How to Drink Pour-Over Coffee from Colombia's La Parada Tolima Estate _ How to Adjust Pour-Over Grind Settings

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Colombian Coffee · Paradas Tolima Microbatch Natural Process

Flavor description: Citrus, papaya, caramel, medium acidity, medium body.

Did you know that Colombia's best baristas tend to prefer coffee beans from Tolima? LA FINCA cooperates with multiple Colombian farms, most of which are located in Tolima. How much do you know about Tolima? Let me introduce you to this fascinating region.

The Department of Tolima is located in southwestern Colombia and is one of Colombia's 32 departments. It covers an area of 23,500 square kilometers with Ibague as its capital. It borders the renowned specialty coffee producing regions of Huila and Cauca.

Within Tolima province, the north-south trending Andes Mountains and Cordillera mountain ranges run through the territory. Between these two famous mountain systems lies the Magdalena River valley, running from south to north. The soil is fertile, the climate is hot and rainy, and the population is dense. Irrigated agriculture is well developed, with rice and sesame production ranking first in the country. It also produces cotton, coffee, bananas, tobacco, sisal, corn, sugarcane, beans, and other crops.

The name Tolima comes from the earliest inhabitants of this area, the "Pijao people." In their language, tolima means "snowed land" or "land of snow and ice."

Tolima is adjacent to Huila and Cauca and is a producing region that coffee pilgrims must be determined to visit. The road conditions here are not ideal, and some experts who have visited Tolima have invariably described the bumpy and arduous journey in their travel notes.

LA FINCA with the owner of San Pedro Estate on the way to the farm

Farms in Tolima are generally slightly larger than those in other southern Colombian producing regions, averaging about 10-15 hectares. Cooperative models are also popular here, with farmers sending their small batches of fresh coffee cherries to cooperative processing plants. Some farmers also choose to process their own coffee using small-scale facilities that can handle the daily harvest volume. Carefully processed green beans can be priced according to cupping results. A few outstanding cupping batches are preserved separately as "microlots" and sent to the capital Bogotá for further cupping. The remaining green beans are generally sold blended according to cupping flavors.

How to Brew Colombian Coffee [Paradas Tolima Estate] Perfectly?

FrontStreet Coffee's pour-over recommendation: weigh 15g of Paradas Tolima Estate coffee powder and pour it into a grinder for a medium grind. The ground particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use a BG grinder setting 5R (standard sieve pass rate 60%), water temperature 89°C, and a V60 dripper for extraction, with a recommended coffee-to-water ratio of approximately 1:15.

Using the hot water in the pour-over kettle, draw circles clockwise with the center of the filter cup as the focal point. Start timing when you begin brewing. Within 15 seconds, brew the coffee to 30g, then stop pouring. When the time reaches 1 minute, pour water for the second time. For the second pour, as with the first, draw circles clockwise with the center of the filter cup as the focal point. Avoid letting the water flow touch where the coffee powder meets the filter paper, to prevent channeling.

Leave a ring when you reach the outermost circle of the coffee bed, then brew circle by circle toward the center. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds, brew the coffee to 220g, and the brewing process is complete.

Japanese Ice Pour-Over [Paradas Tolima Estate]

FrontStreet Coffee's ice pour-over Paradas Tolima Estate reference:

Colombian Coffee Paradas Tolima Estate, light-medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (standard sieve pass rate 67%)

20g powder, 150g ice cubes, 150g hot water. The water temperature should be 1°C higher than the normal pour-over recommendation of 89°C. For a normal grind, use a Fuji 3.5 setting; for ice pour-over, use a slightly finer setting of Fuji 3. We recommend a powder-to-(water+ice) ratio of 1:15.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Segmented pouring: the first segment with 60g of water, the second segment with 40g of water. Use a relatively fine but high water column for a forceful stirring impact to ensure the coffee powder rolls fully. Be careful, however, not to let the liquid level get too high or touch the filter paper at the edges.

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

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If Tolima has sparked your interest in Colombian coffee, FrontStreet Coffee offers a few bottlings that show the country's range. The FrontStreet Colombia Huila comes from Colombia's most famous specialty region, in the southern part of the Central Cordillera — a mountainous area at elevations above 1,500 meters where the country's most important rivers meet, bringing rich water and humidity. Washed and roasted medium-dark, it emphasizes dark chocolate and nutty sweetness with moderate oil and a full body, and it works for pour-over and French press as well as moka pot and espresso machine, making Americano and latte with ease.

For a fruit-forward cup that echoes this natural-process Tolima microbatch, the FrontStreet Colombia Finca La Divisoria Sidra uses anaerobic natural processing, fermenting in a low-oxygen or oxygen-free environment — usually a pressure-resistant stainless-steel tank where temperature, time, pH, and other variables are controlled. Anaerobic fermentation transforms the coffee to bring out more tropical fruit aroma, and at a medium-light roast it delivers complex passionfruit, grape, apricot, and dried-fruit notes in pour-over, cold brew, drip bags, and moka pot.

And if you brew espresso at home, FrontStreet's Classic Espresso Blend is a strong pick, blending the creamy nuttiness of Brazilian coffee with the dark chocolate bittersweetness of Colombian coffee; it extracts a fine golden crema and pairs beautifully with milk for a rich, smooth latte. It is very beginner-friendly and also serves as the base for Americano, cappuccino, mocha, and other standard espresso drinks.