El Salvador Los Pirineos Estate Pacamara Coffee Brewing Guide_Pour-Over Coffee Tutorial

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Coffee Origin Details

Bean Variety: El Salvador Pacamara, COE champion estate, Tim cooperative

Origin Information: Los Pirineos Farm / Pacamara Bourbon Elite

Processing Method: Washed / medium-light roast

Los Pirineos Estate

Nestled in the Tepeca volcanic mountain range, surrounded by Berlin, Santiago de Maria and Jocaitique, you will find Gilberto Baraona's Los Pirineos Estate.

The farm's coffee cultivation began in 1890. According to family records, the original seeds and mother plants were imported from Antigua, Guatemala. Today the farm grows premium varieties including Bourbon, Pacas and Pacamara, and the green beans are separated into small and medium batches according to plot and variety.

Los Pirineos also takes part in Procafe, which works to cultivate different coffee varieties, so the farm holds a wide range of original coffee trees plus natural mutants and hybrids from around the world. Los Pirineos was one of the first estates in El Salvador to build its own micro coffee processing plant, and it has kept experimenting with and developing new processing and drying methods.

Tasting Experience

Dry Aroma: Prominent stone fruit notes with obvious caramel sweetness, and a bright, transparent citrus aroma up front.

First Sip: Rich and full-bodied, leaning overall toward stone fruit, complemented by caramel sweetness and a gentle fruit acidity.

Medium Temperature: The flavor begins to unfold, each characteristic lingering longer on the palate and growing more intriguing. At this stage both the balance of flavor and the cleanliness of the mouthfeel are at a high level.

Cool Temperature: Feels sweeter, with subtle caramel notes.

If you prefer low-acidity, nutty-flavored beans, this one is quite good.

Brewing Guide

How to Brew El Salvador Coffee [Los Pirineos Estate Pacamara]

FrontStreet Coffee pour-over reference: Weigh 15 g of [Los Pirineos Estate Pacamara] coffee grounds and grind to a medium coarseness. The particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use BG grinder setting 5R (60 percent standard sieve pass rate), water at 89°C, and extract with a V60 dripper.

Pour hot water from the gooseneck kettle in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Start timing when brewing begins. Brew to 30 g in 15 seconds, then stop pouring. When the clock reaches 1 minute, make the second pour. As before, pour in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Avoid hitting where the grounds meet the filter paper, to prevent channeling.

When pouring to the outermost ring of the coffee bed, leave one ring uncovered, then brew circle by circle toward the center. At 2 minutes 20 seconds, brew to 220 g. Brewing is complete.

Japanese Iced Pour-Over [Los Pirineos Estate Pacamara]

FrontStreet Coffee iced pour-over [Los Pirineos Estate Pacamara] reference:

El Salvador coffee [Los Pirineos Estate Pacamara], medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67 percent standard sieve pass rate).

20 g of coffee grounds, 150 g of ice cubes, 150 g of hot water. The water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal pour-over recommendation of 89°C. Normal grinding uses a Fuji 3.5 setting, while iced pour-over uses a slightly finer Fuji 3.

Bloom with 40 g of water for 30 seconds.

Segmented pouring: 60 g of water first, then 40 g. Use a relatively fine but tall water column and stir with force, ensuring the grounds roll fully. Be careful not to let the liquid level rise too high, and avoid hitting the edge filter paper.

The entire extraction time is about 2.5 minutes (similar to the normal extraction time for 20 g of grounds).

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A clean, washed coffee like this Pacamara is best appreciated as pour-over, and a V60 is the tool FrontStreet Coffee turns to most often. The V60's 60-degree cone and large single hole give it a fast, unrestricted flow, so water and grounds stay in contact long enough for a full extraction while the brewer keeps control of the pour. That design is exactly what makes it suit floral and fruit-forward beans.

Among FrontStreet's V60-friendly coffees, the FrontStreet Ethiopia Huakui is the standout for tropical fruit: strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit and even lychee leap out of the cup, with strong sweetness and very little bitterness, so it drinks more like juice than coffee. The FrontStreet Yirgacheffe cooperative lot is the classic starting point, with white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity and a green tea finish, and the FrontStreet Strawberry Candy Geisha Blend brings a rose-like floral note with grape, blueberry and candied-fruit sweetness.

If you prefer a deeper, heavier cup, FrontStreet's washed beans broaden the range. The FrontStreet Kenya Little Tomato, a Kenyan washed coffee from the Sika region at 1550-1750 meters, uses the classic SL28 and SL34 varieties with a 72-hour double-washed fermentation, giving bright cherry-tomato, smoked-plum and juicy fruit notes. For a low-acid, full-bodied pour-over there is the FrontStreet PWN Golden Mandheling, a wet-hulled Sumatran roasted dark, with herbal and black chocolate aromas, and the FrontStreet PNG Bird of Paradise, a Typica grown at 1600-1800 meters on volcanic soil and often called a "little Blue Mountain" for its clean sweetness.