Recommended Pour-Over Coffee-to-Water Ratio for Guatemala Washed Los Rosma - Huehuetenango Coffee Pour-Over Flavor Profile

La Rosma Estate: A Guatemalan Coffee Legacy

Finca La Rosma, a Guatemalan coffee estate, was established by Dr. Fredy Morales Merida, who settled in the area following his father, Mr. Alejandro Morales Herrera. He began cultivating and managing the estate twenty years ago. His first achievement was building an industrial road that connects directly to the estate, which serves his own operation and also gives neighboring residents convenient access. Mr. Alejandro Morales Herrera bought the estate in 1963, when it could be reached only on foot or on horseback. The terrain is extremely steep, requiring a passage around the 1,900-meter Michael Peak before descending to the coffee-growing areas between 1,600 and 1,800 meters. It is a small but beautiful estate.

Finca La Rosma sits near the renowned San Pedro Necta area in the Huehuetenango region. Its name comes from Rosemarie, the grandmother of current second-generation owner Fredy Morales Merida. He inherited the land from his father and began planting coffee trees and managing the land twenty years ago. Situated in the Sierra Los Cuchumantes, the terrain is exceptionally steep and rugged. La Rosma rests at an altitude of 1,600-1,800 meters, and considerable natural conservation areas are preserved within the estate. One of its finest achievements is establishing a suitable road that provides good transport access for the estate and benefits nearby communities.

Another achievement is securing a natural mineral water spring five kilometers from the estate, which improved irrigation techniques. These two achievements are essential to La Rosma's success today. By maintaining a balance between native forest and coffee trees, La Rosma has been recognized as a sustainably run estate. The first planting took place in 1982, and the varieties now grown include Catuai, Caturra, Villa Sarchi, Typica, and Bourbon. While some equipment used by farmers in Huehuetenango remains quite outdated, La Rosma has invested substantial money in its washed processing plant. That dedication to quality is reflected in the estate's placings in the C.O.E. coffee competition.

Brewing Guide: How to Perfectly Brew Guatemala Washed La Rosma

FrontStreet Coffee Hand-Pour Reference: Weigh 15 g of washed La Rosma coffee grounds and grind to a medium setting. The particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use a BG grinder at setting 5R (60% standard-sieve pass rate), 89°C water, and 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. Within 15 seconds, brew to 30 g, then stop pouring. When the timer reaches 1 minute, begin the second pour. As with the first, use clockwise circles centered on the dripper, avoiding the area where the grounds meet the filter paper to prevent channeling.

Leave a small circle at the outer edge of the grounds, then continue in circles toward the center. By 2 minutes 20 seconds, brew to 220 g to complete the process.

Japanese-Style Iced Pour-Over: Washed La Rosma

FrontStreet Coffee Iced Pour-Over Reference for Washed La Rosma:

Guatemala Washed La Rosma, light to medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard-sieve pass rate)

20 g coffee grounds, 150 g ice cubes, 150 g hot water. The water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal 90°C recommended for regular pour-over. Regular grinding uses a Fuji 3.5 setting, while iced pour-over calls for a slightly finer grind—Fuji 3.

Bloom with 40 g water for 30 seconds.

Pour in segments: a first segment of 60 g water and a second of 40 g. Use a fine but tall water column and stir vigorously so the grounds roll thoroughly. Be careful, though, not to let the liquid level rise 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 20 g of grounds).

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Guatemalan washed coffee is a classic V60 bean, and if you are exploring what a V60 can do, FrontStreet Coffee's light and light-medium single origins are an excellent place to start. For a bright, clean cup, FrontStreet's washed Yirgacheffe Gudingding is a favorite first stop into specialty coffee, with the vivid citrus, berry, and floral notes and a green-tea-like sweetness that Yirgacheffe is known for—its acidity is soft and bright, more like the natural sweet-tartness of fruit than a sharp bite. If you prefer intense tropical fruit, FrontStreet's Ethiopia Flower Queen is one of the most successful star beans of recent years, with prominent strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and even lychee aromas, high sweetness, very little bitterness, and a slippery, juicy body. And for a truly legendary cup, FrontStreet's Panama Esmeralda Red Label Geisha offers an exquisitely elegant jasmine fragrance with citrus, bergamot, and black-tea-like finesse, a clean, transparent body and a long, layered finish. All three are ideal for the V60: Hario, the company that designed the dripper, was founded in Tokyo in 1921 and redesigned the V60's prototype in 2004, launching it in 2005 with its signature 60° cone and single large hole. That cone forces water toward the center and lengthens contact between water and grounds, and it rewards good pouring control with a more three-dimensional aroma and lively acidity. FrontStreet especially favors the resin Hario V60 because resin insulates well and, in mass production, holds the tightest tolerances.