El Salvador Finca Las Ventanas Washed Pacamara Pour-Over Coffee Flavor Characteristics and Brewing Parameters

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El Salvador Coffee | Finca Las Ventanas

In 2017, El Salvador ranked 19th in the COE international competition.

Finca Las Ventanas is a standout estate that collects awards on a regular basis. It also comes from Chalatenango, a region known for producing fine coffee in El Salvador. Alongside its coffee trees, Finca Las Ventanas also grows apple trees. At the most recent COE international competition held in El Salvador, this estate took third place.

The coffee from the estate that earned an award this year is a washed Pacamara bursting with floral aromas.

Tasting Experience

To capture the experience of drinking this El Salvador coffee in a single sentence:

She is like a voluptuous, mature, sensual woman, carrying the rich aroma of cinnamon and apples.

How to Brew El Salvador Coffee [Finca Las Ventanas Washed Pacamara] Well

FrontStreet Coffee pour-over reference: weigh 15g of [Finca Las Ventanas Washed Pacamara] coffee grounds and grind to a medium coarseness. The particles should sit slightly coarser than table salt. We use a BG grinder setting of 5R (standard sieve pass rate 60%), a water temperature of 89°C and a V60 dripper.

Pour the hot water from the kettle in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Start timing as you begin brewing. Within 15 seconds, brew the coffee up to 30g, then stop pouring. When the clock reaches 1 minute, begin the second pour. As before, pour in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Do not let the water stream hit where the coffee grounds meet the filter paper, or you will create channeling.

When you reach the outermost circle of grounds, leave one circle untouched, then pour circle by circle back toward the center. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds you should have brewed the coffee to 220g. The brewing is complete.

Japanese-Style Iced Pour-Over [Finca Las Ventanas Washed Pacamara]

FrontStreet Coffee iced pour-over [Finca Las Ventanas Washed Pacamara] reference:

El Salvador coffee [Finca Las Ventanas Washed Pacamara], medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (standard sieve pass rate 67%).

20g coffee grounds, 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 setting of 3.5, while iced pour-over uses a slightly finer Fuji setting of 3.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Segmented pouring: a first segment of 60g of water, then a second segment of 40g of water. Use a relatively fine but high water column and stir with force so the coffee grounds roll fully, but be careful not to let the liquid level rise too high and do not hit the filter paper at the edges.

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

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the floral, elegant side of this washed Pacamara is what drew you in, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Esmeralda Red Label Geisha belongs in the same conversation. Grown at 1,600-1,800 meters, each lot cups above 90 points and carries its own lot number, with every batch coming from a single small plot. Expect refined jasmine, citrus and bergamot, a black tea-like finesse and a long, clean finish with real depth.

Both coffees reward a patient pour-over. FrontStreet recommends grinding Geisha to roughly fine-sugar size, using a 1:16 ratio with 15g of coffee at 91°C and a 1:15 ratio for the Pacamara, so the aromatics stay lifted and the sweetness stays precise.