Guatemala El Injerto Red Pacamara Pandora

The full name of this coffee is RED PACAMARA PANDORA "Reserva del Comendador". The Red designation is for the near obsessive dedication to fully ripe coffee cherries. We have been cupping coffee from El Injerto for many years and in most years we try to acquire one of the varietals they produce. This year, we must say, the coffees they offered were really exceptional, one of the best efforts we have seen come out of this stellar Guatemala farm. Not only is El Injerto one of, if not "the" best coffee farm in Guatemala, it is arguably one of the best in the world. Please note the number of awards they have won. At auction, the prices fetched reflected the very high level of quality.

This carbon neutral red pacamara was harvested on February 24th 2021 and was part of the 2021 El Injerto auction. We had the pleasure of participating in the auction, and were lucky to be one of only two US coffee companies to acquire this lot. All of the other auctioned lots of coffee were purchased by overseas buyers, the majority in Asia. This is the first year El Injerto achieved carbon neutrality, leading the way for others in future.

Located in the Highlands of Huehuetenango close to the famous Sierra de los Cuchumatanes the farm goes from 1500 masl (meters above sea level) all the way to 1920 masl where the most delicate and exotic varieties are planted. El Injerto has mineral rich, non-volcanic soil, an average precipitation of 1600mm and temperature of 22ºC resulting in some of the best microclimates to produce Specialty Coffee. Jesús Aguirre Panamá was the first owner of this farm, which he acquired during the year 1874. He started planting sugarcane to produce crystallized sugar known as “panela” (brown sugar loaf), corn, beans, and tobacco. Around 1900 he started the planting and production of COFFEE, and called the farm EL INJERTO, as ‘injerto’ is the name of a fruit native to the area. This particular variety was planted approximately 25 years ago by Arturo Aguirre Sr. when he brought the seed from El Salvador. It is interesting that many years ago no one liked this coffee, it was very rare and buyers didn't like its exotic flavor at the time. It was difficult for Aguirre Sr. to sell it; sometimes at a discount price and other times he had to sell some bourbon in order for the buyer to accept the Pacamara.

Awards: Cup of Excellence Winner of 1st place (2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015) 2nd (2014) 3rd (2016) 2nd (2018), 2nd (2019). The Cup of Excellence determines the best coffee in a single country in a given year.

Since then times have changed and this coffee has become the most awarded coffee of the Cup of Excellence in Guatemala, winning 1st place 7 times. Reserva del Comendador is the 1st picking of the Region and it's the favorite of Aguirre Sr. The farm is now managed by the third and fourth generation of the Aguirre family

This coffee goes through an exhaustive process of hand sorting, separation, and selection. It is cold fermented, soaked for 24 hrs after washing and dried very slowly on raised African beds in a greenhouse. This process enhances the flavors and increases the lifetime of the coffee.

• Country: Guatemala
• Farm: El Injerto
• Owner: Aguirre Family
• Region: Huehuetenango
• Altitude: 1740 meters
• Varietal: Red Pacamara

PLEASE NOTE: This is being sold in 12 ounce bags.