How to Make Iced Pour-Over Coffee with El Salvador San Pedro Estate Beans and the Characteristics of Salvadoran Coffee

El Salvador Coffee Variety - Pacas Honey Process

Taste profile: Floral and caramel aromas, grapes and berries, subtle green apple and lemon notes, with an overall gentle and rich flavor.

Country: El Salvador (Salvador)

Origin: San Pedro - HiU Project

Variety: Pacas | Altitude: Approximately 1250-1500 meters

Grade: SHG (Strictly High Grown)

Processing: Honey Process

Description: The Pacas variety originated from a Bourbon mutation in El Salvador. An El Salvador coffee farmer named Pacas selected the high-yielding San Ramon Bourbon variety for cultivation. In 1949, he found that its yield was higher than other coffee trees of the same variety. He invited a professor from the University of Florida to identify it, and it was confirmed as a genetic mutation of the Bourbon variety. The new variety was named "Pacas" after the farm's name. Thanks to its excellent quality, Pacas plays an important role in variety improvement. Currently, 68% of El Salvador's coffee beans are Bourbon, 29% are Pacas, and the remaining 3% are Caturra, Catuai, and Pacamara.

How to Brew El Salvador Coffee Beans [San Pedro Estate] Well

FrontStreet Coffee pour-over reference: Weigh 15g of [San Pedro Estate] coffee powder and pour it into a grinder for a medium grind. The ground particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use a BG grinder setting 5R (standard sieve pass rate 60%), water temperature 89°C, and a V60 dripper for extraction.

Pour hot water from the pour-over kettle in clockwise circles centered in the middle of the dripper. Start timing when brewing begins. Brew to 30g in 15 seconds, then stop pouring. When the time reaches 1 minute, pour water for the second time. During the second pour, just as before, pour in clockwise circles centered in the middle of the dripper. The water flow should not hit the area where the coffee powder meets the filter paper, to avoid channeling.

When pouring the coffee powder to the outermost circle, leave one circle, then brew circle by circle toward the center. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds, brew the coffee to 220g, and the brewing is complete.

Japanese-style Ice Pour-over [San Pedro Estate]

FrontStreet Coffee ice pour-over [San Pedro Estate] reference:

El Salvador coffee beans [San Pedro Estate], medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (standard sieve pass rate 67%).

20g powder, 150g ice cubes, 150g hot water. The water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal pour-over recommendation of 90°C. Normal grinding uses a Fuji 3.5 setting, while ice pour-over uses a slightly finer half setting - Fuji 3 setting.

Bloom water amount 40g, bloom time 30 seconds.

Segmented pouring, first segment 60g water, second segment 40g water. Use a relatively fine but tall water column for pouring, stirring forcefully to make the coffee powder roll fully. Be careful not to let the liquid level get too high, and avoid hitting the filter paper at the edges.

The entire extraction time is approximately 2.5 minutes (similar to the normal extraction time for 20g powder).

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Honey-processed coffees like this San Pedro Estate lot are gentle and sweet, so they pair well with the clean, layered pour-over approach FrontStreet Coffee uses. If you enjoy this style, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gotiti brings a classic washed Yirgacheffe character: white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity, and a soft tea-like body. It is also excellent as a cold brew, where a long, cool extraction draws out lighter aromatic compounds and yields an iced coffee as refreshing as tea. For a fruitier, more aromatic cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Huakui is a standout natural-process coffee, bursting with strawberry, passion fruit, and jackfruit aromas, low in bitterness, smooth in the mouth, and full of juice.

For hot pour-over, FrontStreet Coffee suggests 15g of coffee at a 1:15 ratio and 90-91°C water, ground slightly finer than fine table sugar. Pour 30g for a 30-second bloom, then add about 95g and let it drain, and when the bed drops to about two-thirds, add the remaining 100g to reach roughly 225g, finishing around 2:00-2:10. For the iced version, keep the same grind but use 150g of ice and 150g of hot water, and pour in segments for a bright, sweet glass.