What Is Pacamara Coffee? The Giant Bean From El Salvador

Pour a handful of Pacamara next to a regular coffee and the difference is almost comic: the Pacamara beans look like they have been through a magnifying glass. So, what is Pacamara coffee? It is an arabica variety bred in El Salvador by crossing Pacas, a compact Bourbon mutation, with Maragogipe, the famously oversized “elephant bean.” The result is one of the largest beans in specialty coffee and one of the most distinctive cups you can find.

It is also a variety with a split personality. At its best it wins auctions; grown in the wrong place, it can taste flat or vegetal. Here is the full picture.

Key takeaways

• Pacamara is a cross of Pacas and Maragogipe made by El Salvador’s coffee research institute (ISIC), first crossed in 1958.
• Its beans are very large, inherited from the Maragogipe parent.
• Great lots taste of tropical fruit, citrus, flowers and spice with a creamy body; poor lots can taste vegetal or muddy.
• It is susceptible to coffee leaf rust and yields only moderately, so it tends to be grown by quality-focused farms.

In this article

1. What is Pacamara coffee, exactly?
2. How Pacamara was created: a timeline
3. Why Pacamara beans are so big
4. What Pacamara tastes like
5. Why farmers love it and fear it
6. How to brew big-bean coffees
7. FAQ

What is Pacamara coffee, exactly?

Pacamara is a variety of Coffea arabica, not a separate species and not a brand. Its name is simply the first letters of its two parents joined together: Pacas + Maragogipe. Both parents are natural mutations of the two oldest arabica lineages, which makes Pacamara a neat genetic summary of coffee history:

If you want the bigger family tree (Typica, Bourbon, Caturra and the rest), our guide to coffee varieties explains how they relate.

How Pacamara was created: a timeline

• 1870: Maragogipe is identified in Bahia, Brazil, as a Typica mutation with unusually large beans.
• 1949: The Pacas family finds a dwarf Bourbon mutation on their farm in Santa Ana, El Salvador. It becomes known as Pacas.
• 1958: Breeders at the Instituto Salvadoreño de Investigaciones del Café (ISIC) cross Pacas with red Maragogipe, aiming to keep the big bean on a more practical plant.
• 1980: After decades of selection, a first version of Pacamara is released to growers.
• 1992: Pacamara is launched commercially.
• Around 2004: A yellow-fruited Pacamara is noticed at Finca Limoncillo in Nicaragua, adding a second color to the family.

That long timeline is normal in coffee breeding. Arabica is a tree, so each generation takes years before it fruits and can be tasted.

Why Pacamara beans are so big

The size comes straight from Maragogipe, whose beans are so large that the variety earned the nickname “elephant bean.” Breeders kept that trait while borrowing the shorter, sturdier frame of Pacas.

Big beans matter for three practical reasons:

• Grading. Many producing countries sort green coffee by bean size, and larger beans often sell in higher grades. Pacamara sits comfortably at the top of most size scales.
• Roasting. A large, dense bean takes longer to heat through. Roasters usually adjust their profile so the center develops without scorching the surface.
• Sorting. Because Pacamara is genetically variable, some seedlings revert toward one parent. Commonly cited estimates put this at roughly 10–15 percent, so a Pacamara field can contain off-type trees with different beans.

Size alone does not mean better coffee, though. A big bean is a genetic trait; flavor depends on altitude, ripeness and processing. For the same reason, a peaberry, which is small and round, is not automatically better or worse than a flat bean.

What Pacamara tastes like

Pacamara has a reputation for being loud. Well-grown lots tend to show:

• Tropical and stone fruit, such as mango, peach or apricot
• Bright citrus, sometimes lemon or orange peel
• Floral and herbal notes, occasionally spice or even savory hints
• Pronounced sweetness and a creamy, heavy texture

Red- and yellow-fruited Pacamara can differ: roasters often describe yellow lots as softer and more peachy, red lots as sharper and more citrus-led. Badly grown or poorly processed lots, on the other hand, can taste vegetal, earthy or flat. Pacamara rarely tastes merely “fine,” which is part of its appeal.

Competition coffee

Pacamara regularly appears near the top of El Salvador’s Cup of Excellence. In the 2017 auction, the winning lot was a honey-processed Pacamara from Santa Rosa farm, which sold for $95.70 per pound, many times the price of commodity coffee.

Why farmers love it and fear it

In short, Pacamara is a bet on quality. It makes most sense for farms that sell to specialty buyers willing to pay for the cup, and less sense where price per kilo is all that counts. Read more about how altitude and climate shape those decisions in our guide to El Salvador coffee.

How to brew big-bean coffees

You brew Pacamara like any other high-quality light or medium roast, with a few tweaks:

1. Weigh, do not scoop. Big beans pack loosely, so a scoop of Pacamara holds less coffee by weight than a scoop of small beans. Use a scale and start at about 1:16 coffee to water.
2. Grind fresh and a touch finer. Light-roasted, dense beans can taste sour if under-extracted. If the cup is thin or tart, grind one step finer.
3. Choose a clear brewer. Pour-over shows off the fruit and florals better than a French press, which emphasizes body.
4. Let it cool. Fruit-forward coffees often open up as they drop from very hot to warm.

Other Central American coffees to try

We do not currently sell Pacamara, but several of our single origins share Central America’s sweet, structured style. Guatemala Antigua brings dark chocolate, bright fruit and butterscotch. Honduras Marcala, grown by a cooperative of 1,500 farmers, is caramel and brown sugar. Costa Rica Alajuela is clean and juicy, with apple, raisin and honey. All are roasted 1–5 days before delivery, so the fruit is still there when you open the bag.

Pacamara coffee FAQ

Is Pacamara arabica or robusta?

Arabica. Both parents, Pacas and Maragogipe, are arabica mutations, so Pacamara is 100 percent Coffea arabica.

Where is Pacamara grown besides El Salvador?

Mainly in Central America, especially Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras, plus smaller plantings elsewhere. El Salvador remains its spiritual home.

Is Pacamara good for espresso?

It can be, but its bright, fruity profile makes for a tangy shot. Many baristas prefer it as filter coffee, or as a light espresso with a slightly longer ratio.

Why is Pacamara expensive?

Lower yields, disease risk and high demand from specialty buyers push prices up, and auction lots can sell for many times commodity prices.

Sources

1. The Pacamara: coffee varietal guide, Ozone Coffee (timeline and plant traits).
2. Top coffee at Cup of Excellence El Salvador auction fetches $95 per pound, Daily Coffee News, 2017.
3. Arabica Coffee Varieties catalog, World Coffee Research.
4. El Salvador Cup of Excellence results, Alliance for Coffee Excellence.

Facts checked in October 2026.

Keep reading: How coffee cupping works · What is specialty coffee? · Single Origins