El Salvador Pacamara Coffee Bean Roasting Guide | Pacamara Coffee Bean Price Report

The Origin of Pacamara Coffee

In 1958, the Salvadoran Coffee Research Institute (ISIC) successfully crossed two varieties, Pacas and Maragojipe (Maragogype), to cultivate a new coffee variety named Pacamara.

The Parent Varieties

Pacas is a high-yield variety from El Salvador, originating as a natural mutation of the Arabica hybrid San Ramón Bourbon. In 1956 it was discovered by two renowned Salvadoran coffee producers, Don Alberto Pacas and Don Francisco De Sola, with the assistance of Dr. William Cogwill from the University of Florida. Maragojipe (Maragogype), commonly known as the "Elephant Bean," is a giant Typica variety that not only features large beans and high acidity but also possesses exceptional flavor.

Flavor Profile

Pacamara, the hybrid of both parent varieties, has a quite distinctive flavor that tends to provoke polarized opinions. Generally, Pacamara grown at higher elevations offers superior flavor, often showing floral and spicy notes with excellent balance and richness.

Research and Resources

The El Salvador Coffee Council previously published a document detailing the genetic history and lineage of both the Bourbon and Pacamara coffee varieties, along with recommended roast profiles. Most of the information about Pacamara begins on page 6 of that document.

http://www.atlascoffee.com/pacamara.pdf

Pacamara Coffee Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's roasted Pacamara beans offer excellent guarantees in both brand and quality. More importantly, they provide exceptional value: a 227-gram half-pound package costs approximately 118 yuan. Calculating at 15 grams per cup, one package makes about 15 cups, costing only about 7 yuan a cup. That is remarkable value next to café prices that often reach tens of yuan per cup.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Pacamara is an Arabica variety through and through, and if it has you curious about the wider Arabica family, FrontStreet's lineup is a good place to explore. FrontStreet Huakui, an heirloom variety from Ethiopia processed naturally, delivers ripe tropical fruit with cream strawberry, mango, jackfruit, citrus, and blueberry notes. For a refined washed contrast, FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Gudingding is an elegant G1 cup of white florals, citrus, orange, and green tea.

At the top of the range, FrontStreet Panama Red Label Geisha, grown at the famed Emerald Estate in the Boquete area of Chiriqui Province, shows jasmine florals, citrus, and peach, with a creamy, smooth acidity that finishes on oolong-like sweetness. And for a completely different register, FrontStreet Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1, a Typica, is prized for the near-perfect balance of acidity, sweetness, bitterness, and aroma that has made it a benchmark for decades. Like Pacamara, each of these shows how much range one species can hold.