How to Brew Colombia Finca Bellavista Honey Process Coffee Beans: Pour-Over Blooming Procedure

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Colombia Finca Bellavista

Colombia Coffee - Finca Bellavista Estate - Honey Process

Basic Information

Country: Colombia

Region: Nariño

Estate: Finca Bellavista

Processing: Honey Process

Dried on racks after depulping

Varieties: Caturra & Colombia

Altitude: 2170m

Roast Level: City

Flavor Description: Fruit hard candy, lemon, cranberry, sugarcane juice, brown sugar; clean and intensely sweet

Estate Information

Finca Bellavista sits in Nariño province in southwestern Colombia, on the equator and bordering Ecuador. The region is ringed by mountains and famed for its five volcanoes: Chiles (4,718 m), Cumbal (4,764 m), Azufral (4,070 m), Doña Juana (4,250 m), and Galeras (4,276 m).

The mountainous geography creates a unique microclimate. Coffee is typically grown on the steep slopes around the volcanoes, and sitting on the equator the region enjoys superior sun angles that guarantee abundant light. With cultivation reaching up to 2200m, these rank among the highest plantations in the world - altitude that lets coffee grow slowly yet fully.

Most growers here are smallholders with their own wet mills and drying racks. Finca Bellavista's owner, Ulpiano Rodrigues, is no exception: after harvesting ripe cherries he runs them through a depulper to remove the skin (byproducts of the process are usually recycled as organic fertilizer for the coffee trees).

Next, the beans go into fermentation tanks, with fermentation timed to local conditions and typically lasting 12 to 48 hours. During this stage several layers of dried coffee husks are laid over the tanks to add complexity to the fermentation - and in turn to the flavor.

After processing, the beans are rack-dried. Fortunately, compared with much of the country, the microclimate and high altitude here bring more sunlight and wind and lower relative humidity - a uniquely advantageous drying environment that produces exceptional coffee.

Ulpiano has always kept close ties with the Buesaco Con Altura growers' organization, and their joint work on quality has benefited his cultivation enormously. The alliance works constantly to grow better coffee and regularly posts excellent results in Colombia's Cup of Excellence.

FrontStreet Coffee's roasting partners have maintained a close, long-term relationship with the Colombian green exporter Pergamino: in 2015 the estate owner joined them at the roasting factory's anniversary celebration for on-site technical exchange, and in early 2016 they flew to Colombia themselves - one of the world's longest routes - to visit the estates, cup locally, and select lots.

This batch of Colombian coffee comes directly from Finca Bellavista. It was the second full-container import of Colombian specialty micro-lot green beans after that visit, and at first cupping the bean won us over with its bright, refreshing acidity and sweetness - a fructose-like sweetness with an uplifting sugarcane aroma and a surprisingly persistent aftertaste.

How to Brew Colombian Coffee [Bella Honey Process] Well?

FrontStreet Coffee Pour-Over Reference:

Weigh out 15g of [Bella Honey Process] coffee and grind medium - the particles should sit slightly coarser than table salt. We use BG grinder setting 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate). Water temperature 89°C, brewed on a V60 dripper. The recommended coffee-to-water ratio is about 1:15.

Using the kettle's hot water, draw clockwise circles centered on the middle of the filter. Start timing when brewing begins: bring the coffee up to 30g within 15 seconds, then stop pouring. At the 1-minute mark, pour a second time, exactly as before - clockwise circles from the center, keeping the stream off the seam where coffee meets filter paper to avoid channel effects.

When the water reaches the outermost ring of grounds, leave one circle clear, then work circle by circle toward the center. At 2 minutes 20 seconds, bring the coffee to 220g and the brew is complete.

Japanese-Style Iced Pour-Over [Bella Honey Process]

FrontStreet Coffee Iced Pour-Over [Bella Honey Process] Reference:

Colombia [Bella Honey Process], light-medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard sieve pass rate).

20g of coffee, 150g of ice cubes, 150g of hot water. Water temperature should run 1°C above the usual 90°C recommended for pour-over. Normal grinding is Fuji setting 3.5; for the iced version grind slightly finer at Fuji setting 3. The recommended coffee-to-(water+ice) ratio is 1:15.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Pour in two segments - 60g first, then 40g - using a fine but tall water column to agitate the bed and roll the grounds thoroughly. Just take care not to let the liquid level rise too high, and keep the stream off the filter paper at the edges.

Total extraction time is approximately 2.5 minutes (close to the normal extraction time for 20g of coffee).

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this honey-processed Bellavista charms you, FrontStreet's washed Huila is the classic Colombian companion piece: medium-dark roasted to highlight black chocolate and nutty sweetness with moderate body, it works in a pour-over or French press just as happily as in a moka pot or espresso machine for Americano and latte. For something more adventurous, the FrontStreet Colombia Sidra from the property-line (Frontera) estate - a competition-winning variety grown at 1,650-1,800 meters and double-anaerobic natural processed, then roasted medium-light - offers jasmine and citrus aromatics with passion fruit, blueberry, grape, and apricot in a dense, juicy frame, finishing on lasting cocoa. It shines as pour-over, espresso SOE, or iced drip - and an iced pour-over brings out an especially fresh, silky grape-juice character.

Brew either one on a V60: 15g of coffee, 89-90°C water, a 1:15 ratio, and a gentle three-stage pour - the same method that coaxes the best from this Nariño honey lot.