About This Coffee
Abel Valladares has worked in coffee for most of his life. Before purchasing El Pinal Estate 20 years ago, Abel worked as an agronomical advisor to a farm of more than 1,000 hectares. When he had the chance to purchase El Pinal Estate, Abel jumped on the opportunity to have his own farm.
Since then, Abel has devoted himself to producing top-notch coffees of unique and highly sought-after varieties, including Geisha, Pacamara and Pacas.
Abel believes that the secret to El Pinal’s success is that the whole family is involved in the estate. From harvest to quality control, the Valladares family is focused on producing high-quality microlots that continue to impress their international buyers.
El Pinal Estate is also a part of ACOGUA, an association of coffee growers that support the Comité Prociegos y Sordos de Guatemala, an organization supporting deaf and blind Guatemalans. ACOGUA financially supports a health center that offers visual and hearing health services to the local community.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Cherry is selectively handpicked and only ripe, red cherry is processed. Cherry is pulped and placed in fermentation tanks to ferment for up to 4 days. Once fermentation is complete, parchment is washed in clean water and laid on raised beds. Parchment is raked frequently to ensure even drying. It takes approximately 20 days for parchment to dry.
About Pacamara
The Institute for Coffee Research (ISIC) created the Pacamara hybrid in El Salvador in the 1950s. The variety is a cross of Pacas (a Bourbon mutation) and Maragogype. Pacamara is relatively short with high productivity and is prized for its large cherries. Maragogype is a natural mutation of Typica that’s known for especially large beans. Pacamara's name comes from the first 4 letters of each parent.
Coffee in Guatemala
Guatemala boasts a variety of growing regions and conditions that produce spectacular coffees. Today, the country is revered as a producer of some of the most flavorful and nuanced cups worldwide. We are proud to work with several exceptional in-country partners to bring these coffees to market.
The Guatemalan coffee industry experienced a major setback with the 2010 appearance of Coffee Leaf Rust (CLR) in Latin America. The epidemic peaked in severity in 2012, and though CLR continues to affect some farms, Guatemala continues to produce high-quality, record-breaking coffees. In 2017, new and varied processing methods pushed prices at the Guatemalan Cup of Excellence contest to record highs.
The quality of coffee being produced in Guatemala is increasing, overall, due to the diversity of the industry’s producers. There are more and more small holder farmers producing exceptional coffee at high altitudes. Cooperatives are becoming more appealing to so many smallholders because they often offer farmers financing and other support for improving their farming and processing and are frequently able to offer higher prices for cherry than middlemen. Many cooperatives have initiated quality improvement training for farmer members and are becoming more adept at helping members market their coffee as specialty.