The Hermanos Aguilera (Aguilera Brothers) are a group of 12 siblings renowned in Costa Rica's West Valley. The family legacy in coffee growing stretches back 60 years. Over 15 years ago, they made a strategic decision to focus intensely on specialty coffee production. The Aguileras manage flagship farms, including Finca Licho, and are celebrated for their quality, consistently receiving awards in the Costa Rica Cup of Excellence. They cultivate over 35 different Arabica varieties using numerous processes.

This coffee was processed using the White Honey Process, a method specific to Costa Rica. After the cherries have been picked, the coffee cherry's skin and pulp are removed mechanically, leaving minimal mucilage (the sticky substance that clings to the bean). The beans are then dried uncovered. This technique results in a clean, balanced cup, bringing out a delicate structure with clean sweetness and tea-like florals.

The Pacamara varietal is a hybrid created in a laboratory setting at the Salvadoran Institute for Coffee Research (ISIC) in El Salvador in 1958. It is a cross between two parent varietals: Pacas (a small, hearty mutation of Bourbon) and Maragogipe (a giant mutation of Typica). The goal was to combine Maragogipe's exceptional cup quality and distinctive large bean size with the toughness and high yields of Pacas. After approximately 30 years of careful scientific research, the stable cultivar was released to producers in the late 1980s.

The unusual large screen size of the pacamara steered us towards a lower charge temperature to allow more time for the heat to penetrate and develop the bean centre. Normally we would aim for a 1:20-1:30 development (DEV) time for a honey process, but found the best expression with a very short 1:00 DEV time. This preserved more citrus notes that balanced the sweetness.