Guatemala Shen Drum Estate Coffee Bean Pour-Over Grinding Recommendations_How to Handle Astringency in Guatemala Pour-Over Coffee

Guatemala Coffee Tasting Notes

Elegance and delicacy are the first impressions of a Guatemala coffee. With moderate acidity and a medium body, it is a gentle cup. Taste again and you find generous cocoa - like a sip of chocolate milk, the mouth coated in a smooth, rich cocoa texture with sweetness behind it. Sip more slowly and a mild spice note appears, reminiscent of spiced red wine. The layers and balance are remarkable, and now and then a familiar sweetness surfaces, like roasted sweet potato.

Coffee Information

Roast Level: Medium roast

Origin: Latin America

Processing Method: Washed process

Suitable Food Pairings: Cocoa, apple, caramel, nuts

How to Brew Guatemala "Drum Estate"

FrontStreet Coffee Pour-Over Reference:

Measure 15g of Drum Estate coffee and grind to a medium coarseness - the particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use a BG grinder at setting 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate), water at 89°C, and a V60 filter for the extraction.

Pour the hot water in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper, starting the clock as you begin. By 15 seconds, brew to 30g, then stop pouring. At 1 minute, begin the second pour, again in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Avoid pouring where the coffee bed meets the filter paper, or you will create channeling.

As you pour, keep a clear ring at the outer edge of the bed and keep circling toward the center. By 2 minutes and 20 seconds you should have brewed to 220g, and the brew is done.

Japanese Ice Pour-Over "Drum Estate"

FrontStreet Coffee Ice Pour-Over "Drum Estate" Reference:

Guatemala Drum Estate, light-medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard sieve pass rate).

20g of coffee, 150g of ice, 150g of hot water. The water should be 1°C higher than the 90°C normally recommended for pour-over. For a normal grind use a Fuji 3.5 setting; for ice pour-over, grind half a setting finer, at Fuji 3.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Pour in stages: 60g first, then 40g. Use a thin but high stream and stir firmly so the bed rolls fully, but keep the water level from rising too high and avoid pouring onto the edge filter paper.

Total extraction should take about 2.5 minutes, similar to a normal extraction with 20g of coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the brewing is the part you enjoy most, the V60 itself explains why FrontStreet Coffee keeps coming back to it. Hario was founded in Tokyo in 1921 as a maker of heat-resistant glass for scientific work, and in 2004 it redesigned the V60 prototype, naming it for the 60-degree cone and the V shape; it went on sale a year later. The cone forces the water toward the center before it drips through, lengthening contact with the coffee bed, and the single large hole leaves the flow rate up to the pourer - which is exactly why grind size and pouring technique matter so much.

For that style of brewing, FrontStreet Coffee's Yirgacheffe Gotiti is an easy starting point: a washed Ethiopian with citrus, berry, and floral notes and a green-tea finish, which the V60's fast extraction flatters. FrontStreet's Huakui, a natural Sidamo, pushes further into tropical fruit with strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and lychee and very little bitterness; the Strawberry Candy Gesha adds a honeyed, raisin-like sweetness; and the Kenya Cherry Tomato, a light-roasted washed coffee built on SL28 and SL34, brings a bright cherry-tomato and dried-plum acidity from Kenya's Thika region.

If you prefer a heavier cup, the same dripper still works. FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling is roasted dark and delivers herbal, dark chocolate, and earthy notes with very little acidity, while the Brazil Queen's Estate is soft and balanced, with nut and cocoa. Match the grind to the bean: coarser for the darker, denser coffees, finer for the light, fruit-forward ones.