El Salvador Pacas Coffee Variety - El Salvador Coffee Harvest Season

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In botany, the coffee tree belongs to the evergreen trees of the Rubiaceae family, Coffea subgenus. Coffee beans are the seeds of the coffee tree's fruit, which include three major varieties: Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica. These three major varieties cannot be crossbred to produce different subspecies. All specialty coffees in the world come from the Arabica variety, and within Arabica there are various evolved, hybridized, and mutated subspecies of Arabica coffee.

Pacas Coffee Variety

Belonging to the Bourbon lineage, Pacas is a natural mutation of Bourbon. It was first discovered and selected in El Salvador around 1949. The biggest morphological difference from Bourbon is that the plant is shorter, bears fruit in clusters, and has high yields. However, its flavor performance is much better than its close relative - Caturra, which is nicknamed dwarf Bourbon. Because of this, it is often used as a foundation for breeding. The most famous case is the hybrid offspring of Pacas and Maragogype - Pacamara.

El Salvador's Coffee Growing Conditions

El Salvador's active volcanic activity brings mineral-rich volcanic ash to the country. In soil components dominated by volcanic ash, there are more minerals and less organic matter. Therefore, to maintain soil fertility and compensate for the lack of organic matter, Salvadoran farmers use processed coffee pulp residue or organic matter under coffee trees as fertilizer to supplement the relatively lacking organic matter in the soil, enabling coffee trees to produce coffee beans with more harmonious flavors.

El Salvador's most meaningful initiative is introducing organic agriculture to the world, cultivating over 150,000 tons of organic coffee annually. Salvadoran coffee has five major producing regions (Apaneca, Central Belt, Chichontepec, Tecapa & Cacahuatique Mountain Range), mostly distributed on high mountain slopes or plateau areas covered with volcanic ash at altitudes above 1,200 meters. The coffee harvest season runs from November to April of the following year.

Since coffee prefers mild climates, Salvadoran coffee trees are mostly grown under the shade of tall, canopy-providing trees (shade grown coffee) to avoid excessive temperatures and direct sunlight exposure that would affect the quality of the coffee beans.

Coffee Characteristics

The coffee beans produced belong to the Arabica variety, with Pacas and Bourbon as the main types. They are large beans with sweet flavors and excellent taste profiles.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations:

Water temperature: 90°C, medium grind, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15, extraction time: two minutes.

Flavor Profile:

Herbal notes, cocoa and woody tones, bright acidity, and smooth mouthfeel.

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