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Coffee Variety Introduction: Pacamara Variety - Blueberry Estate Honey Process Flavor

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Pacamara coffee is a hybrid variety discovered in El Salvador in the 1950s, created by crossing Pacas (a natural mutation of Bourbon) with Maragogype (a natural mutation of Typica discovered in Brazil). The coffee tree grows tall with wider branch spacing than Pacas, featuring dark green wavy-edged leaves, and is best cultivated at altitudes of 900-1500 meters.

When it comes to the king of coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee can only think of one variety - the "giant" of the coffee world, Pacamara. This variety is a hybrid breed that, due to its Maragogipe genes, has inherited the characteristic of large size, making it worthy of being called the king. This variety performs remarkably well, with lively and bright acidity, complex and rich flavors, and moderate body, which FrontStreet Coffee particularly loves. So let me introduce this Pacamara from Guatemala and the story behind it.

Region Introduction

Guatemala is located in Central America, where the geographical environment is exceptionally advantageous. It connects to North America in the north and borders South America in the south. Because it faces the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the climate is relatively hot and humid, and it has always been an important coffee-producing region in the world. Guatemala is situated in the tropics with numerous volcanoes. The northern and eastern coastal plains have a tropical rainforest climate, while the southern mountains have a subtropical climate. The year is divided into wet and dry seasons, with May to October being the wet season and November to April of the following year being the dry season. Annual precipitation in the northeast ranges from 2,000 to 3,000 millimeters, while the south receives 500 to 1,000 millimeters.

Forests cover half of the country's area, making it located at the ideal latitude for coffee production. Since coffee is an important economic crop locally, a rich coffee culture has developed. People drink coffee every day, and most people's lunch must include a cup of coffee.

New Oriente

The New Oriente region is the youngest of Guatemala's eight coffee-producing regions. Here, rainfall is abundant, and it is perennially shaded by clouds. In ancient times, it was a volcanic area, and the soil here is composed of metamorphic rocks, making it rich in minerals. Before starting coffee cultivation, New Oriente was once the poorest region in Guatemala. Since the 1950s, farmers in the mountainous areas have relied on this naturally nutritious land to begin coffee cultivation, gradually revitalizing the area. Now it has become a rising star in Guatemala's coffee cultivation industry.

El Morita

After reviewing the information, FrontStreet Coffee learned that El Morita is one of the highest altitude and most exceptional farms in all of Guatemala. The farm owner professionally manages the farm, challenging the cultivation of coffee at 2,300 meters and pushing the limits of the theory that Arabica coffee grown at higher altitudes yields better flavors. In recent years, it has demonstrated exceptional strength in various competitions. Due to the extremely high altitude, one must pass through two cloud layers to reach this location. The cold climate nurtures extremely resilient fruits, producing outstanding coffee flavors. The farm's varieties include Pache San Ramon, Catuai, Bourbon, Maragogipe, Pacamara, Maracatu, and Geisha. The farm owner plants different coffee varieties in different sections of the farm, with slightly different flavors and textures. This is one of the reasons FrontStreet Coffee chose this bean - it's truly remarkable.

This farm is also an award-winning farm in the Cup of Excellence (COE) competition:

2013 Cup of Excellence - 2nd Place
2014 Cup of Excellence - 3rd Place
2015 Cup of Excellence - 2nd Place
2016 Cup of Excellence - 9th Place
2017 Cup of Excellence - 4th Place
2018 Cup of Excellence - 3rd Place

Honey Processing

The honey processing method is an improved version of the natural processing method. The main difference from natural processing is that the outer skin and pulp are removed before sun-drying, while preserving the mucilage layer for direct sun-drying.

1. Remove Floating Beans

Pour coffee beans into a large water tank. Underdeveloped, low-quality beans will float to the surface, while mature, full fruits will sink to the bottom. At this point, skim off the floating beans from the water surface to complete the removal of floating beans.

2. Remove Skin and Pulp

Use a pulping machine to remove the outer skin and pulp of the coffee cherries (leaving the mucilage, parchment, and silver skin).

3. Sun-Drying

Spread the coffee beans with mucilage on a drying patio for direct sun exposure until the moisture content drops to 10-14%.

4. Remove Mucilage and Parchment

Use special machines to remove the mucilage and parchment, completing the processing steps.

Pacamara

Pacamara is a hybrid of Pacas and Maragogype discovered in El Salvador in 1950.

It was first cultivated by researchers in El Salvador in 1958. Pacamara is an excellent variety rarely achieved through artificial breeding, combining the excellent flavor profile of the Pacas variety with the large size of Maragogype. The beans are at least 70-80% the size of elephant beans. The most notable characteristic of this variety is its lively and intricate acidity, sometimes with biscuit aromas and sometimes with fruit notes, with excellent body and mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemala Pacamara Roasting Analysis

Roaster: Yangjia 800N semi-direct flame (300g batch size)

Preheat the roaster to 170°C, set air damper to 3, and heat to 140. The turnaround point is at 1'32" with a temperature of 112.2°C. At 140°C, maintain the heat and open the air damper to 4. The beans turn yellow at 5 minutes, and the grassy aroma disappears, entering the dehydration stage. Maintain the heat and keep the air damper at 4. Dehydration completes at 6'50", when wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma transforms into coffee aroma - this is the prelude to first crack. Pay attention to the sound of first crack at this point. First crack begins at 7'43", fully open the air damper to 5, and maintain the heat. Development time after first crack is 1'50", and the beans are discharged at 195°C.

The Agrton color value is 66.1 (above image), the Agrton pink value is 86.1 (below image), and the Roast Delta value is 20.

FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemala Pacamara cupping notes: Cherry tomatoes, berries, raspberries, orange, cream, almonds, vanilla, honey, with good sweet and sour balance and rich flavor layers.

Guatemala El Morito

Guatemala El Morita Farm

Country: Guatemala

Region: New Oriente

Altitude: 1550-1800M

Processing: Natural processing

Grade: SHB

Variety: Pacamara

FrontStreet Coffee's Guatemala Pacamara Brewing Analysis

Recommended brewing method: Pour-over

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 90°C

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: BG 5E (80% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

Brewing technique: 29g of water for bloom for 32 seconds, pour to 120g in segments, when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 226g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper (timing starts from bloom). Extraction time is one minute fifty-six seconds.

Flavor: Aromas of nuts, with plum and passion fruit acidity when hot, carrying light fermented fruit notes. The mid-section has creamy sweetness and nutty flavors, while the finish has green tea sensations with persistent sucrose aftertaste. As the temperature drops, citrus acidity emerges with sweet and sour vibrancy, and the aftertaste is rose tea fragrance with slight brown sugar sweetness.