El Salvador Coffee: Pacas, Bourbon and Flavour Profiles

By James Whitfield · 6 October 2026

Quick answer: Three varieties explain most of what ends up in a Salvadoran cup: Bourbon, its natural mutation Pacas, and Pacamara, a Pacas and Maragogipe cross bred at the country's own coffee research institute. Bourbon and Pacas covered roughly 64% and 28% of planted area in the ICO's 2015/16 country profile, which is why the national style is soft, rounded and chocolate-leaning, with Pacamara lots pushing toward floral and juicy.

The essentials

Bourbon (about 64%) and Pacas (28%) made up roughly 92% of planted area in the ICO's 2015/16 profile; every other variety held 2% or less
Pacas is a natural Bourbon mutation found in 1949 on the Pacas family farm near Santa Ana
Pacamara is Pacas crossed with Maragogipe, started in 1958 and released to growers after roughly 30 years of evaluation
Six appellation regions set minimum altitudes of 800 to 1,000 m; the Strictly High Grown grade starts at 1,200 m
Output peaked near 3.5 million bags in 1978/79, fell to 506,300 in 2013/14 under leaf rust, and stood at 561,000 in 2024/25 (USDA)
Belgium is El Salvador's second-largest export market, at about 12% of 2024/25 shipments

The puzzle: prize-winners are not what the farms mostly grow

El Salvador's competition lots lean heavily on Pacamara, yet the country's farms are overwhelmingly planted with Bourbon and Pacas.

The ICO's 2015/16 profile gives the land split: Bourbon on about 64% of planted area, Pacas on 28%, and every other variety, Pacamara included, on 2% or less. Now look at the podium. At the July 2003 Cup of Excellence auction, the 31 lots sold came from 24 Bourbon growers, 5 Pacamara growers and 2 Bourbon and Pacas growers, and the top lot reached a record 14.06 dollars a pound. By the 2025 edition, 29 lots won, the best scores sitting around 90.93, and the variety list had widened to Geisha, Bourbon, Bernardina, Anacafé 14, SL28, Caturra and Pacas, with Pacamara still the one that dominates.

The explanation is agronomic. Pacamara has big, aromatic beans but a low yield, and its plants are not homogeneous or stable from one generation to the next. That makes it a poor bet for a hillside of ordinary harvest and a good one for a few carefully picked microlots.

A family tree in three generations

Bourbon is the grandparent, Pacas the natural mutation and Pacamara the deliberate cross.

Bourbon travelled a long way. French missionaries moved it from Yemen to Bourbon Island (now La Réunion) in the early 1700s, it reached Brazil around 1860, and it then spread through Central America. Coffee itself had come to El Salvador in 1740 from the Caribbean islands, and the first recorded exports, in 1855/56, were a modest 695 bags of 60 kg. Bourbon is tall, gives medium yields and has very good cup quality at altitude, but little resistance to leaf rust.

In 1949 a single-gene mutation of Bourbon appeared on a farm owned by the Pacas family near Santa Ana, in the shadow of the Ilamatepec volcano. The result, Pacas, is a dwarf, compact tree that fruits from its third year. ISIC, the Salvadoran coffee research institute, started formal selection in 1960. It sits in the Bourbon-Typica group and plays the same role as Caturra in Brazil.

ISIC launched its Pacamara programme in 1958, crossing Pacas with Maragogipe, a variety known for giant beans. After about 30 years of evaluation it began distributing the fifth generation to growers, as the Consejo Salvadoreño del Café records. A Pacamara bean runs to about 1.03 cm against 0.95 cm for Bourbon.

Six volcanic designations, from west to east

El Salvador protects six coffee designations of origin, administered by the Instituto Salvadoreño del Café (ISC), the successor to the Consejo Salvadoreño del Café.

In the west and north-west, Apaneca-Ilamatepec (Ahuachapán, Sonsonate, Santa Ana) is the heavyweight: minimum altitude 900 m, about 50.1% of planted area in the ICO's 2015/16 profile, and the first designation registered, in 2011. Alotepec-Metapán (Chalatenango, Santa Ana) is the smallest, at about 1.7%, but has the highest floor at 1,000 m.

In the centre, El Bálsamo-Quezaltepec (La Libertad, San Salvador, Sonsonate) asks for 800 m and held about 28.3% of the area. Chichontepec, sometimes spelled Chinchontepec (San Vicente, La Paz), also asks for 800 m and held about 4.6%.

In the east, Tecapa-Chinameca (Usulután, San Miguel) asks for 900 m, or 800 m with approval, and held about 11.8%. Cacahuatique (Morazán, San Miguel) asks for 900 m and held about 3.6%.

The European Union recognised the five designations other than Apaneca-Ilamatepec on 23 June 2022 under the EU-Central America association agreement. I found no official sheet that quantifies flavour differences between regions, and altitude, process and variety move the cup as much as the volcano does. Treat the region as a clue, and the lot as the evidence.

Altitude: grades, floors and the 1,300 m rule

El Salvador grades coffee as Central Standard up to 800 m, High Grown from 800 to 1,200 m and Strictly High Grown above 1,200 m.

The designation minimums of 800 to 1,000 m are floors, not promises. At latitudes between 5 and 15 degrees, World Coffee Research puts the optimum for Bourbon, Pacas and Pacamara above 1,300 m, and El Salvador sits inside that band. For Pacamara the Consejo reports its best results between 900 and 1,500 m, with more quality above 1,000 m. The highest anchor in the west, the Ilamatepec volcano near Santa Ana, rises to roughly 2,381 m, and harvest runs from October to March.

In the cup

The reference Salvadoran cup is soft, round and chocolatey, with medium to high intensity and a layer of fruit.

Bourbon supplies the base: balanced and sweet, with caramel and chocolate turning up again and again. World Coffee Research rates its quality at altitude as very good and Pacas as good, and because the two share their genetics, a lot's altitude and processing usually say more about it than the mutation does.

Pacamara is the outlier. The Consejo Salvadoreño del Café describes a penetrating, jasmine-like aroma, medium to full creamy body, medium to high acidity that is crisp, juicy and bright, and flavours from chocolate, clove and cinnamon to vanilla and berries, ending long and sweet. For a first brew, 1:16 on a V60 is a common starting ratio.

Washed at home, experimental on the podium

Washed processing is the norm in El Salvador, and the ICO put every other method together at under 5% of output in 2015/16.

Competition tables show how far the edge has moved. Of the 29 winning lots in 2025, 12 were naturals, 8 were washed or honey and 9 were experimental, including anaerobic fermentations, and one honey lot from the Santa Rosa farm scored 90.93. Honey processing leaves some mucilage on the bean for a sweeter, rounder cup, where washing favours clarity and acidity. Competitions reveal what producers dare to try, not what is in the average bag. The comparison of washed, natural and honey goes through each method.

Leaf rust, collapse and renovation

Leaf rust cut El Salvador's crop from 2.24 million bags in 2012/13 to 506,300 bags in 2013/14, a fall of about 60%.

The ICO estimates that more than 60% of the crop was affected. Output had peaked around 3.5 million bags in 1978/79, so the 561,000 bags of 2024/25, with 597,000 forecast for 2025/26, are roughly a sixth of the high. The USDA's 2025 report puts planted area at 118,000 hectares, against 132,890 in the ICO's 2015/16 profile, two different sources that deserve a loose comparison. Bourbon, Pacas and Pacamara are all rust-susceptible, the last two to a very high degree (World Coffee Research).

Renovation means resistant plants. The USDA estimates the country needs 30 million high-quality, rust-resistant plants a year for ten years, plus more than 7 million to replace natural losses, and it names Cuscatleco, Marsellesa, Sarchimor and Anacafé 14 among the varieties grown. As renovation advances, the historic varieties should lose share, though I found no recent census that measures it.

Reading the bag

The most useful clues on a bag are the variety, the region or designation, the altitude, the process and the roast date.

Belgium is El Salvador's second-largest export market, behind the United States, at about 12% of bags shipped in 2024/25 (USDA). A lot that names its variety and farm tells you more than a generic "El Salvador", and "Pacamara" is most useful with a region and a process beside it. Buy whole beans roasted recently, grind just before brewing and store them airtight, away from light and heat. The guides to reading a label and storage and freshness cover the detail.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Pacas and Pacamara?

Pacas is a natural mutation of Bourbon, found in 1949 near Santa Ana. Pacamara is a deliberate cross of Pacas and Maragogipe made by ISIC from 1958. Pacas behaves like a compact Bourbon, while Pacamara has noticeably larger beans, a more floral cup and lower yields.

Which region grows the most coffee in El Salvador?

Apaneca-Ilamatepec, with about 50.1% of cultivated area in the ICO's 2015/16 profile, followed by El Bálsamo-Quezaltepec at 28.3% and Tecapa-Chinameca at 11.8%.

How much coffee does El Salvador produce now?

The USDA reports 561,000 bags of 60 kg for 2024/25 and forecasts 597,000 for 2025/26. The record, around 3.5 million bags, dates from 1978/79.

Is Bourbon disappearing from El Salvador?

Not yet. It still covered about 64% of planted area in the ICO's 2015/16 profile. Rust susceptibility and the push for resistant plants should reduce its share over time, but no recent census I found measures that.

Sources

International Coffee Organization (ICO), El Salvador country profile, document ICC 117-8, 2015/16. https://www.ico.org/documents/cy2015-16/icc-117-8e-profile-el-salvador.pdf
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, El Salvador: Coffee Annual, report ES2025-0003, 2025. https://www.fas.usda.gov/data/el-salvador-coffee-annual-10
World Coffee Research, Arabica Coffee Varieties: Pacas, Pacamara and Bourbon entries. https://varieties.worldcoffeeresearch.org/varieties/pacas
Consejo Salvadoreño del Café, Exploring Distinctive Characteristics and Virtues of Coffee Varieties: The Bourbon and Pacamara Case. https://library.sweetmarias.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Exploring-Distinctive-Characteristics-Virtues-of-Coffee-Varieties-The-Bourbon-Pacamara-Case.pdf
Instituto Salvadoreño del Café, Denominaciones de origen (minimum altitudes and departments). https://isc.gob.sv/distintivo-de-calidad/denominacion-origen/
Instituto Salvadoreño del Café, Cinco denominaciones de origen de café de El Salvador son reconocidas por la Unión Europea, 24 June 2022. https://isc.gob.sv/cinco-denominaciones-de-origen-de-cafe-de-el-salvador-son-reconocidas-por-la-union-europea/
Alliance for Coffee Excellence, El Salvador 2025 (Cup of Excellence results). https://allianceforcoffeeexcellence.org/el-salvador-2025/
TechnoServe, Consejo Salvadoreño del Café and CLUSA, press release on the El Salvador Cup of Excellence auction, 3 July 2003. https://csrwire.com/press-release/in-el-salvador-today-s-cup-of-excellence-coffee-internet-auction-sets-record-high-price-of-14-pound/
Café de El Salvador, regions portal (Ilamatepec, about 2,381 m). https://regiones.cafedeelsalvador.com/