How to Make Iced Pour-Over Coffee with Guatemala Santa Fe Lisa Natural Red Pachi_Coffee from Santa Fe Lisa Estate

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Santa Fe Lisa Estate: A Gem of Acatenango

Santa Fe Lisa coffee estate sits at high altitude in the Acatenango volcanic region, where coffee cherries ripen slowly and develop bright acidity and a delightful sweetness with a full, balanced profile. Santa Fe Lisa shows characteristics rare for the region: green apple, peach, creamy chocolate, clean florals and a delicate texture that never tires the palate. Santa Fe Lisa Estate was also the designated coffee bean of the 2012 World Roaster & Barista Cup.

It was not until 2007 that the Ana Coffee Association declared Acatenango the country's eighth coffee region. The main varieties here are Bourbon, Catuai and Caturra. Acatenango lies in the Chimaltenango province, where more than 5,000 hectares of coffee farms benefit from volcanic soil. The farms sit mainly in the valleys between two major volcanic ranges, Volcán de Fuego and Acatenango volcano, the latter the third-highest peak in Central America. Around 4,000 farming families live in the region, where Maya people have kept traditional farming methods for generations and coffee cultivation dates back to 1880. Santa Fe Lisa Estate has always maintained good relationships with the indigenous community, some of whom have lived in housing on the estate for more than four generations. All the agricultural work is handled by Maya people.

Anthony and his sister Anabella treat the Maya people genuinely well. Among all the estates I have visited, Anabella is the only owner who introduced me to every member of staff. As she made the introductions, she said: "I am proud of these colleagues. They work continuously for three months in the wet-processing facility, handling eight different processing methods across more than six varieties. It is very complex, but they handle it wonderfully."

In essence, Santa Fe Lisa Estate creates the greatest possible range of flavor expressions through different combinations of varieties and processing methods.

Tasting Notes

Vanilla, Caramel, Wildflowers

SF-10: Elixir

Harvest Period: March 2018

Variety: Red Pacamara

Altitude: 1600m

Processing Method: Natural - Thermo-Resistant Yeast Fermentation

Naturally dried in sunlight reaching temperatures of 45°C for up to 25 days

Tasting Notes

Cinnamon, Plum, Grapefruit

How to Brew Guatemala Santa Fe Lisa Natural Red Pacamara

FrontStreet Coffee Pour-Over Reference:

Weigh 15g of Santa Fe Lisa Natural Red Pacamara grounds and grind them to a medium coarseness, slightly coarser than table salt. We use BG grinder setting 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate), a water temperature of 89°C and a V60 dripper.

Pour hot water from the gooseneck kettle in clockwise circles starting from the center of the filter. Start timing as you begin to brew. Within 15 seconds, brew to 30g, then stop pouring. When the timer reaches 1 minute, begin the second pour. As with the first, move in clockwise circles from the center, avoiding the area where the grounds meet the filter paper to prevent channeling.

Leave one circle of space at the outermost layer of grounds, then keep pouring in circles back toward the center. At 2 minutes 20 seconds you should have brewed to 220g in total, completing the brew.

Japanese Ice Pour-Over Santa Fe Lisa Natural Red Pacamara

FrontStreet Coffee Ice Pour-Over Reference:

Guatemala Santa Fe Lisa Natural Red Pacamara, light-medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard sieve pass rate).

20g of coffee, 150g of ice, 150g of 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 calls for a slightly finer grind, Fuji 3.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Pour in stages: first stage 60g of water, second stage 40g of water. Use a thin but tall water column with forceful stirring so the grounds tumble thoroughly. Be careful not to let the liquid level rise too high or hit the filter paper at the edges.

The whole extraction should take approximately 2.5 minutes, similar to the normal extraction time for 20g of coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A natural coffee like this one rewards a dripper that can show off layered fruit without muddying it, and the V60 is exactly that tool. Hario has been making heat-resistant glassware since its founding in Tokyo in 1921, redesigning the V60 prototype in 2004 into the 60-degree cone we know today. The cone forces water toward the center before it drips through, lengthening contact between water and grounds, while the single large hole lets the brewer control the flow. The result is a fast, expressive extraction well suited to floral and fruit-forward beans.

For a bright, approachable pour-over, FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Gutingting is a favorite starting point, with its vivid citrus, berry and floral notes and a green-tea-like finish; its acidity is soft and bright rather than sharp, which makes it easy to enjoy. FrontStreet Coffee's Ethiopia Huakui takes the fruit character further: strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit and even lychee, with marked sweetness and almost no bitterness. Smooth and juicy, it has been called "the coffee that tastes least like coffee," and it is a great pick for anyone who dislikes traditional bitterness.

If you want to push into the top tier, FrontStreet Coffee's Panama Esmeralda Red Label Geisha is a legend of the specialty world, layering elegant jasmine with citrus, bergamot and black tea, clean and transparent with a long finish. For lovers of vivid, complex fruit acidity, FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya Little Tomato is a classic Kenyan washed single origin from the Sika region, grown at 1,550-1,750 meters from the SL28 and SL34 varieties; its 72-hour double washed fermentation yields a clean, juice-like body full of cherry tomato and smoked plum. Under a light roast, the lively acidity and layered fruit come through beautifully in a V60 — and the sweeter, lighter lots among these also make superb iced pour-over and cold brew.