ACACIA HILLS [PACAMARA WASHED]

Tanzania — Leon & Aideen Christianakis Acacia Hills Pacamara (Washed)

Tastes Like — 🍋 Lemon • 🌰 Almond • 🍯 Honey

DETAILS

• Producer: Leon & Aideen Christianakis
• Farm: Acacia Hills
• Region: Mount Oldeani, Ngorongoro, Tanzania
• Varietal: Pacamara
• Process: Washed
• Harvest: 2025
• Score: 87 SCA
• Roast: Filter
• Size: 200g

INTRO

From Leon and Aideen Christianakis at Acacia Hills — a washed Pacamara of remarkable delicacy and elegance from one of Tanzania's most beautifully situated specialty farms. Perched on Mount Oldeani on the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater, Acacia Hills consistently produces coffees of great finesse from a landscape that is as dramatic as it is exceptional. In the cup: vibrant lemon freshness, comforting honey sweetness, and a subtle, gourmand almond note in perfect balance.

THE PRODUCER

Acacia Hills was founded in 2007 by Leon Christianakis — a third-generation producer — and his American partner Mark Stell, on an abandoned estate on Mount Oldeani bordering the legendary Ngorongoro Crater. The transformation of this neglected land into an exceptional high-altitude specialty farm is one of East Africa's most compelling coffee stories. Under the shade of acacia trees, prestigious varieties including Pacamara, Geisha, and SL28 are cultivated with meticulous care in a setting of extraordinary natural beauty.

Beyond the coffee itself, Acacia Hills' commitment to its surrounding community is deeply embedded in the farm's identity — the estate has financed a gravity-fed water pipeline that delivers clean drinking water directly to neighbouring villages, supporting both the local economy and the wellbeing of the community that surrounds it.

Pacamara, the large-beaned hybrid of Pacas and Maragogype developed by El Salvador's Institute for Coffee Research in 1958, finds a compelling home at altitude in Tanzania — where the cool temperatures, volcanic soils, and the farm's meticulous washed processing allow the variety's characteristic sweetness, gentle acidity, and silky body to express themselves with full elegance.

THE PROCESS

The Washed process at Acacia Hills involves:

🍒 Hand-picking — Pacamara cherries selectively harvested at peak ripeness 🔧 Depulping — Outer skin removed before fermentation 🧪 Fermentation — Beans fermented to break down remaining mucilage 💧 Washing — Thoroughly washed to remove all fermentation residue ☀️ Drying — Dried to optimal moisture content, preserving the delicate aromatic structure of the Pacamara

The meticulous washed processing is the defining step — by stripping back all fruit influence with precision, the process allows the intrinsic sweetness, gentle citric acidity, and silky body of the Pacamara to express themselves with the subtlety and balance that define this lot.

THE CUP

A beautifully delicate and elegant washed Pacamara from one of East Africa's most remarkable and community-minded specialty farms — vibrant lemon freshness perfectly balanced by honey sweetness and a subtle, comforting almond note, in a silky, refined cup that is all subtlety and grace. Acacia Hills at its most gentle.

Flavour Notes

🍋 Lemon 🌰 Almond 🍯 Honey