Introduction to Guatemala's Injerto Coffee Region and How to Brew Guatemalan Coffee

Introducing the El Injerto Estate

El Injerto Estate sits in the celebrated highlands of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, where the Aguirre family has grown coffee since 1900. The estate takes its name from a local fruit. El Injerto places unusual emphasis on ecological protection and organic cultivation, backed by strict quality control from cherry to green bean. These efforts have earned the farm Rainforest Alliance certification, and since 2002 it has been a frequent champion at international coffee competitions.

El Injerto (sometimes rendered as "Grafting Estate") ranks among the very top farms in Guatemala — few would argue otherwise. A string of world-class competition awards built that reputation, and in recent years the estate has pushed its standing even higher. Like Panama's famous La Esmeralda, El Injerto runs a global auction for its lots, and the auction beans are consistently extraordinary. Most famously, the first "Mocha variety" lot in 2012 set a world record when it sold at an astonishing $500.5 per pound, cementing El Injerto's status as a true star estate.

For its auctions, El Injerto created the "BEST El Injerto" series, drawing small quantities of exceptional batches and varieties from across the farm. Experienced pickers harvest only fully ripe cherries, and cuppers then eliminate any lot that fails to meet the quality bar. Under this exacting selection, the Pacamara variety accounts for only about 8% of the estate's total production.

About the Pacamara Variety

Pacamara shot to worldwide fame through the Cup of Excellence in 2004, and within two to three years it was winning championships regularly. Pacamara from Guatemala's El Injerto Estate itself set a record in 2008, fetching $80.2 per pound for green beans.

The variety's name tells its origin: it is a cross of the elephant bean Maragogype and Pacas, combining the first four letters of each parent. It was developed in El Salvador, and the beans are huge — roughly 21-22 screen size, comparable to Maragogype. In recent years Pacamara has been one of the standout varieties of Central and South America, and growers everywhere hope to find terroirs suited to it, much as they did with Panama's Geisha. Pacamara is known for bright fruit acidity and a very pure, delicate sweetness.

Though Pacamara still resembles its elephant-bean cousin in appearance, cupping tables have repeatedly proven its distinction. Since 2006, COE has judged Pacamara lots from 30 estates, and some have been genuine superstars: Honduras's 2006 champion Santa Martha, El Salvador's 2007 third-place Cerro Negro (Black Mountain Estate), Guatemala's perennial COE winner El Injerto, and El Salvador's 2008 runner-up Pacamaral. These are all superb Pacamara representatives, but because they are award-winning lots, they command steep prices.

To brew El Injerto by hand: dose 15g of coffee at a medium grind (small Fuji ghost-tooth grinder at setting #4) into a V60 dripper, with water at 88-89°C. Start with a 30g pour and bloom for 27 seconds. Pour to 105g and stop. Once the water level drops to half, pour again, slowly, up to 225g total. Skip the tail end of the drawdown. Use a 1:15 water-to-coffee ratio with a total extraction time of 2:00.

Pacamara plants are medium to tall with short internodal spacing. The leaves are large, corrugated, and dark green, while new growth emerges green or brownish. The trunk is hard and sturdy, with thick branches.

The tree carries more lateral branches than Typica, much like Pacas.

The fresh cherry shows a small protrusion at the flower disc.

The beans are large and elliptical, about 1.03 cm long, 0.71 cm wide, and 0.37 cm thick.

Depending on altitude, Pacamara beans run about 70% the size of Maragogype beans.

Overall, virtually all Pacamara beans fall above screen 17, with more than 90% above screen 18.

In the cup, Pacamara is full-bodied, rich, and complex. Few varieties manage to combine fruit acidity with prominent sweetness, layered over notes of stone fruit, vanilla, tropical fruit, chocolate, and spiced sweetness.

Product Information

Shelf Life: 90 days
Net Weight: 100g
Packaging: Bulk
Organic Food: No
Coffee Bean State: Roasted Coffee Beans
Contains Sugar: Sugar-free
Origin: Guatemala
Roast Level: Medium Roast

Lot Details

Guatemala La Libertad, Huehuetenango, El Injerto, Pandora de Fatima

Country: Guatemala
Grade: SHB
Estate: El Injerto Estate
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

A World-Class Coffee Estate

The world holds more than ten thousand coffee estates, from bulk commodity producers to farms growing rare, competition-grade varieties. Few names command as much respect as Guatemala's El Injerto — a genuinely world-class estate.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Readers drawn to legendary estates like El Injerto — farms that treat coffee as a competition-grade craft — should also experience the estate-level pinnacle of Panama: FrontStreet Coffee's Esmeralda Red Label Gesha. Grown on a single plot above 1700 meters at the Hacienda La Esmeralda estate, it must reach a cupping score of 91, delivering refined orange-blossom sweetness and honeyed fragrance.

For a more approachable entry into estate-grown Gesha, try FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete Washed Gesha, planted at 1600 meters in the fertile volcanic soil around the Baru Volcano. In the cup you will find Gesha's signature jasmine florals alongside notes of green tea, honey, citrus, and orange.