How to Cold Brew Colombia La Esperanza Natural Bourbon Bicolor Coffee & How to Calculate Hand-Poured Coffee Concentration

FrontStreet Coffee - Colombia Bourbon Bicolor Natural

Colombia La Esperanza Bourbon Bicolor Natural

Coffee Bean Profile

Country: Colombia

Region: Cauca Valley

Producer: La Esperanza Estate

Processing Method: Natural

Variety: Bourbon Bicolor

Altitude: 1,510-1,710 meters

Other: Organic cultivation, Rainforest Alliance certified

Roast Level: Light roast

Flavor Characteristics

Both the dry and wet aromas carry rich wine-like fragrances.

On sipping, beyond the wine aroma there are notes of ripe fruit, fruit beer, and blended fruit tea.

The mid to late palate develops sweet, juicy tropical fruit -- peach, passionfruit, papaya, and mango -- with complex layers.

How to Brew La Esperanza Natural Bourbon Bicolor as Pour-Over

FrontStreet Coffee pour-over reference: Weigh 15g of La Esperanza Natural Bourbon Bicolor coffee grounds and grind to a medium setting. The particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. Use BG grinder setting 5R (60% standard sieve pass rate), water at 89C, and a V60 dripper, with a recommended coffee-to-water ratio of about 1:15.

Pour hot water from the kettle in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper, and start timing when brewing begins. Within 15 seconds, brew to 30g, then stop pouring. When the clock reaches 1 minute, pour the second time. For the second pour, circle clockwise around the center as before. Avoid pouring water directly onto the area where the coffee grounds meet the filter paper, which would cause channelling.

When pouring out to the outermost edge of the coffee bed, leave one ring unwetted, then work back circle by circle toward the center. At 2 minutes and 20 seconds the coffee should reach 220g, completing the brew.

Japanese-Style Ice Pour-Over

FrontStreet Coffee ice pour-over reference:

Colombia coffee, light to medium roast, BG grinder setting 5M (67% standard sieve pass rate).

20g of coffee grounds, 150g of ice cubes, and 150g of hot water. The water temperature should be 1C higher than the 89C used for the hot pour-over. A normal grind uses a Fuji setting of 3.5, while ice pour-over uses a slightly finer Fuji setting of 3. The recommended coffee-to-(water+ice) ratio is 1:15.

Bloom water amount: 40g; bloom time: 30 seconds.

Segmented pouring: first segment 60g of water, second segment 40g of water. Use a relatively fine but tall water column and pour with vigorous stirring and impact to fully tumble the coffee grounds. Be careful not to let the liquid level rise too high, and avoid pouring onto the edge filter paper.

The entire extraction takes about 2.5 minutes, similar to the normal extraction time for 20g of coffee grounds.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A naturally processed, wine-aromatic Colombia like this one is the ideal kind of bean to take in two directions at once, and it pairs naturally with the rest of FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian lineup. If you want the richer, more traditional side of the country, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Huila coffee from the Huila province in the southern Central Cordillera -- Colombia's most famous specialty region, with farms planted above 1,500 meters where the country's most important rivers converge -- is roasted medium-dark and shows dark chocolate and nutty sweetness with moderate oils and a full body.

For the modern, fruit-forward side, FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia Sidra is anaerobically processed and roasted light-to-medium, which converts the fermentation into intense tropical aromatics. Brewed as pour-over, cold brew, drip bag, or moka pot, you get passionfruit, grape, apricot, and dried fruit.

Cold brew suits this La Esperanza Bourbon Bicolor particularly well. The 1:15 ratio and a grind at 67% through the standard sieve keep the wine-like aromas and tropical fruit intact without pulling bitterness, and the mild 89C base water keeps the acidity clean. If you want a milk drink, FrontStreet Coffee's Specialty Blend combines a creamy, nutty Brazilian base with a dark chocolate Colombian note -- it pulls a fine golden crema and makes a rich, smooth latte.