This is a highly coveted shade-grown coffee that doesn’t get as much play as it should. El Salvador has great coffee in general but is probably best known for the Bourbon varietal produced—the older-world style coffee that is smooth and sturdy. But El Salvador also produces the Pacamara varietal—it is the younger, odd-ball coffee full of unusual surprises. Pacamara is actually a hybrid between two Typica varietals and it wasn’t bred until almost 1960. It isn’t often seen outside of El Salvador. So when it is, it is a huge deal.

 

And this particular Pacamara varietal is a real bombshell. It has a peculiar mix of characteristics: maple, fennel, apricot preserves, orange blossom, brown sugar and deep, black cocoa. Every time you cup it, it changes. Flavors unfold then disappear the next time, no matter how you try and cajole them. This coffee, more than any other we have tried lately, reminds us that coffee is sheer, beautiful agriculture.