El Salvador
Maria Julia Pleitez

María Julia Pleitéz has a small farm called “Finca Las Marias” in the Chalatenango region. Known as “the valley of water and sand”, it’s the coolest and northern-most part of the country. We’re finding notes of bubblegum, pink grapefruit, and strawberry.

Washed process Pacamara

Flavour: bubblegum, pink grapefruit, strawberry

Body: Acidity:

Roast: omni (filter + espresso)

Very Special

This is one of the few Pacamaras we’ve featured in our Very Special level. It’s a varietal unique to South American countries, a cross between Pacas and Maragogype, developed in El Salvador.

Pacamara is designed to be a high-yielding plant, however it is also susceptible to coffee leaf rust. Because of this, it has a reputation of being hard to grow, which is why we see less of it. When we do see it, however, it’s always a treat. Pacamara varietals always have a musky, floral fruitiness, not overly sweet or acidic but not too bitter, either. It’s a unique coffee, and we call it very special for these reasons.

Maria’s Farm

María Julia Pleitéz has a very small farm called “Finca Las Marias” in the Chalatenango region of El Salvador.

She is a long-time coffee producer and is committed to producing specialty coffee in the region. Often the several bag lots we get from Maria are here total production for the season.

She grows Pacas, Pacamara, Bourbon, and Catuai varieties here and does both traditional washed and natural processing for El Salvador.

El Salvador Microlots

Microlots from El Salvador are sourced from different groups of smallholder producers and some established estates located throughout the country.

Cafe Imports has one employee, Alberto Reyes, that lives full time in El Salvador and works directly with the small-holder producers predominantly in the Chalatenango region throughout the year offering sensory and agronomy support. The farms here are small on average (5–15 manzanas, or roughly 3.5–10.5 hectares) and many producers grow classic Salvadoran varieties such as Pacas and Pacamara as well as Bourbon.

Chalatenango

Chalatenango, the “valley of water and sand”, is El Salvador’s coolest and northern-most region. Historically, the country’s top coffees have come from western El Salvador. In 2007, though, a Chalatenango pacamara won the Cup of Excellence bringing the region and variety center stage. Cafe Imports purchased that winning coffee, and promptly went to Chalatenango to cup coffees from more producers. Since that time, they’ve placed a green buyer associate in the region to expand relationships and provide support. From year to year, they’ve become used to cupping microlots of pacamara, pacas, SL-28, and Gesha, all grown by small producers who apply rigorous harvest and a range of processing techniques. Chalatenango is both special to us, and important to specialty coffee as a whole.

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: Maria Julia Pleitez
Farm/Coop: Finca Las Marias
Country: El Salvador
Region: Las Duanas, Santa Rosa, San Ignacio, Chalatenango
Altitude: 1500m above sea level
Variety: Pacamara
Process: washed
Harvested: March 2024
Importer: Cafe Imports
Body
Acidity
Tasting notes: Bubblegum, pink grapefruit, strawberry
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.

Farm processes

Washed process

Machines are used to remove the flesh from the coffee cherry before being fermented in water, washed again, and finally sun dried. This process tends to result in more distinct, cleaner flavours.