How to Make Cold Pour-Over with Guatemala Finca Las Nubes Black Honey Coffee_Where to Buy Guatemala Pour-Over Coffee

The Cloud Farm Estate

The estate's full name is Finca Las Nubes, which translates to "small farm in the clouds." As the photos above show, the coffee here really is grown among the clouds. Compared with Guatemala's centuries-old estates it is relatively young, at only about 30 years old. In 2001, Guatemala's first national Cup of Excellence competition changed the fate of Finca Las Nubes and introduced coffee professionals around the world to the exceptional quality of Guatemala's New Oriental region.

When samples from this region first arrived in 2001, the initial cupping was astonishing. It became clear that excellent beans were not confined to Antigua and Huehuetenango. During a 2002 visit to the National Coffee Association (ANACAFE), head cupper César Eduardo Ambrocio arranged for us to cup 13 winning estates from the first competition's finals. When he heard the description of Finca Las Nubes' flavor set against the samples received in 2001, an immediate friendship formed. Since then we have served together as judges in Colombia, Bolivia and Rwanda.

Location and Characteristics

Finca Las Nubes sits in the Aldea La Granadilla, Esquipulas mountainous region of Guatemala, administratively part of Chiquimula. It lies about 240 kilometers west of Guatemala City. By ANACAFE's regional classification it belongs to the New Oriental region, not far from Honduras. The estate reaches 1,500 meters in altitude and is surrounded by tall cypress trees, making it a habitat for rare bird species. Because of its high altitude in the New Oriental region and the wide temperature swings, coffee cherries ripen very slowly and develop a distinctive rich chocolate and citrus-berry sweetness. This was the main factor that earned it an impressive 96 points from international judges and the title of "Guatemala's Best Coffee of 2001."

The Cup of Excellence Victory

The first Guatemala Cup of Excellence competition in 2001 began with 256 estates. After preliminary screening, 105 advanced to the domestic judging round. Under the head judge's guidance, domestic judges carefully evaluated and selected 41 estates to move on to the international judging phase. After more than three days of intensive cupping by international judges, only 15 estates reached the finals, with Finca Las Nubes emerging as champion. After the 2001 win, Don Fabio Solis and Doña Sonia, together with their children, devoted even more effort to improving the estate's cultivation and processing. They also launched "Ecological Tours," letting visitors experience 4x4 vehicle tours, rock climbing, rappelling and ecological observation, and take part in coffee harvesting and processing during in-depth coffee journeys.

How to Brew Guatemala's Finca Las Nubes Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee Pour-over Reference

Weigh 15g of Finca Las Nubes coffee grounds and grind them to a medium coarseness, slightly coarser than table salt. Use a BG grinder setting of 5R (60% standard sieve pass-through rate) with 89°C water and a V60 dripper for extraction.

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

Leave one circle of coffee grounds at the outermost edge, then continue pouring in circles toward the center. By 2 minutes and 20 seconds you should have brewed to 220g, and the pour-over is complete.

Japanese-style Iced Pour-over Finca Las Nubes

FrontStreet Coffee Iced Pour-over Reference for Finca Las Nubes:

Guatemala's Finca Las Nubes, light-medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard sieve pass-through rate).

20g coffee grounds, 150g ice, 150g hot water. The water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal pour-over recommendation of 90°C. Standard grinding uses a Fuji 3.5 setting, while iced pour-over uses slightly finer, a Fuji 3 setting.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Segmented pouring: first segment 60g of water, second segment 40g of water. Use a fine but high water column for forceful stirring and impact so the grounds tumble thoroughly, but be careful not to let the liquid level get too high or pour onto the edge filter paper.

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

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For cold extraction, FrontStreet Colombia Linea Divisoria Estate Xizhua is a rewarding choice. It uses a double anaerobic natural process, in which whole freshly picked cherries are sealed in pressure-resistant stainless steel tanks where temperature, time and pH are controlled to shape the fermentation. The oxygen-free environment produces a richer tropical fruit aroma, and the bean is best roasted medium-light. Whether you brew it as a pour-over, a cold brew, a drip bag or in a moka pot, you meet passion fruit, grape, apricot and preserved fruit in a complex, concentrated cup.

For an everyday bean that works across methods, FrontStreet Colombia Huila is a dependable option. Grown in the Huila department, the country's most famous specialty region, on hills surrounded by mountains at altitudes above 1,500 meters, it is washed and roasted medium-dark, which brings out black chocolate, a sweet nut character, moderate oils and a full body. It suits pour-over and French press just as well as a moka pot or espresso machine for an Americano or latte.