TIM WENDELBOE - Los Pirineos Pacamara Espresso – Christmas Edition - El Salvador - Honey - Pacamara

 
Tim Wendelboe Coffee Roasters is located in Oslo, Norway

From Tim Wendelboe

A complex and intense Pacamara coffee with a fruity character and a sweet chocolaty finish.

This is a sweet and distinctly fruity Pacamara from Los Pirineos. Because it was honey processed (which means the parchment coffee was dried with mucilage on,) you can clearly taste some subtle fermented flavours that reminds me of strawberries and ripe stone fruits.  These flavours are created when  the mucilage slighgtly ferments while the coffee is drying on raised beds under shade nets.

I often find honey processed coffees to be rough in texture and finish, but this lot was so sweet and smooth with just subtle fermenty notes that I could not resist buying it while I was visiting in March this year. Making such clean honey processed coffees is probably a result of the skillful drying process they have implemented at Los Pirineos. They turn and mix the coffees constantly throughout the day during drying to ensure even drying and to prevent the coffees from being affected by uncontrolled fermentation.

I don’t really have any particular criteria for selecting Christmas edition coffees other than that the coffee itself needs to be among the best we have in stock.  A perfect coffee for the holidays and also a a nice gift to someone who loves coffee.

Pacamara is a crossing between Pacas and Maragogipe that can have very interesting cup profiles. It was released to farmers around El Salvador a bit early before it was a stable cultivar. It means you will get different outcomes when you plant the seeds from existing plants which means you can find really great tasting ones and some that are not so tasty. For many years our friend and coffee farmer Gilberto Baraona planted a great selection of Pacamara on his farm and he was able to get numerous top 10 placements at the El Salvador Cup of Excellence before he passed away. Fortunately his son, Diego is carrying on his legacy and continue to produce top quality Pacamara coffees.