Pour-over Brewing Recommendations for El Salvador San Marcelino Coffee: Water Ratio, Grind Size & Water Temperature

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This Salvadoran coffee from San Marcelino Estate features aromas of cream, caramel, and roasted hazelnut, with subtle cedar notes. After roasting, it presents flavors of cream maltose and caramel, accompanied by delicate jasmine floral notes. The taste is bright and clean, with light fruit acidity from green apple and blackcurrant, distinct dark chocolate bitterness, and a stable, smooth mouthfeel. The aftertaste carries fruit notes and dark chocolate bitterness, with a subtle but lingering sweet finish.

Product Information

Product Name: San Marcelino Estate Salvadoran Coffee

Origin: El Salvador, South America

Crop Year: 2016

Roasting Machine: German Probat Roaster

Flavor Notes: Chocolate, Jasmine, Caramel, Cedar

Roast Level: City+ (Medium Roast)

Water Temperature Recommendation: 88°C-92°C

How to Brew San Marcelino Salvadoran Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee Pour-over Reference: Weigh 15g of San Marcelino coffee grounds and grind them to medium coarseness. The particles should be slightly coarser than table salt - we use a BG grinder setting of 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate) with water at 89°C, extracted in a V60 dripper.

Pour hot water from the gooseneck kettle in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the filter. Start timing as you begin pouring. Within 15 seconds, brew to 30g, then stop pouring. When the timer reaches 1 minute, begin the second pour. As with the first, move in clockwise circles centered on the filter middle, avoiding the area where the coffee bed meets the filter paper to prevent channeling.

Leave a small circle unturned at the outer edge of the bed when you reach the outermost ring, then continue circling back toward the center. By 2 minutes and 20 seconds you should have brewed to 220g total, and the brew is complete.

Japanese-style Ice Pour-over San Marcelino

FrontStreet Coffee Ice Pour-over San Marcelino Reference:

Salvadoran coffee San Marcelino, medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard sieve pass rate).

20g of coffee grounds, 150g of ice, 150g of hot water. The water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal pour-over recommendation of 90°C. For normal grinding, use the Fuji grinder at a 3.5 setting, but for ice pour-over, grind slightly finer at a Fuji setting of 3.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Use segmented pouring: a first segment with 60g of water, then a second segment with 40g. Use a fine but tall water column to stir and agitate forcefully, ensuring the grounds tumble thoroughly. Be careful, though, not to let the water level get too high or to pour onto the edge filter paper.

The entire extraction should take approximately 2.5 minutes, similar to the normal extraction time for 20g of grounds.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Since San Marcelino performs best in a V60, it pairs well with other floral, fruit-forward beans that reward the same pour-over approach. FrontStreet Coffee's Gedingding Cooperative is a washed Yirgacheffe from the Wolka area at the southeastern edge of Yirgacheffe, offering jasmine floral notes and bright citrus and lemon acidity with no classic bitterness - a clean, precise cup that echoes the jasmine and light fruit acidity described above.

If you prefer a juicier, more tropical profile, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Huakui is a naturally processed bean whose tropical fruit aromatics - strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and even lychee - come through with low bitterness and a smooth, juice-like body. It is one of the most approachable introductions to the fruitier side of Yirgacheffe and Sidamo.

Both work beautifully in the Hario V60, the dripper FrontStreet Coffee favors most. Its 60-degree cone and single large drain hole route the water to the center before it drips into the server, extending contact between water and grounds so aromatics and flavor extract fully. Because the flow rate depends largely on the brewer's control, the V60 is exactly the tool for shaping the layered acidity and clean finish these coffees are known for, and FrontStreet Coffee prefers the resin version for its heat retention and consistency.