What Water to Use for Pour-Over Santa Elena Natural Pacamara Coffee_Why Pour-Over Coffee Tastes Astringent

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Introduction to Finca Santa Elena Estate

FINCA SANTA ELENA

Finca Santa Elena is located in the Santa Ana volcanic region in western El Salvador. The estate has an average altitude of approximately 1,850 meters, making it one of the highest-altitude estates in the area. The estate is currently managed by Mr. Don Fernando Lima.

Estate owner Mr. Fernando adheres to the philosophy of maintaining El Salvador's original traditional cultivation methods. Beyond necessary pruning and irrigation, the estate maintains extensive natural agroforestry ecology. At Finca Santa Elena, over 90% of the coffee grown is Bourbon variety. The estate owner also employs modern industrial management techniques, dividing the entire estate into different zones to closely monitor and record soil quality, fertilization, and coffee tree growth conditions.

The most distinctive characteristic of coffee beans produced by Finca Santa Elena is their remarkably persistent sweetness, accompanied by relatively intense fruit aromas, with an aftertaste that features almond-like nutty richness.

Coffee Bean Variety Introduction

Pacamara coffee is a hybrid variety discovered in El Salvador in 1950, resulting from the cross between Pacas and Maragogipe.

First cultivated by Salvadoran researchers in 1958, Pacamara is an excellent variety rarely achieved through artificial selection. It combines the outstanding flavor profile of Pacas with the large bean size of Maragogipe, with beans at least 70%-80% the size of elephant beans. The most distinctive characteristic of this variety is its lively and sophisticated acidity, sometimes exhibiting biscuit aromas and other times fruit notes, with excellent thickness and oiliness.

Processing Method Introduction

Natural Process

The natural process is the oldest and most original method for processing coffee beans. The process involves first pouring harvested coffee fruits into large water tanks, where mature and full fruits sink to the bottom, while underdeveloped or overripe fruits float to the surface. After removing these floating beans, healthy coffee fruits are placed on patios for direct sun drying, reducing moisture content from 60% to 12%-15%. Finally, a hulling machine removes the hard, dry outer skin and pulp, completing the entire processing process for the green beans.

(↑ Selecting coffee fruits) (↑ Outdoor sun drying)

The natural processing method can enhance berry and tropical fruit flavors, with mild fruit acidity. However, traditional natural processing sometimes produces negative flavors, such as earthy or over-fermented notes.

Today, the natural processing method is becoming popular again, even becoming one of the important processing methods for competition-grade coffee beans. This change comes from the use of improved African raised beds. The raised beds not only avoid ground moisture, animal feces, and earthy flavors but also allow fruits to be in a good air convection environment, making drying more uniform. Farmers regularly turn the beans to allow gentle absorption of the pulp's sweetness, making the flavor increasingly full-bodied.

Roasting Recommendations/Analysis

This coffee variety is the large-bean Pacamara coffee, with relatively large particles and high density. New season beans naturally have higher moisture content. During the roasting process, heat absorption is relatively slow, while the Maillard reaction proceeds relatively quickly. The yellowing point occurs around 5 minutes. For the first roast, you can try a slightly higher bean drop temperature, such as 200°C, with relatively higher heat settings, then gradually reduce the heat during roasting as needed: after the beans enter the yellowing point, reduce the heat to prolong dehydration time, allowing the large beans to fully dehydrate; from completion of dehydration until first crack, appropriately maintain medium heat or slightly increase it to accelerate Maillard reaction time and ensure pressure before first crack; before the onset of first crack, appropriately reduce heat to avoid bean surface scorching. With this operating method, the coffee's dehydration time is relatively extended, with temperature rise rate of 6-8 degrees every thirty seconds, while still maintaining normal first crack between 8.5 to 9.5 minutes, preserving more floral and fruity aromas and retaining clean, bright acidity. It's generally recommended to drop the beans between the dense phase of first crack and the end of first crack, around medium roast level.

Cupping Flavor Description

Apricot, citrus, tropical fruits, with clean and full mouthfeel

The wet aroma has obvious floral notes, with mild acidity. Upon entry, there's a sensation similar to summer plum soup for relieving heat, with flavors of lemon and orange peel. In the mouth, one can clearly feel the richness of the coffee, and like many Central and South American beans, there's obvious cocoa flavor in the finish. After swallowing, one can clearly feel that sweetness, which lingers for a long time.

Brewing Analysis

Today we introduce FrontStreet Coffee's commonly used hand-brew method for Pacamara coffee: V60 three-pour method

Segmented Extraction

Divide all brewing water into three pour segments

Suitable for light roast, medium-light roast, and medium roast coffee beans

Use V60 dripper

Increasing bloom time or number of pour breaks can enhance the richness of coffee flavor

Three-Pour Segmented Extraction Method

Advantages: More layered than single-pour method, can clearly distinguish the front, middle, and back flavor profiles of coffee. The method involves increasing water amount after each bloom, typically pouring when the coffee liquid is about to drop to the powder layer surface, using small, medium, and large water flows for three-stage extraction.

Disadvantages: Has relatively high requirements for water flow rate and volume.

FrontStreet Coffee's Pacamara Coffee Hand-Brew Parameter Recommendations

Using a V60 dripper for brewing can enhance the layered flavor of hand-brew coffee, making it richer and cleaner; perfectly expressing the uplifted bright aromas of the Pacamara variety.

15g of coffee, water temperature 89-90°C, grind BG 5R (Chinese standard 20-mesh screen passing rate 64%), water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15-16

Method: 27g water for bloom, bloom time 30s. The hot water in the pour-over kettle should be poured clockwise in circles centered on the middle of the filter cup. Start timing when brewing begins, pour water to 27g, then stop pouring and wait 30 seconds for the first pour.

For the first pour, circle as before, but slightly slower, increasing speed when reaching the outer circle. Stop pouring at around 1:15 seconds. When the liquid level drops by 1/3, pour again. For the second pour, concentrate on the center, avoiding the area where coffee powder meets the filter paper to prevent channeling effect. End extraction at around 2:05 seconds. The tail section can be discarded (the longer it takes, the more astringency and rough texture will increase).

Segments: 30-125-230g

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473