How Much Water for 15g Pour-Over Coffee? How to Brew Nicaragua Giant Washed Elephant Bean? Nicaragua

How much water for 15g pour-over coffee? How to brew Nicaragua Giant Washed Elephant Bean? What are the flavors of Nicaragua Giant Beans?

Grown in the high mountain clouds of Nicaragua, Maragogype is a giant Typica variety, roughly 2–3 times larger than ordinary Arabica beans and the lowest in caffeine. Planted in fertile volcanic soil, the trees thrive in a cool, humid environment, and combined with shade-growing methods this yields more flavorful beans.

Nicaragua Giant Washed Elephant Bean (Maragogype) — also known as Cuban Blue Mountain or Large Blue Mountain

(Nicaragua Buenos Aires Maragogype Washed)

Region: Nueva Segovia area

Estate: Buenos Aires Estate

Variety: MARABELLA® Maragogype (Elephant Bean)

Grade: European Standard Strictly Hard Bean (SHB EP)

Cultivation Method: Full process from seedling, shade-grown cultivation, ecological organic microbial fertilization, shade trees planted, entire area shade-grown and ecologically farmed

Altitude: Average 1500 meters above sea level, annual temperature: 20–22°C

Processing Method: Washed processing

Harvest Period: December to March of the following year

Processing Method: Washed method plus a special mucilage berry processing method

Drying Method: Natural sun-drying (using African raised beds)

Certification/Testing: Passed SGS and TUV Rheinland testing for 368 pesticides and ochratoxin

Roast Level: Medium Roast ("Light Medium Roast")

Flavor Characteristics: Elegant floral notes bring soft fruit acidity, with exquisite drupe sweetness and an excellent, balanced aftertaste, displaying a refined and fragrant character.

Award Records:

2016 Nicaragua Regional Competition Champion (Café Finos de Nicaragua 2016 – 1st Place)

2015 Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) Champion

2014 Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) 14th Place

2009 Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) 14th Place

2008 Nicaragua Cup of Excellence (COE) 14th Place

Introduction:

Nicaragua lies in the middle of Central America, bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Its north-central region is highland and its east is coastal plain, forming part of the Central American volcanic belt—excellent conditions for coffee. Nicaraguan coffee enjoys unique environmental advantages, with widespread fertile volcanic ash soil and shade-growing methods that establish excellent production quality. Nicaraguan coffee has a rich body and fragrant aroma, with moderate, light acidity and an excellent balance of sweet aftertaste, earning high praise from international coffee connoisseurs. High-quality Nicaraguan coffee is characterized by shade-grown cultivation, with beans processed by the washed method and sun-dried. Compared with other countries, Nicaraguan beans are relatively large. In particular, the Maragogype variety produced in the Matagalpa region—a very large bean known as the elephant bean—has a clean taste and excellent mellow richness. This round, smooth texture has received extremely high marks in the market.

This batch of beans uses natural farming methods combined with high-tech cultivation management. Not only are microbial probiotics used for fertilization to strengthen the trees' disease and pest resistance, but organic nutrients are also used to nurture the soil. Fully ripe red cherries are hand-harvested, then processed using honey (Miel) processing and a self-developed natural mucilage and whole-berry process (Whole Gel Process), which further enhances the coffee's sweetness and rich body, clean aroma, gentle fruit acidity, and excellent balanced aftertaste, emitting diverse fruit aromas and drupe chocolate sweetness. Since 2008 it has been chosen year after year by competitors in domestic and international coffee competitions as a competition coffee, standing out among the specialty coffees of Central American countries and drawing high praise from coffee professionals in the European, American, and Japanese markets.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Pour-Over Parameters:

Extraction Time: 2.5 minutes +

Bean Amount: 15g

Water-to-Coffee Ratio: 1:15

Water Temperature: 90–91°C

Extraction Amount: 225g, three stages: 30–125–225g

A dark roast has a stronger visual impact than a light roast, but that does not mean these beans are unsuitable for a light roast.

Brewing Technique:

1. The key is the bloom stage. Use an appropriate amount of water for blooming, making sure it completely wets all the grounds. Keep pouring only at the center point from beginning to end—do not pour high or low. The key to the coffee lies in whether you can extract the first drop within about 1 minute. The bloom stage is the most crucial part of this method.

2. When the coffee bed starts to look dull, begin the second pour. Pour carefully here as well, and complete the final pour.

The volcano brewing method for light roast beans generally produces a higher body than the common single-stage and three-stage pours. Swirling the pot suits dark roast beans, while a light roast brewed without error is better suited to drinking black. That said, bloom and flow control are much harder for light roast than for dark roast; if the bloom succeeds, the following 1-minute pour will also be stable, and you can pour much more boldly afterward. For a fuller-bodied pour-over, the flow can be held at 1, 1, 1.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Maragogype is often called "Large Blue Mountain," and that nickname points to exactly the style of coffee to drink alongside it: FrontStreet Coffee's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1. True Blue Mountain comes only from specific parts of Jamaica's Blue Mountains and is certified by the Jamaican government, just as genuine Maragogype is defined by its oversized Typica bean. FrontStreet Coffee selects the highest grade, Blue Mountain No. 1, from the historic Clifton Estate, whose coffee plots average 4300 feet (1310.64 meters), with ample altitude, mild afternoon cloud cover shading the slopes, abundant sunlight, and mineral-rich soil.

Brewed as a pour-over, FrontStreet Coffee suggests a Kono dripper with 15g of beans rested 4–7 days, 87–88°C water, a grind a little coarser than for light roasts—about the size of white sugar—and a 1:15 ratio, using a three-stage pour of 30g, 120g, and 225g. The result is clean for the quality, balanced between sweet, sour, and bitter, with a lasting fruit finish. For a sweeter, softer companion cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Gotingi—a washed Ethiopian coffee with white-floral sweetness and bright citrus acidity—is an easy choice, and it works well as cold brew too.