ABS El Salvador Washed Bourbon Pour-over Parameter Recommendations_Is Pour-over El Salvador Bourbon Coffee Delicious?

As the sixth-generation heir to a Salvadoran Bourbon coffee estate, Aida founded Aida Battle Selection (ABS) in 2009.

Aida spent her childhood and youth in the United States, only returning to El Salvador's coffee business at 28. She did not start out as a producer; after coming home, she kept thinking about how to help local coffee farmers weather the sluggish market of the time. Armed with experience in the food industry, she went back to the United States to absorb ideas around food sustainability, then immediately began applying organic-fruit-style methods to coffee—picking cherries only at full ripeness and processing them with great care.

After years of effort, ABS beans have earned recognition from many internationally award-winning cafés and roasters, and numerous baristas competing on the world stage brew with ABS coffee.

In 2018, ABS began a close collaboration with WL Coffee, and Aida herself visited WL Coffee at the end of January to introduce the ABS selection series and take part in the company's annual gathering.

Aida is skilled in a wide range of fermentation methods and works hands-on at the plantation: she picks cherries alongside her workers, sorts the harvest herself, and supervises the fermentation of the beans to raise quality and achieve the best possible result.

Her many processing approaches—washed, natural, yeast-controlled fermentation, cold fermentation, and more—bring out the fullest range of flavors coffee can offer.

How to Brew El Salvador Coffee [Bourbon] Well?

FrontStreet Coffee Pour-Over Reference: Weigh out 15g of the Bourbon coffee beans and grind to medium—the particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use the BG grinder at setting 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate), water temperature 89°C, extracted in a V60 dripper.

Pour the hot water from the kettle in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper, starting the timer as the brew begins. Bring the brew to 30g within 15 seconds, then stop. At the 1-minute mark, start the second pour, again clockwise circles from the center. Keep the water stream from striking the seam between the coffee bed and the filter paper to avoid channeling.

Leave one ring's width when you reach the outermost circle of grounds, then work circle by circle back toward the center. At 2 minutes 20 seconds the brew should reach 220g, and the coffee is complete.

Japanese-Style Iced Pour-Over [Bourbon Coffee]

FrontStreet Coffee Iced Pour-Over Reference:

El Salvador Bourbon coffee, medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard sieve pass rate).

20g of coffee, 150g of ice, 150g of hot water. Water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal pour-over recommendation of 90°C. Grind normally at Fuji setting 3.5; for the iced version, go half a setting finer at Fuji 3.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Segmented pouring: first segment 60g of water, second segment 40g. Use a relatively fine but tall water column, pouring with intent so the grounds tumble fully—just keep the liquid level from rising too high and avoid hitting the filter paper at the edge.

Total extraction time is again about two and a half minutes (similar to the normal extraction time for 20g of coffee).

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A bright, clean Bourbon like this one rewards the right dripper, and FrontStreet Coffee's house choice is the Hario V60. Its designer, Hario, was founded in Tokyo in 1921 as a maker of heatproof scientific glassware; in 2004 the company refined the V60 into its current shape and named it for the 60° cone angle and V-shaped profile. The geometry funnels water through the heart of the coffee bed, drawing out aroma and flavor thoroughly, while the single large outlet makes the flow rate entirely a matter of the brewer's control—precision that suits washed coffees beautifully.

The V60's fast, expressive extraction favors coffees with delicate florals and vivid acidity. FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Guodingding offers citrus, berries, and white flowers; the Hirumi (Huakui) natural is all strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and lychee; the Strawberry Sugar Geisha blend layers orange blossom over honeyed sweetness; and the raisin-toned Mozart completes the floral-fruit family. If you lean toward richer, less acidic cups instead, the medium-dark PWN Golden Mandheling (herbs, dark chocolate, a touch of earth) and the Brazil Queen Estate (nuts, cocoa, caramel, very low acidity) are both comfortable through the same cone—just adjust the grind slightly coarser to keep them balanced.