Pacamara Coffee Beans: Not Just a Funny Name
Reiko Piekarski, Coffee Ambassador | Fortuna Enterprises, LLC
Time for a story about Pacamara!
If you think of the different types of tomatoes and apples available out in the world it should come as no surprise that coffee would have different varieties as well. The Pacamara lineage travels back to the commonly known Bourbon and Typica varietals. These two varietals naturally mutated over time to produce two additional new coffee plants which are the parentage of Pacamara.
Maragogipe was first discovered in Brazil near the town of which it obtained the namesake sometime around the late 19th century. This varietal was the result of a natural mutation from the Typica line. This version was observed as a much larger plant that did not produce as much coffee as many others. Due to this large size, the plants needed more spacing thus less was planted because of how much land was needed for such little yield. What was especially unique about this particular coffee was the development of a large “elephant” seed in each elongated coffee cherry. The scarcity of production increased in the popularity and demand for this particular coffee.
Pacas, on the other hand, was a natural mutation stemming off of the Bourbon lineage. This variety was discovered on a farm owned by the Pacas family in El Salvador. It is widely found grown across the country to this day. Unlike the Maragogipe plants the Pacas are much smaller and denser. The size means spacing between plants are closer which potentially yields higher fruit production and the farmer can plant more on their land.
This is where the Pacamara cultivar comes into fruition. It took over 30 years of research in El Salvador before this hybrid was officially introduced in the 1980s. The combination of both the Maragogipe and Pacas varietal produces a larger seed size much like the Maragogipe but with a more complex cup all around. The aromatics combined with creamy body textures, soft acidity and sweetness are what elevate this coffee. This particular cultivar is widely desired and often showcased on the Cup of Excellence, an annual competition to identify the highest quality coffees of produced in the country.
- Reiko Piekarski
Coffee Ambassador
Fortuna Enterprises, LLC
