The Majestic Pacamara: A Unique Experience for the Specialty Coffee Industry
Aloha, fellow coffee enthusiasts, roasters, and baristas, in our never-ending quest to find the most exquisite coffee beans that provide unique, distinct, and flavorful experiences, we often find ourselves exploring different coffee varieties from around the world. Today, we'll talk story of one such unique bean: the Pacamara coffee.
Pacamara, a specialty coffee variety that has been gaining ground (no pun intended) in recent years, offers a complex profile that's truly a delight for the senses. For those unacquainted, let's start with a little background.
Unripe coffee fruit growing on coffee tree
A Brief History of Pacamara
Pacamara is a hybrid cultivar that was first cultivated in the 1950s by The Salvadoran Institute for Coffee Research (ISIC). It is a crossbreed of the “Pacas” and Maragogipe coffee varieties, hence the portmanteau 'Pacamara'. It took the ISIC almost three decades of meticulous cultivation and selection to finally present it to the world in 1980.
Pacas is a natural mutation of the Bourbon variety, known for its resistance to disease and its excellent cup quality. Maragogipe, on the other hand, is a mutation of the Typica variety. It's known for its large-sized beans but is unfortunately susceptible to diseases and has a relatively low yield. The goal of the ISIC was to create a coffee variety that retained the exceptional cup quality and disease resistance of Pacas with the large bean size of Maragogipe. Thus, Pacamara was born.
Flavor Profile
As special as its origin, the Pacamara coffee offers a wide range of complex and intriguing flavors that are both nuanced and bold. Generally, it is recognized for its sweet, fruity notes that remind one of a tropical fruit medley, often coupled with citrusy undertones.
Depending on the origin and processing method, Pacamara coffee can exhibit different flavor profiles. While a natural or honey-processed Pacamara from Kona might present heavy-bodied, wine-like, and fruity flavors, a washed Pacamara from the same region could lean more towards floral and citrus notes with a lighter body and higher acidity.
Pacamara coffee brewed as a pour over using a Chemex brewer.
Roasting and Brewing Pacamara
Given the size of Pacamara beans, they can present some challenges to the roasting process. Their larger size and dense structure demand careful monitoring of roast profiles to ensure a uniform and balanced outcome. The results are more than worth the effort.
Similarly, brewing Pacamara coffee also requires a bit of skill and precision. Given its complexity and variability, a little experimentation (we call it dialing in) can go a long way in extracting the perfect cup. We recommend starting with a medium-coarse grind for a pour-over method to capture the variety's brightness and sweetness.
Sustainability and the Future
While the Pacamara variety offers a fantastic flavor profile, it's important to note that like the Maragogipe parent, it's less productive and more disease-prone compared to other varieties. This can pose challenges to farmers, particularly smallholders, who need to balance quality with yield and disease resistance.
However, thanks to a dedicated community of farmers, researchers, and industry professionals, strides are being made to address these challenges. With the increasing demand for distinctive specialty coffees, the potential economic return of cultivating Pacamara can still outweigh the risks for many producers.
Pacamara Coffee, grown and roasted at Monarch Coffee farm, being dried in whole fruit.
For us at Monarch Coffee Farm, Pacamara coffee represents a journey of innovation, perseverance, and dedication to the art and science of coffee. Its complex flavors and unique attributes make it a star in the specialty coffee world and on our Farm. As we savor every sip of a Pacamara brew, let us also pay homage to the many hands of skilled farmers, hours of labor, and passion that go into bringing this exceptional variety from the farm to your cup.
Whether you are a roaster looking to diversify your offering, a barista trying to elevate the coffee experience, or a coffee lover seeking to explore unique flavors, Monarch Estate Pacamara promises an exciting adventure. Let's continue to support the farmers, researchers, and industry professionals who make it possible for us to enjoy this remarkable coffee variety.
