The Story and Legend of Bolivian Lake Titicaca Smallholder Washed Typica Premium Coffee Beans

The Excellence of Bolivian Coffee

What makes Bolivian coffee special is its high altitude and its excellent varieties. The traditional Typica grown here, along with a small amount of Caturra, has earned high praise on the world market. In the past, Bolivian coffee trees were often planted around gardens as hedges, valued mostly for ornament, and true commercial production only began in the early 1950s. The great frost of 1957 severely damaged Brazil's coffee industry, and Bolivia benefited, growing rapidly in its wake. Bolivian washed Arabica is exported to Germany and Sweden. Its flavor is not among the best today and carries a slightly bitter note.

South America is rich in coffee, and Bolivia is no exception. Some parts of the country offer a unique tropical rainforest environment that provides excellent natural conditions for organic coffee. Bolivian coffee carries a rich and distinctive aroma: whether you smell the ground beans or the brewed cup, it is remarkably clear and layered, a blend of floral and fruit aromas that leaves a lasting impression.

Pour-over Brewing Method

To hand-brew Bolivian coffee: use 15g of coffee ground to a medium size (Fuji ghost-tooth grinder setting 4) in a V60 dripper, with water at 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water and let it bloom for 27 seconds. Pour to 105g and stop, wait until the water level drops to halfway, then pour slowly until the total reaches 225g. Avoid the tail end of the pour. The water-to-coffee ratio is 1:15, and the extraction takes 2:00.

Roasting Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Guangzhou
Contact: 020-38364473
Ingredients: House-roasted coffee
Shelf life: 90 days
Net weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk coffee beans
Roast level: Roasted coffee beans
Sugar content: Sugar-free
Origin: Bolivia
Roast degree: Medium

Lake Titicaca Copacabana

Country: Bolivia
Altitude: 3,812 m
Region: Lake Titicaca
Roast Level: Medium roast
Processing Method: Washed

Lake Titicaca lies on the Altiplano at the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is the largest freshwater lake in South America and one of the highest large freshwater lakes in the world, as well as the highest lake on earth that ships can navigate. It is the third-largest lake in South America, behind only Lake Maracaibo and Lagoa dos Patos.

Variety: Typica
Producer: Copacabana smallholders
Aroma: Dry aroma of roasted nuts and almond, sweet orange, pomelo

Flavor Profile

Flavor: The dry aroma is of roasted nuts and almond. On the palate the coffee opens with the smooth fruit acidity of sweet orange and pomelo. Overall it shows caramel sweetness and a smooth, nutty, milk-like texture. Both cleanliness and balance perform impressively, and the herbal note in the aftertaste is quite charming.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this clean, high-grown washed Typica speaks to you, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon is worth seeking out. The estate sits in the Mogiana region near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the coffee cherries absorb abundant nutrients and develop a full aroma; part of the area keeps to traditional farm management while part has adopted modern, standardized operations, and the local quality has improved greatly as a result. The variety here is the rare Yellow Bourbon, a mutation of Red Bourbon with a cleaner fruit character. Brewed as a pour-over, a moka pot or a home espresso, it shows the sugarcane-like sweetness found in few other origins, along with fruit and chocolate notes.

For a medium roast like this, keep the grind slightly coarser than you would for a light roast and hold the ratio near 1:15; the longer contact preserves the round body and caramel sweetness instead of pushing the cup thin.