In 1949, at the San Rafael farm in Santa Ana, Fernando Alberto Pacas Figueroa noticed something different among his Bourbon trees: a shorter plant with compact branches and quality cherry. It was not a laboratory cross or an exotic import. It was a natural mutation of Bourbon, the classic that since the mid-nineteenth century had defined Salvadoran flavor. That plant was named Pacas, and over time it became one of the country’s most widely planted varieties.
World Coffee Research classifies it as a single-gene mutation of Bourbon: the plant is dwarf, which allows denser planting, easier management on slopes and, in many cases, better yield per hectare without sacrificing the sweetness buyers associate with the origin. Sucafina, describing El Salvador for international buyers, places Pacas among the country’s varietal pillars alongside Bourbon and Pacamara. It is estimated that around 25% of national production comes from this genetics.
From San Rafael to the national nursery
The find did not stay in a corner of one farm. In 1960, the then Salvadoran Institute for Coffee Research (ISIC) selected Pacas as a variety of agronomic interest: it confirmed its genetic origin, evaluated its behaviour at altitude and spread it among growers. That step explains why Pacas is not only a family anecdote — though the Pacas dynasty still grows it — but genetic infrastructure for Salvadoran coffee.
For the roaster, Pacas behaves like Bourbon in the cup: panela sweetness, chocolate, nut and moderate acidity, with a round body. The difference is on the farm: shorter plants make selective picking and orderly renewal easier. In Apaneca-Ilamatepec or on Santa Ana slopes, Pacas ripens with the slowness of volcanic altitude; the result is cleanliness and balance, not empty spectacle.
The prelude to Pacamara
Without Pacas there would be no Pacamara. In the 1950s, ISIC crossed Pacas with Maragogipe — the giant bean in size and character — seeking to combine the mutation’s compactness with Maragogipe’s sensory potential. Pacamara was born in El Salvador and became the origin’s signature in competitions such as Cup of Excellence. If Bourbon is the foundation and Pacamara the signature, Pacas is the genetic bridge between them.
Anyone building an origin menu should understand this genealogy. A washed Pacas lot from the west teaches the country’s classic dialect; a Pacamara honey from Chalatenango teaches the evolution. Pacas, in the middle, reminds us that Salvadoran innovation did not start with Gesha or anaerobic processes: it started with a grower who looked at his plot, recognised a mutation and nurtured it into heritage.
What to look for in the cup
Pacas does not compete on rarity; it competes on consistency. Look for farm traceability, declared altitude and ripe cherry. Expect an everyday coffee with character: honest sweetness, gentle citrus acidity, a clean finish. In an origin now exploring African varieties and experimental fermentations, Pacas remains the answer when the buyer asks what makes El Salvador unique without leaving the classic map. The 1949 mutation still lives in more than a quarter of the coffee park: history, science and cup in the same plant.
