How to Calculate Water-to-Ice Ratio for Colombia La Falda Estate Pour-Over Coffee

La Falda Estate, Colombia

A single-variety lot from Urrao, Colombia: Caturra Chiroso!

Caturra Chiroso was discovered and selected in Urrao as a natural mutation of Caturra. The plant shows atavistic traits, growing into a tall tree shape closer to Bourbon and Typica rather than the low bush form of Caturra, and the beans share Typica's elongated shape. Most importantly, the flavor is exceptional, with more pronounced floral and fruity notes. The variety therefore began spreading across the Urrao region, where locals simply call it Chiroso. The selected farm, Finca Bella Vista, won first place in the most recent (2014) Cup of Excellence as Urrao's first-ever entry!

Finca Bella Vista is run by Carmen Cecilia Montoya Patiño, who uses her own fermentation method: freshly depulped coffee is mixed with parchment beans from the previous day's fermentation stage for a combined-fermentation wash, then dried on greenhouse-style raised beds to produce some of the most promising coffee in the Urrao region!

SM Notes: Floral / Brown Sugar / Wine-infused Fruits / English Breakfast Tea / 88.6

The Antioquia region is the birthplace of Colombian coffee cultivation, but it only came into real prominence with its haul of awards at the 2014 Cup of Excellence. The town of Urrao is a prime example from Antioquia province. According to Sweet Maria's local exploration, the general improvement in coffee quality in Urrao may be benefiting from increasingly significant climate change. Coffee is grown there at around 2,000 meters, where pest and disease pressure is low, but the low average temperature used to keep the cherries from accumulating enough sugars. When the average temperature during harvest season rose one to two degrees Celsius above historical levels, the region turned into an outstanding coffee-producing area. Sweet Maria's works with a local cooperative of about twenty producers, planting mostly Caturra plus a small amount of Variedad Colombia (VC, the predecessor of Castillo). Most farmers use a combined-fermentation method in which depulped cherries are mixed with parchment beans that began fermenting the previous day. The advantage is that it immediately provides suitable acidity and bacterial strains; the drawback is possible contamination by unwanted microbes. Fortunately, Urrao's high altitude and low ambient temperatures make this fermentation style quite safe.

How to Brew Colombian Coffee [La Finca Estate] Perfectly

FrontStreet Coffee pour-over reference: weigh out 15g of La Finca Estate coffee, grind it medium—the particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use the BG grinder at setting 5R (standard sieve pass rate 60%), water at 89°C, extracted on a V60 dripper. The recommended coffee-to-water ratio is roughly 1:15.

Using the water from the pour-over kettle, pour in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper, starting the timer as you begin. Pour to 30g within the first 15 seconds, then stop. When the timer reaches 1 minute, start the second pour, again in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Keep the stream from hitting the seam where the coffee bed meets the filter paper to avoid channeling.

Leave a ring of dry grounds when you reach the outermost edge, then work in circles back toward the center. At 2 minutes 20 seconds, the coffee should reach 220g, and the brew is complete.

Japanese-Style Iced Pour-Over [La Finca Estate]

FrontStreet Coffee iced pour-over La Finca Estate reference:

Colombia La Finca Estate, light-medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (standard sieve pass rate 67%)

20g of coffee, 150g of ice, 150g of hot water. Set the water temperature 1°C higher than the standard pour-over recommendation of 90°C. Grind slightly finer than for hot brewing: use the Fuji grinder at 3.5 normally and 3 for iced pour-over. The recommended ratio of coffee to (water + ice) is 1:15.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Pour in two segments: 60g in the first, 40g in the second. Use a relatively fine but tall water column, pouring with enough force to agitate the bed so the grounds roll fully—but be careful not to let the liquid level rise too high or splash against the filter paper at the edge.

Total extraction time is approximately 2.5 minutes, similar to the standard extraction time for 20g of coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Colombian coffee is remarkably versatile: it works as an espresso-blend component, as a single-origin pour-over, and everything in between, with styles ranging from fruit-forward and acidic to full-bodied and deeply aromatic. If you want to get to know Colombia's most famous region, FrontStreet Coffee suggests starting with its washed Huila beans. Huila province, in the southern reaches of Colombia's central cordillera, is the country's best-known specialty coffee region—rolling hills ringed by mountains, planted above 1,500 meters, with the country's most important rivers converging there to supply abundant water. Roasted medium-dark, FrontStreet's washed Huila brings out the sweet savor of dark chocolate and nuts, moderate crema, and a rich, full body. It suits pour-over and French press, but also pulls well from a moka pot or espresso machine, making it an easy base for americanos and lattes alike.

For something more adventurous, try FrontStreet Coffee's Frontier Estate Chiroso. While Colombian coffee has traditionally been washed, innovative processing has taken off in recent years—most famously anaerobic fermentation, sometimes called carbonic maceration, in which coffee ferments in a pressurized stainless tank under low- or zero-oxygen conditions with temperature, time, and pH all controlled. The anaerobic natural treatment converts more of the coffee into tropical-fruit aromatics; roasted medium-light and brewed as pour-over, cold brew, drip bags, or even moka pot, it delivers complex, intense notes of passion fruit, grape, apricot, and dried fruit.

Finally, if you brew at home with an espresso machine or a moka pot, FrontStreet's baristas strongly recommend the FrontStreet signature espresso blend, a house blend originally developed for cafes. It combines the creamy nuttiness of Brazilian coffee with the bittersweet dark chocolate of Colombian coffee, pulling shots with a fine, golden crema. It makes a dense, silky latte, is very forgiving for beginners, and works just as well as the base for americano, cappuccino, and mocha.