Introduction to El Salvador Pacamara Coffee - Pacamara Characteristics and Flavor Profile

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Introduction to Salvadoran Pacamara Coffee

Pacamara was cultivated by El Salvador in the late 1950s. It is a hybrid of Pacas and Maragogipe, and is now highly sought after. Similar to Maragogipe, it is large in size—typically twice the size of standard Bourbon coffee beans—but has moderate yields. The quality of Pacamara is widely praised for its clean acidity and refreshing floral notes, with advantages when grown at higher altitudes.

How was Pacamara developed?

The Pacamara variety was cultivated in 1958 by the Salvadoran Coffee Research Institute ISIC, created by crossing the Pacas and Maragogipe varieties.

Pacas is a natural variant of the Bourbon variety, and scientists have studied this variety at the University of Florida. The Pacas tree is relatively small with narrow node spacing, which develops dense foliage that helps combat harsh weather conditions such as strong winds, sunlight, and heavy rain. Additionally, it has strong disease resistance, adapts to many growing conditions, and has high yields.

Maragogipe is a natural variant of Typica. The Maragogipe coffee tree is very tall and produces extremely large fruit seeds. Although its yield is not high, its flavor performance is excellent. The initial motivation for creating the Pacamara hybrid was to combine the advantages of these two varieties, taking the first half of the English names of Pacas and Maragogipe. The Pacamara variety took about thirty years of scientific research to develop and was not made available to farmers until the late 1980s.

What are the special flavor characteristics of Pacamara?

Pacamara has complex and intense aromas, with a medium to full body and fresh cream-like mouthfeel. Its elegant acidity carries sweetness with chocolate and creamy sugar notes, which then transform into fruit flavor tones such as citrus, red berries, and stone fruits.

Pacamara is a medium-sized tree with thick leaves, short nodes, and large blades. Its produced fruit is elongated with small protrusions, and the seeds are large and elliptical in shape.

El Salvador Chalatenango Positos Farm Pacamara Honey Process COE Competition Lot

Country of Origin: El Salvador

Region: Chalatenango

Farm: Positos de San Ignacio

Farm Owner: Ignacio Gutierrez Solis

Altitude: 1500 meters

Variety: Pacamara

Processing Method: Honey process

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