El Salvador
Caballeros

Honey process Pacamara

Flavour: low acidity, apple and raspberry juice

Body: Acidity:

With this delivery we’ve got two firsts for Brew Crew: the first Pacamara varietal; and the first honey process.

Let’s dive into the first part: Pacarama is a hybrid varietal created by the Salvadoran Institute for Coffee Research, with work starting back in 1958.

Researchers wanted to take the higher productivity, adaptability to local conditions, ability to resist wind, sunlight and droughts of the Pacas varietal with the vitality, lushness and bigger bean size of the Red Maragogipe, as well as its better cup quality. This results in a very uniquely flavoured coffee.

This is also a honey process coffee, which means the beans are processed at the farm with some of the mucilage (flesh) of the coffee cherry left intact as the bean dries.

This gives a little more sweetness and fruit flavour.

Learn everything about this coffee:

Ethical, traceable sourcing

This page has all the sourcing information (variety, process, region, story, importer, and more) that our importers share with us, and give us permission to use.

The transparency helps us talk confidently about the quality and background of our product, and it helps you know exactly what you’re buying.

Learn more:
Coffee page transparency legend
Our coffee philosophy
Our business approach

Fresh harvest coffee

We only source and roast coffee from each country’s latest harvest season (so the green coffee is never older than 1 year from the time of picking, processing and packing). This ensures the sensory qualities are always at their peak and unaffected by excessive ageing.

Roasted for espresso and filter (best enjoyed black)

Roast style: omni. Omni roasts are designed to brew and taste great both as espresso and filter. Our omni single origins generally sit on Agtron values in the ~70-60 value range. So, technically, they are somewhere in the lighter side of the medium spectrum.

Designed for espresso and filter brewing. Best enjoyed black.

Learn more:
Our Loring Kestrel S35 roaster
Our roasting style and approach

Best brewed within days 15-49 post-roast

The ‘fresh is best’ saying doesn’t apply to coffee (contrary to popular belief). Waiting before opening and brewing your bag of whole coffee beans helps develop peak flavour and acidity.

But heads up: if you buy pre-ground coffee, brew it as soon as possible.

Learn more:
Our recommended brewing window

Try our custom brewing recipes

Our recipes and ratios are tailored to our coffee sourcing and roasting styles, bringing the best flavour and feel out of each coffee.

For pour over, immersion, and other filter brewing styles, check our brew guides.
For our espresso single origins, we recommend a coffee:yield ratio of 1:3:

Dose: 20g ground coffee
Yield: 60g espresso
Total brew time: ~24-28 seconds

This is just a starting point! We encourage you to experiment, taste, and adjust to find the recipe that you enjoy the most.

Learn more:
Our espresso brew guide (single origin)
Brewing ratio calculator

Packaging and sustainability

Bags: ABA-certified home compostable (AS 5810-2010)
Labels: recyclable
Valves (only on +250g bags): general waste
Box and tape (online orders): recyclable

Learn more:
Our packaging

Producer: Alfonso Posada Ochoa
Country: El Salvador
Region: La Palma, Chalatenango
Altitude: 1400m above sea level
Variety: Pacamara
Process: honey
Harvested: March 2015
Importer: Silo
Body: Medium
Acidity: Low
Tasting notes: Low acidity, apple and raspberry juice
Roast style: Omni (filter + espresso)

Variety

Pacamara variety

A cross-breed between Pacas and Maragogype, developed in El Salvador in 1958

The location

Coffee from El Salvador

El Salvador, the smallest country in Central America, is colloquially referred to as the ‘Land of Volcanoes’. Renowned for producing exceptional coffees with great clarity and sweetness. The coffee industry first took off after their primary crop, indigo, declined with the invention of chemical dyes in the 19th Century.

The Quezaltepec region of El Salvador

The region is named after the indigenous civilisation that existed here pre-hispanic times. The Quetzalcotitán people are named after the god they worhsip, the feather covered serpent Quezalcoat.

Farm processes

Honey process

This technique leaves some flesh on the coffee cherry as it is washed and dried. This tends to give a slightly sweeter flavour, but can also reduce the quality and longevity of the coffee due to the fermentation of the sugars in the flesh.

2 brew notes from subscribers

El Salvador Caballeros

Tim’s Aeropress

Like a butterfly darting through a honey fermented forest. 75 grams of "Melbourne room temperature" water for 30 seconds, 200 grams of 95 degree water for 60 seconds.

2 comments