Guatemala Santa Felisa Estate Red Pacamara K72 Process: Coffee Characteristics & Story

FrontStreet Coffee · Guatemala | Santa Felisa Estate Red Pacamara Elephant Bean, K72 Kenya-style Washed Processing

Pacamara is a hybrid created from Pacas and Maragogipe. Pacas is a variant of Bourbon, while Maragogipe is a variant of Typica. To combine the strengths of these two excellent varieties, the new variety was named after the first letters of Pacas and Maragogipe. After 30 years of work, the new Pacamara elephant bean variety was successfully created in 1980. Pacamara generally offers rich flavors, a pronounced wet aroma, creamy smoothness, elegant acidity, sweet chocolate and subtle fruit notes.

The renowned Guatemalan estate Santa Felisa was established in 1904 and is now managed by fourth-generation family members Anabella and Antonio. The estate lies in the Acatenango Valley, a region inhabited by Maya indigenous people who continue to work in the coffee plantations today. At an altitude of 1,560–1,800 meters, the microclimate and fertile volcanic soil give the coffee gardens unique nutrients, allowing the beans to ripen slowly and absorb more of what the volcanic soil offers. Santa Felisa practices eco-friendly farming, combining agricultural science with ancestral knowledge while respecting the local ecosystem and indigenous people. Its meticulous eight processing methods, together with diverse tree species, careful organic farming and an insistence on hand-picking cherries at 21° Brix, all help produce remarkable coffee flavors that frequently rank among the top in COE competitions. Since 2011 the estate has held its own independent global auctions, which at the time was the only organic estate auction in the coffee industry.

"People play an important role in quality." That is why Santa Felisa cares for and respects every coffee worker on the estate like family, producing high-quality coffee beans while working tirelessly on ecological protection. After leaf rust devastated Central America, there was deeper reflection on the connection between environment and land. The estate is committed to:

• Reforestation and water source protection
• Using compost and avoiding herbicides to protect the soil
• Not cutting shade trees, to maintain soil fertility and protect biodiversity
• Using soil-friendly nutrient supplements

In 2012, when leaf rust swept Central America, many neighboring estates saw entire batches of coffee trees wither and die. The organically cared-for trees at Santa Felisa, however, stayed robust and resisted the disease. When an even more severe rust epidemic struck in 2013, reaching the point where chemical spraying became unavoidable, almost no organic estate in Central America was spared, and Santa Felisa unfortunately lost its organic certification. The estate now carries out leaf rust prevention three times a year — twice using organic methods and once using chemical agents out of necessity. Apart from that, all farming methods remain identical to those of the original certified-organic estate.

These are farmers without organic certification who still insist on growing coffee with long-established ecological methods; farmers without fair trade certification who still respect and care for every coffee worker and family on the estate, treating generations of indigenous people with kindness.

Santa Felisa's K72 processing works like this: after the fruit skin is removed, the beans are dry-fermented for 24 hours, then water is added to stop fermentation. The process is repeated twice to reach 72 hours of fermentation, followed by soaking overnight before washing and then sun-drying. The characteristic flavor of Santa Felisa's Kenya-style washed processing is a long-lasting throaty aftertaste and bright acidity.

Flavor: citrus, aged tangerine aroma, cherry, sweet persimmon, delicate plum acidity, roasted nuts, spices and chocolate, malt sugar, bright and clean, viscous and smooth, long-lasting sweetness.

Product Information

Product Name: FrontStreet Coffee Guatemala Santa Felisa Estate Red Pacamara Elephant Bean

Country: Guatemala

Variety: Red Pacamara Elephant Bean

Altitude: 1600 m

Processing Method: K72 Processing Method

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Method

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 3.5

Brewing Method: 1:15 water-to-coffee ratio, 15 g of coffee grounds. First pour 25 g of water and bloom for 25 seconds. Second pour to 120 g, then stop pouring. Wait until the water level drops to half, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225 g. Extraction time approximately 2:00.

Analysis: A three-stage brew separates the front, middle and end flavors of the coffee clearly. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, stopping the pour during brewing helps extend the extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The K72 method here is a Kenyan idea transplanted to Guatemala: fermenting in stages to reach a total of 72 hours, then soaking overnight before washing. Kenya itself pushes the same principle further with full double washing, and FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Cherry Tomato is one of the best-known examples of that style. It is a washed specialty coffee built around bright cherry tomato and smoked plum acidity with a full, juicy body, and it comes from Kenya's Thika region, grown at 1,550–1,750 m on the classic SL28 and SL34 varieties. The green beans are plump and round and reach the AA TOP standard; the local K72 double washed fermentation, with its repeated washing and soaking, brings the fruit out to the fullest while keeping the cup clean and pure, and a light roast preserves the lively acidity and the layered fruit.

On the nose the coffee opens with dried cherry tomato and florals; on the palate the cherry tomato and smoked plum are clear and substantial, bright like freshly squeezed juice, with sweetness building in the middle over snow pear and black plum, and a long clean finish of yellow sugar and a faint green tea note. If you prefer something more floral and less forceful, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe Banko Gotiti Cooperative is the counterpoint, from smallholders around Yirgacheffe whose cherries are processed at shared stations; this Worka-area lot is prized for its refined, clean cup, showing jasmine and bright citrus over a medium-light roast with green tea and honey. And for a rounder, more classic washed coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 shows the softer side of the method — translucent, low-defect beans with hazelnut, cream, chocolate and caramel in perfect balance.

Brew any of them as a pour-over in a V60: 15 g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio, water around 90°C, and a three-stage pour — a short bloom, a second pour to about 120 g, then a pause while the bed drains to half before the final pour to roughly 225 g. On the V60's many ribs the bed can drain quickly, so pausing the pour is what keeps the extraction long enough to reach the sweetness in the later stages without pulling bitterness.