Pacamara — giant beans and an unstable character
2026-07-11
Pacamara's name tells its origin directly: Pacas and Maragogipe. Just two variety names joined together, a plain but honest name.
Crossing two mutations
Pacas is a dwarf mutation of Bourbon found on a farm in El Salvador in the 1940s. Like Caturra, it is short and suited to dense planting.
Maragogipe is a mutation of Typica found in Brazil, notable for its extremely large cherries and beans. Its beans are so big it is called the "Elephant Bean", but its yield was low and it was a difficult variety.
An attempt to cross the two began in 1958 at El Salvador's national coffee research institute (ISIC). The aim was a variety with Maragogipe's large beans and Pacas's compact tree. After repeated selection, the result released was Pacamara.
Timeline
Crossing two mutations
- 1940s
Pacas, a dwarf mutation of Bourbon, is found on a farm in El Salvador
- 1958
El Salvador's national coffee research institute (ISIC) begins crossing Pacas with Maragogipe
- Later
Released as Pacamara after repeated selection, and a regular at the top of competitions
Family tree
The family tree of varieties (generations run top to bottom)
← Scroll sideways →
- Ethiopian landraces → Typica (via Yemen)
- Ethiopian landraces → Bourbon (via Yemen)
- Ethiopian landraces → Geisha
- Typica → Maragogipe
- Typica → Mundo Novo
- Bourbon → Mundo Novo
- Bourbon → Pacas
- Bourbon → Caturra
- Bourbon → Villa Sarchi
- Bourbon → SL28 / SL34
- Canephora → Timor Hybrid
- Maragogipe → Pacamara
- Pacas → Pacamara
- Mundo Novo → Catuai
- Caturra → Catuai
- Caturra → Catimor
- Timor Hybrid → Catimor
- Villa Sarchi → Sarchimor
- Timor Hybrid → Sarchimor
- Sarchimor → Marsellesa
- Sarchimor → Centroamericano
- Wild Ethiopian coffee → Centroamericano
- Marsellesa → Starmaya
- Centroamericano → Starmaya
Its presence at competitions
The Pacamara cup is complex. Tropical fruit, herbs, spice, sometimes citrus. A layered flavor appears that is hard to sum up in a word. It is not unusual for Pacamaras from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to place high at competitions such as the Cup of Excellence.
Because the beans are so large, you can recognize it at a glance. For roasters, this size can also make it difficult: the bigger the bean, the more care it takes to heat it evenly to the center.
A trait of instability
Pacamara has a breeding problem. Its genetic stability is not sufficient, and over generations individuals leaning toward one parent or the other can appear. Tree shape and cherry size vary within a field, making management difficult.
Cup evaluations also vary widely with the individual tree and the environment. A great Pacamara really is great, but if the conditions do not come together it becomes ordinary. This wide swing is what makes Pacamara a "challenging variety".
Choosing the challenge
Low yield, difficult management and inconsistent results. Producers still plant Pacamara because when it works, it reaches a high level. High scores at competitions directly support a farm's prices.
Choosing a variety has the character of a business decision. Do you choose the dependable Catuai, or take on Pacamara, which is closer to a gamble? Look at how a field is planted and you can see a little of the future that farm is imagining.
The variety family tree puts the connections between varieties and their differences in character into a single diagram.
