Pacamara: The unique giant bean that surprises the coffee world

If you're looking for a coffee experience that breaks the mold, look no further. Meet Pacamara – the coffee variety known not only for its unusually gigantic coffee beans, but also for its spectacular and ever-surprising flavor profile.

In the specialty coffee world, Pacamara has become a real competition favorite, often dominating the prestigious Cup of Excellence auction. But what is the real story behind this unique hybrid from El Salvador, and how does it taste in the cup? Let's take a closer look at the coffee world's most captivating giant.

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How was Pacamara created? (A 30-year research project)

Pacamara is not a random discovery in nature, but the result of a very careful, scientific craftsmanship. The variety was created in 1958 by the Salvadoran Institute of Coffee Research (ISIC) in El Salvador .

The goal was ambitious: to combine the absolute best qualities of two completely different coffee varieties. The researchers took the first four letters of each parent to name the new hybrid:

1. PACAs: A natural dwarf mutation of Bourbon (discovered by the famous Pacas coffee family in El Salvador). The plant is short, compact and extremely resistant to strong winds and harsh climates, while producing high yields.

2. MARAgogipe: A mutation of Typica that grows enormously tall and produces some of the world's largest coffee beans (often called "elephant beans"). The yield is small, but the flavor profile is absolutely outstanding.

It took scientists almost 30 years of careful selection before Pacamara was finally released to coffee farmers in the late 1980s. The result was a compact, bushy plant with thick foliage, large pointed leaves – and gigantic coffee berries.

How does Pacamara taste in the cup?

What makes Pacamara so acclaimed worldwide is its complex, intense and sometimes completely unpredictable character. Unlike, for example, Geisha coffee, which is often very light, tea-like and floral, Pacamara offers a much more powerful experience.

When you drink a well-made Pacamara you can expect:

• A full body: Often with a dense, almost creamy mouthfeel.

• Elegant and complex acidity: Which beautifully balances out the heavy body.

• Flavor notes that range widely: Everything from deep, sweet notes of chocolate, butterscotch and brown sugar, to fresh and juicy hints of citrus, red berries and stone fruits (such as plums or peaches).

Pacamara is often described by coffee experts as a "captivating" variety precisely because it can surprise with new layers of flavor in almost every sip.

The Roaster's Challenge: Taming a Giant Bean

For us as a coffee roaster, Pacamara is one of the most exciting – but also the most difficult – beans to work with. Because the beans are so exceptionally large, they don’t behave at all like regular coffee beans in the roasting machine.

Coffee experts and roasters often emphasize that you need to tailor your profile carefully:

• Lower temperature at start: Because the beans are large, it takes longer for the heat to penetrate all the way to the core of the bean without burning the outside. It is therefore common to lower the starting temperature slightly before dropping the beans into the drum.

• Smaller batches: To ensure an even and perfect roast throughout the bean, up to 20% less volume per batch is often roasted compared to smaller beans (like Bourbon) from the same altitude.

At Hälla Kafferosteri we love these kinds of challenges. It requires extreme dexterity, but once you find the perfect roasting profile you are rewarded with a coffee that is completely unique in its fullness and aroma.

Do you want to experience Pacamara?

If you're looking for a coffee that offers a big body, exciting fruitiness and a piece of fantastic mutation history from El Salvador, then Pacamara is a given choice for your next brew.

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Have a nice day!

/ Kaj and Dan, Hälla Coffee Roastery