Introduction to the History of Guatemala's San Rafael Urias Estate_How to Brew San Rafael Urias Estate Pour-Over Coffee

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

Guatemala Antigua San Rafael Urias Estate

Guatemala Antigua San Rafael Urias Estate

In 1739 (the 4th year of Qianlong's reign), the San Rafael Urias Estate was established. The owner at that time, Rafael Valdés Quiroa, began planting coffee trees here. Over 200 years later, San Rafael Urias Estate has repeatedly ranked among the top in national competitions (4 auction awards in 2001-2005-2006-2008, Certified Genuine Antigua by APCA). While we're not just adding to the glory, perhaps when we mention Antigua, we should also think of San Rafael Urias, this time-honored brand with a long history.

Here is an introduction to the San Rafael Urias Estate:

Rafael Valdés Quiroa established the San Rafael Estate in Antigua in 1739. 260 years later, this estate has ranked among the winners in national competitions four times. When talking about fine Antigua coffee, you will never overlook San Rafael. Over the years, international judges' cupping evaluations for San Rafael have been: clean citric acidity, sweet, transparent, crisp acidity, with backbone, smooth rich body, nice long sweet finish, dark chocolate, raspberry. Comparing with the fresh batch that just arrived in September 2011, cupping revealed that the main flavor profile is almost identical, indicating the estate's rigorous standards and consistent quality requirements—truly remarkable!

San Rafael Estate is located in the highlands of Antigua at an altitude of nearly 1700 meters. The volcanic soil is fertile and sandy, with good drainage. The average annual temperature is 23°C, relative humidity is 60%, and annual rainfall is 1000mm. In Antigua, this is typical of excellent microclimates. Currently, it is operated by the third generation of the Valdés family. The estate covers 225 hectares, but coffee is only cultivated on about 115 hectares, growing several varieties: Bourbon, Typica, and Caturra. Following the founder's spirit, the third generation still insists on producing high-quality coffee. Due to the estate's highland location and the Guacalate River flowing through it, bringing abundant water resources, the owner cleverly established a wet processing mill powered by a waterwheel. I have seen two such hydraulically powered wet processing mills in Central America— not only environmentally friendly, but the related facility components are all ingeniously crafted, well worth observing. There are multiple water treatment and filtration systems within the farm, providing drinking water, irrigation water, and also water for the washing process after coffee harvesting. Besides coffee, the farm also grows berries, sweet potatoes, and various vegetables and fruits, as well as dairy products to increase income. San Rafael is a typical centralized processing farm, with cultivation, harvesting, washing processing, and drying all handled consistently within the farm.

How to Brew Guatemala Coffee [San Rafael Urias Estate] Well?

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

Pour hot water from the pour-over kettle in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Start timing when brewing begins. Within 15 seconds, brew the coffee to 30g, then stop pouring water. When the time reaches 1 minute, pour water for the second time. For the second pour, same as before, pour in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Avoid pouring water onto the area where the coffee powder meets the filter paper to prevent channeling effects.

Leave one circle when pouring to the outermost edge of the coffee powder, then pour back toward the center circle by circle. By 2 minutes 20 seconds, brew the coffee to 220g. The coffee brewing is complete.

Japanese-style Ice Pour-over [San Rafael Urias Estate]

FrontStreet Coffee Ice Pour-over [San Rafael Urias Estate] Reference:

Guatemala Coffee [San Rafael Urias Estate], light-medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (standard sieve pass rate 67%)

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

Bloom with 40 grams of water for 30 seconds.

Pour in stages: first stage 60 grams of water, second stage 40 grams of water. Use a relatively fine but high water column for pouring, stirring forcefully to make the coffee powder roll thoroughly. However, be careful not to let the liquid level get too high and avoid pouring onto the edge filter paper.

The entire extraction time is approximately 2.5 minutes (close to the normal extraction time for 20 grams of powder).

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473