Pacas Coffee: Origin Story, Name History, Flavor Profile, and Cultivation Overview

Pacas: A Bourbon Variety Mutation

Pacas is a natural mutation of Bourbon, similar to Brazil's Caturra and Costa Rica's Villa Sarchi. Like other widely grown Bourbon mutations, Pacas is a new variety formed by a single-gene mutation, and that gives it a crucial characteristic: the plants can be set more densely, ultimately yielding more per unit area.

Pacas was first discovered in 1949 by the Pacas family in the Santa Ana region of El Salvador. Fernando Alberto Pacas Figueroa noticed plants with different morphological characteristics on the family's Finca San Rafael estate. He began collecting seeds and selective breeding, later developing about 3/4 hectare of Pacas "pioneer nursery."

Fernando Alberto Pacas Figueroa, the discoverer of Pacas.

By 1956, Francisco de Sola and Fernando's son, Fernando Alberto Pacas Trujillo, began researching the Pacas variety with the help of Florida professor William Cogwill. They compared San Ramon Bourbon with an "unknown" new variety. The "unknown" showed completely different characteristics, with plant morphology distinct from Bourbon—shorter internodal distances and larger fruiting areas. In the end, they named it "Pacas."

The Pacas Variety

It belongs to the Bourbon lineage,

meaning it is a mutation of Bourbon.

It was first discovered and selected around 1949 in El Salvador, where mostly Bourbon was cultivated.

The biggest morphological difference from Bourbon is that the plant is shorter, produces clustered fruit, and is highly productive.

But its flavor performance is much better than that of its close relative, nicknamed dwarf Bourbon—Caturra.

So it is often used as a parent in breeding programs, the most famous case being its hybrid offspring with Maragogype: Pacamara.

Flavor Profile

Floral notes, peach, cherry, orange, passion fruit, melon, pineapple, and ripe mango aromas, with high clarity and a smooth mouthfeel.

Pacas Roasting Method: Medium-Dark Roast

Roasted to pursue sweet, rich flavors without bitterness. The hallmark of a Pacas roast is sacrificing minimal acidity to gain a solid, sweet aftertaste. Although not abundant, it still keeps its regional character and the nectar-like experience that a dark roast brings.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Pacas is a Bourbon mutation, and if you enjoy that lineage, Brazilian beans are a good place to explore it. The FrontStreet Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic Brazilian single-origin, roasted medium, with cream peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut; round and low in acidity with a light bitter note, it works for pour-over, moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, and French press. The FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate, a rare yellow Bourbon from Mogiana, brings a cleaner fruit character with sugarcane sweetness, fruit, and chocolate.