El Salvador Pacas Coffee Variety - El Salvador Coffee Harvest Season

Botanically, the coffee tree is an evergreen shrub of the Rubiaceae family, genus Coffea. Coffee beans are the seeds of its fruit, and the trade recognizes three major species: Arabica, Robusta, and Liberica. These three cannot be crossed to produce new subspecies. Every specialty coffee in the world comes from Arabica, and within Arabica there is a wide range of evolved, hybridized, and mutated subtypes.

Pacas Coffee Variety

Pacas belongs to the Bourbon lineage and is a natural mutation of Bourbon, first discovered and selected in El Salvador around 1949. Its most obvious morphological difference from Bourbon is a shorter plant that bears fruit in clusters and yields heavily. In the cup it performs far better than its close relative Caturra, which is nicknamed "dwarf Bourbon." That is why Pacas is so often used as a parent in breeding programs. The most famous result is the cross between Pacas and Maragogype known as Pacamara.

El Salvador's Coffee Growing Conditions

El Salvador's active volcanoes spread mineral-rich ash across the country. In soils dominated by volcanic ash, minerals are abundant but organic matter is scarce. To maintain fertility and compensate, Salvadoran farmers fertilize with processed coffee pulp residue or with organic matter from beneath the coffee trees, supplementing what the soil lacks so the trees can produce beans with a more harmonious flavor.

El Salvador's most significant contribution is that it introduced organic agriculture to the world, cultivating more than 150,000 tons of organic coffee a year. Salvadoran coffee is grown in five major regions (Apaneca, Central Belt, Chichontepec, and the Tecapa and Cacahuatique mountain ranges), mostly on high mountain slopes or plateaus covered in volcanic ash above 1,200 meters. The harvest runs from November through April of the following year.

Because coffee prefers a mild climate, Salvadoran coffee trees are usually planted under tall canopy trees - shade-grown coffee - to avoid the excessive heat and direct sunlight that would degrade bean quality.

Coffee Characteristics

The beans are Arabica, with Pacas and Bourbon as the main types. They are large, with sweet flavors and an excellent overall taste profile.

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 a smooth mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the Bourbon lineage behind Pacas appeals to you, FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate is a natural next bean. Its variety is the uncommon Yellow Bourbon, which arose as a mutation of Red Bourbon and tends to give a cleaner fruit character. It comes from a specialty estate in Brazil and is naturally processed, which amplifies sweetness. Roasted medium, it shows nuts, cream, sugarcane, and a soft fruit acidity - a clear, sweet, and very drinkable cup that works as pour-over, moka pot, or espresso.

For a more floral, high-altitude direction, FrontStreet Panama Red Label Geisha is the showpiece. Esmeralda's Red Label lots are grown at 1600-1800 meters, each lot must cup above 90 points, and every lot carries its own number and comes from a single small plot. Expect the classic Geisha signature: layered jasmine florals, citrus, peach, and complex fruit acidity, with a creamy texture and an oolong-tea sweetness in the finish - flavors that read more like a fragrant fruit tea than a coffee.

Both beans are flexible at the brew bar. FrontStreet recommends a pour-over ratio of 1:15 with water near 90°C, a medium to medium-fine grind, and a steady, unhurried pour; both also work well in a moka pot or as a single-origin espresso if you prefer more concentration.