El Salvador Coffee Varieties and Flavor Characteristics

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FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to El Salvador Coffee Varieties

First cultivated in 1958 by researchers in El Salvador. Pacamara is an excellent variety rarely achieved through artificial selection, surpassing its parent varieties. It perfectly inherits the advantages of the parent plant, combining the excellent flavor profile of the Pacas variety with the large bean size of the Maragogipe. The beans are at least 70-80% the size of elephant beans, with 100% reaching 17 screen size or above and 90% reaching 18 screen size or above. The average bean length is 1.03 cm (compared to about 0.8-0.85 cm for regular beans), average width is 0.71 cm (compared to about 0.6-0.65 cm for regular beans), with a thickness of 0.37 cm, resulting in full, round beans. The most distinctive feature of this variety is its lively and sophisticated acidity, sometimes with biscuit aromas, sometimes with fruity notes, and excellent body and mouthfeel. The best quality is produced in El Salvador and Guatemala.

Pacamara beans are long, full, and round, averaging 1.03 cm in length. Although smaller than elephant beans, they are larger than regular coffee beans. Typically, Pacamara beans selected are 18 screen size or above. Pacamara is an excellent variety rarely achieved through artificial selection, with a production of 3.225 million bags (60 kg per bag), but current production has significantly declined.

Kenya SL-28 is one of the two most respected varieties developed in the 1930s by Kenya's Scott Laboratories. Although Scott Laboratories no longer exists, it is now the National Agricultural Laboratory, part of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization. Both varieties are Bourbon derivatives, though from different lineages: SL-28 was developed from drought-resistant varieties originally planted in Tanganyika, which is part of modern Tanzania; it is generally considered the highest quality but has lower yields compared to other commercial Arabica varieties.

This SL variant exhibits bronze-colored young leaves. The yield from SL28 is not as high as expected, but the copper-colored leaves and broad bean shape offer wonderful sweetness, balance, and complex, varied flavors, as well as significant citrus and plum characteristics. The coffee flavor features strong, rich fruit acidity, rich body, and beautiful balance.

Flavor: Aromatic with berry scents, the entry reveals citrus, berries, and lemon, with a subtle herbal finish. The aftertaste has nutty cream aromas, with an overall clean and bright mouthfeel.

In Brief

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