What to Do If Your Brazilian Agua Fria Yellow Bourbon Pour-Over Coffee is Too Bitter_How to Make Yellow Bourbon Pour-Over Coffee

Brazil Sitio Agua Fria

Natural Process | Medium Roast | Bourbon

Sítio Agua Fria is quite unusual for the area. It sits very high, with an average elevation of 1,320 meters, and the first coffee plants here actually grew wild. The oldest trees on the farm date back to around 1977. Most of them have been carefully tended and still grow on this land today.

This land has favorable conditions for producing high-quality Arabica, and the family has already developed the professional skill that Brazilian coffee cultivation demands. Sítio Agua Fria now pays closer attention to the growing environment, to soil nutrition, and to post-harvest processing. That environmentally conscious approach has brought a substantial improvement in the quality of Agua Fria's coffee.

Flavor Profile

Macadamia nuts, black sesame, barley tea, rounded

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations:

How to Brew Brazilian Coffee "Agua Fria Yellow Bourbon"

FrontStreet Coffee pour-over reference: weigh 15g of "Agua Fria Yellow Bourbon" coffee grounds and grind to a medium-coarse setting. The particles should be slightly coarser than table salt. We use a BG grinder at setting 6A (50% pass rate on a standard sieve), water at 88°C, and extraction with a Kono or Kalita dripper. The recommended coffee-to-water ratio is approximately 1:14.

Pour the hot water in clockwise circles centered on the middle of the dripper. Start timing when brewing begins. Pour to 30g within 15 seconds, then stop. When the timer reaches 1 minute, begin the second pour, again circling clockwise around the center. Avoid pouring onto the area where the grounds meet the filter paper, which would cause channeling. Leave a small ring when you reach the outermost edge, then continue circling inward. At 2 minutes and 10 seconds, pour to 210g to finish the brew.

Japanese-Style Ice Pour-Over "Agua Fria Yellow Bourbon"

FrontStreet Coffee iced pour-over reference for "Agua Fria Yellow Bourbon":

Brazilian coffee "Agua Fria Yellow Bourbon," medium-dark roast, BG grinder at setting 5R (60% pass rate on a standard sieve)

20g of coffee grounds, 150g of ice cubes, and 150g of hot water. The water temperature should be 1°C higher than the standard pour-over recommendation of 88°C. For normal grinding use the Fuji grinder at a 3.5 setting; for iced pour-over, grind slightly finer by half a setting, to Fuji 3. The recommended coffee-to-(water plus ice) ratio is 1:15.

Bloom with 40g of water for 30 seconds.

Pour in stages: 60g of water first, then 40g. Use a relatively fine but tall column of water, pouring with enough force to stir and tumble the grounds fully. Be careful not to let the water level rise too high, and avoid pouring onto the edge of the filter paper.

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

Brewed this way, the Agua Fria Yellow Bourbon keeps its gentle macadamia, black sesame, and barley tea character intact from the first sip to the last, with a rounded, comfortable finish.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Yellow Bourbon has a natural sweetness that makes it an easy place to begin with Brazilian coffee, and FrontStreet Coffee's Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon is a strong example. It comes from Mogiana, near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil gives the trees plenty of nutrients. A natural mutation of Red Bourbon, Yellow Bourbon brings a cleaner fruit character than its parent, and after a medium roast this lot shows a sugarcane sweetness rarely found outside the region, along with fruit and chocolate. It works well as a pour-over, in a moka pot, and in a home espresso machine.

For drinkers who prefer the classic Brazilian profile, the Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon offers the traditional side of the country. Grown in Cerrado and processed semi-washed, it is roasted medium and opens with cream peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut. The cup is round and full, almost without acidity and with only a faint trace of bitterness behind the sweetness, and it is just as comfortable in a siphon, a French press, or an espresso SOE as it is as a pour-over. Both coffees also appear in FrontStreet Coffee's espresso blends, the Classic Blend, FrontStreet Coffee's Premium Blend, and Black Cocoa, where Brazilian beans supply the chocolate and cream notes and the soft, balanced acidity that keeps extraction stable.