicate themselves to rare and exotic varieties. Today we are taking a close look at Finca El Injerto, one of Guatemala's most celebrated top-tier estates.

About the Estate

Finca El Injerto sits in the famous Huehuetenango highlands of Guatemala, where the Aguirre family has been growing coffee since 1900. The estate's name, "Injerto," comes from the name of a local fruit. Finca El Injerto places exceptional emphasis on environmental stewardship and organic cultivation, applying rigorous quality control to guarantee the standard of its green coffee. Thanks to the Aguirre family's dedication, the farm has earned Rainforest Alliance certification and has been a frequent champion at international coffee competitions since 2002.

Finca El Injerto (sometimes rendered as "Graft Estate") is the undisputed leader among Guatemalan farms - if it claimed second place, no one would dare claim first! Its long list of world-class competition awards speaks for itself. In recent years the estate's owners have raised its profile even further: like Panama's famous Hacienda La Esmeralda, Finca El Injerto now runs its own global auction. And the auction lots are nothing short of spectacular. The first "Mocha variety" lot offered in 2012 set a world record, fetching an astonishing $500.5 per pound - cementing its status as a true star estate.

For its auctions, Finca El Injerto launched the "BEST Injerto" series, built around carefully selected micro-lots and varieties of outstanding quality grown on the estate. Experienced farmers hand-pick only fully ripe cherries, and cuppers then screen the harvest, culling any batch that fails to meet the standard. Under this exacting selection regime, the Pacamara variety from Finca El Injerto represents only about 8% of total production.

About the Pacamara Variety

Pacamara shot to worldwide fame through the Cup of Excellence (COE) in 2004, and within 2-3 years it was regularly taking championships. Pacamara from Guatemala's Finca El Injerto set a green-bean record price of $80.2 per pound in 2008.

As for the variety's origin and name: it is a cross of Maragogype (the "Elephant Bean") and Pacas, with "Pacamara" formed from the first four letters of each parent's name. It is a superb variety developed in El Salvador. The beans are very large - much like Elephant Beans - typically 21-22 screen size. In recent years it has been one of the standout varieties in Central and South America, and every producing country hopes to find suitable terroir for it, much as Panama did with Geisha. Pacamara coffee is known for its bright fruit acidity and remarkably clean, delicate sweetness.

In appearance Pacamara still closely resembles its cousin, the Elephant Bean. Since 2006, COE has cupped Pacamara from 30 estates. Some of these lots have been true superstars: Honduras' 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 Pacamal Estate. All are excellent ambassadors for the variety - though because they are award-winning lots, they command very high prices.

Pacamara delivers full, rich, layered flavors. Few varieties manage to combine vivid fruit acidity with unmistakable sweetness, and its aromatic range is remarkably diverse: stone fruits, vanilla, tropical fruit, chocolate, and sweet spices.

Guatemala La Libertad, Huehuetenango El Injerto Pandora de Fatima

Country: Guatemala

Grade: SHB

Estate: Finca El Injerto

Roast Level: Medium Roast

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: Pacamara

Batch: Competition Batch Pandora Fatima EI07

Flavor: Chestnut, Plum, Chocolate

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete Washed Geisha is an estate-level entry Geisha grown at 1,600 meters in the Boquete region of Panama. Frequent mists drift through the mountains there, keeping days humid and nights cool, while the fertile volcanic-ash soil of the Baru volcano area nourishes the trees and builds rich, fragrant coffee aromatics. In the cup you'll find the signature Geisha character: jasmine florals alongside green tea, honey, citrus, and orange.

For something with half of Geisha's prized lineage, consider FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Washed "Flower Butterfly" - a blend of Geisha, Caturra, and Catuai grown in the Baru volcano zone of Boquete. The local microclimate brings abundant rainfall and a wide day-night temperature swing, and the region's volcanic-rock soil plus meticulous harvesting and processing give this coffee impressive body, bright citrus acidity, and the jasmine fragrance of Geisha. It performs beautifully both as a pour-over and as a cold brew.