What is the Pacamara Coffee Variety? Introduction to the Flavor Characteristics and Story of El Salvador Pacamara Coffee Beans

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The "T-Rex" of Coffee Beans

Ask anyone about the "T-Rex" of the coffee bean world, and coffee lovers everywhere - FrontStreet Coffee included - will give the same answer: Pacamara! This variety is a cross of Maragogipe and Pacas. In FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemala Pacamara, the character of this variety comes through vividly: complex, intense flavors with citrus and red-berry juiciness, an elegant refreshing acidity, and a finish that shifts into creamy sweetness and body. Without further ado, let's get into today's coffee knowledge sharing and brewing tutorial!

The Coffee Growing History of the Pacas Family

Pacamara was developed by the Pacas family, whose roots in coffee stretch back to the 19th century. The family's coffee venture began with Jose Rosa Pacas, who bought land in El Salvador's Apaneca Lamatepec mountain range and planted Bourbon coffee trees, launching the family's coffee business. Today, the fifth generation of the Pacas family continues to run and grow the enterprise. The family operates a complete seed-to-cup coffee business - farms, processing plants, an export company, roasting facilities, barista training centers, and coffee shops - producing some of El Salvador's finest coffee for markets worldwide. The Pacamara discussed in this article is the hybrid variety derived from Pacas.

How Was the Pacas Variety Discovered?

The Pacas variety was discovered in 1956 by El Salvador's Fernando Alberto Pacas, who transplanted it to his San Rafael farm for cultivation. There he noticed that this variety was completely unlike any of the others.

How Was Pacamara Cultivated?

Pacamara was bred in 1958 by El Salvador's coffee research institution ISIC, by crossing Pacas with Maragogipe. Pacas itself is a natural mutation of Bourbon and has been studied by scientists at the University of Florida. The Pacas plant is relatively compact, with narrow node spacing and dense foliage that helps it withstand harsh weather - strong winds, intense sunlight, and heavy rain. It also shows strong disease resistance, adapts to a wide range of conditions, and yields well.

Maragogipe, on the other hand, is a natural mutation of Typica. Maragogipe trees grow very tall and bear extremely large fruit and seeds; yields are modest, but the flavor is outstanding. The idea behind the hybrid was to combine the strengths of both parents - the name simply takes the first syllables of Pacas and Maragogipe. Pacamara took roughly thirty years of research before it was finally released to farmers in the late 1980s.

FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemala El Morito as an Example

Guatemala El Morito

Country: Guatemala

Region: Nuevo Oriente

Altitude: 1550-1800M

Processing Method: Natural process

Grade: SHB

Variety: Pacamara

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Tutorial

Hario V60

Let's start with the Hario V60 - our most-used brewer! The V60's ribs spiral from top to bottom at varying lengths, which allows smoother gas release during the brew and a relatively fast flow rate. For that reason, when brewing on a V60 we recommend segmented extraction: it slows the water flow and raises extraction efficiency, helping to offset under-extraction caused by the fast drain.

Parameters: Grind size BG 5R (80% pass-through rate on the China standard #20 sieve), water temperature 90°C, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique: Bloom with 27g of water for 30 seconds. Pour up to 128g, wait until the water level drops to just above the coffee bed, then pour up to 227g and stop. When the level drops to just above the bed again, remove the dripper. (Timer starts at the bloom.) Total extraction time: 1 minute 50 seconds.

Flavor: A fresh, fruity acidity on the nose. In the cup, green grape, lemon, and grapefruit acidity; the mid-palate brings nut and biscuit aromatics, with green tea notes into the finish. The aftertaste carries macadamia and cream, with beautifully layered flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Pacamara's balance of gentle sweetness and layered fruit appeals to you, medium-roasted beans are where that balance lives. Roasting is ultimately a matter of controlling three things - acidity, sweetness, and bitterness: the darker the roast, the more bitter and heavy the cup; the lighter, the more acidic and delicate. For an even-keeled profile, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate is a great pick - a Yellow Bourbon from the world's largest coffee-producing country that, at medium roast, delivers creamy peanut, chocolate, toasted bread, and sugarcane sweetness, working equally well as pour-over, moka pot, or espresso.

For a sweeter, more fruit-forward medium roast, try FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy Gesha blend, which pairs honey-processed Costa Rica with washed Panama Gesha. Medium roasted to highlight its best qualities, it offers orange-blossom honeyed aroma and a rounded sweetness - lovely as cold brew, pour-over, or espresso. And as a classic Chinese specialty, FrontStreet's 2013 natural Typica from its own Yunnan estate presents nuts, brown sugar, black tea, and dried apricot at medium roast - great value for pour-over, cold brew, or drip machines.