Variety · El Salvador
Pacas is a natural dwarf mutation of Bourbon found in El Salvador in 1949: Bourbon's cup in a compact tree, and a parent of the giant-bean Pacamara.
Pacas was discovered in 1949 on the Salvadoran farm of the Pacas family — a natural dwarf mutation of Bourbon, exactly parallel to Caturra’s relationship with Bourbon in Brazil.
Bourbon’s cup quality in a compact tree. Shorter means faster picking, denser planting, and better yields per acre.
Sweet and balanced with good acidity — recognizably Bourbon, with perhaps a little less complexity. It performs particularly well at altitude in El Salvador and Honduras.
Pacamara: Pacas crossed with Maragogype in 1958, producing the giant-bean variety that regularly wins Central American competitions.
That cross is arguably El Salvador’s largest contribution to world coffee.
El Salvador principally, with meaningful plantings in Honduras and Nicaragua. It remains a regional variety rather than a global one.
Like Bourbon, vulnerable to leaf rust — a serious problem in a region hit hard by the epidemic.
Filter or espresso at medium-light roast. A sweet, approachable coffee that dials in easily, and a good one to learn on.
The equipment this actually requires — not a shopping list, the shortest route to doing it properly.
60° cone · spiral ribs · 1–4 cups
The most transparent cup you can brew for twenty dollars, and the least forgiving. Ceramic holds heat where plastic does not — and the open bottom means your pour, not the dripper, decides the coffee.
Best for: Someone who wants to taste what a single-origin coffee is actually doing.
64 mm (2.52 in) flat burr · filter only · single dose
64 mm (2.52 in) flat burrs, near-zero retention and a footprint the size of a mug, built for filter and honest about not doing espresso. For pour-over it is the clearest grind you can buy at this price.
Best for: V60, Chemex, AeroPress and batch brewing, where clarity is the whole point.
0.9 L · ±1 °C (±1.8 °F) hold · counterbalanced gooseneck
The best-pouring kettle sold, and the hold function matters more than the thermometer. Expensive for boiling water — but if you brew pour-over daily, it is the accessory that most improves the cup.
Best for: Daily pour-over, where flow rate is the variable you are trying to control.
