Why is Pacamara Considered a Rival to Geisha in Arabica Varieties? Is it Better than Sidra and Java?

Yes, "Pacamara" - it's a coffee variety that attempts to claim the "throne" from Geisha. In his book "The Bean Hunter," Mr. Hsu Paolin bestowed upon it the title "Geisha's Rival." It sounds highly competitive, so what exactly is the origin story of the Pacamara variety?

The Origins of Pacamara

Pacamara is a hybrid variety with a very complex lineage, born in 1958 in the research laboratories of the Salvadoran Coffee Research Institute. Its lineage is considered complex because it originates from two different Arabica variety variants.

Pacas

Pacas is one of these two variants, belonging to the Bourbon variety family. Pacas was originally the name of a Salvadoran coffee farmer - Don Alberto Pacas. In 1935, he selected high-yield Bourbon plants and moved them to his farm for cultivation. Then one day in 1956, his "coffee friend" discovered that some Bourbon trees on his farm produced significantly more fruit than other Bourbon varieties. Remarkably, he immediately invited a professor from the University of Florida to examine them, who discovered that these were genetic mutations of Bourbon! Thus, the variety was named after the farm's owner, "Pacas."

Maragogype

Maragogype is the most well-known variant of Typica and the other bloodline source of Pacamara! Because its beans are more than three times larger than typical Arabica varieties, people have given it the nickname "Elephant Bean"! The name Maragogype comes from its birthplace. Discovered in 1870, its large size often leads to "burnt outside, raw inside" situations during roasting - meaning the exterior is scorched while the interior remains undercooked. Therefore, when roasting Elephant Beans, people often use "low heat and slow roasting" to gradually cook them through.

Since Pacamara is a hybrid of these two varieties, its name was created by combining the first parts of each name, resulting in "Pacamara."

The Struggles and Rise of Pacamara

Although Pacamara was born in 1958, it did not immediately embark on a path to glory! This is because it did not inherit Pacamas' excellent high-yield lineage, resulting in significantly lower yields than both its parent varieties. Additionally, it perfectly inherited the "large bean gene" from Elephant Beans, becoming the second-largest Arabica variety after Elephant Beans! Beyond being difficult to roast, the large beans also make processing challenging! During Pacamara's pulping process, its oversized beans frequently get stuck in machine holes or gaps. Furthermore, most washing stations lacked experience handling large coffee fruits, let alone preparing larger mesh screens specifically for Pacamara processing! Such frequent accidents made people realize that conventional processing only worked with normal-sized beans. For beans two to three times larger like Pacamara, entire processing station equipment would need replacement and readjustment to Pacamara-compatible setups. Which coffee farmer would do such a thing back then! Consequently, it remained obscure for half a century!

The Breakthrough

It wasn't until 2007 that Pacamara made a spectacular sweep, winning championships in both the Guatemala and Honduras "Cup of Excellence" competitions (referring to winning two championships simultaneously), even dominating the top three positions in El Salvador and defeating numerous competing Geisha varieties. Only then did people realize what tremendous advantages this variety possessed. "Richness and complexity" became its flavor advantages resulting from combining two excellent varieties. Consequently, people began following suit and started planting Pacamara! In subsequent years, it consistently occupied top positions in various competition leaderboards. People began hailing it as a rising star variety comparable to Geisha! Mr. Hsu Paolin also bestowed upon it the title "Geisha's Rival" in his book!

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