Best Costa Rican Coffee Brewing Methods & V60 Pour-Over Tutorial

FrontStreet Coffee Costa Rica Las Lajas Estate Black Honey Pour-Over Tutorial

Origin: Central Valley, Las Lajas Estate

Harvest: 2018

Altitude: 1,250–1,500 m

Varieties: Caturra, Catuai

Processing: Black Honey

Flavor Notes: Hot — orange, almond; as it cools — honeydew, brown sugar

Costa Rica's Central Valley is one of the country's classic growing corridors, and Las Lajas is one of its most respected estates. This black honey lot is a good place to start if you want to see what careful honey processing can do.

Brewing Steps

Step 1: Preparation

Heat your water and weigh out 18 g of FrontStreet Coffee's Costa Rica black honey beans, working at a 1:15 water-to-coffee ratio. Fold the paper filter into the dripper and rinse both with hot water. The filter paper carries its own papery flavor, so rinsing keeps it out of the cup and also helps the paper cling neatly to the dripper wall — one of the small details that separates a good brew from a great one.

Step 2: Preheating

Warm the dripper and the server at the same time. A cold vessel pulls heat out of the brew as it drains, and temperature is one of the loudest variables in the final flavor.

Step 3: Grinding

Grind the beans to a texture like raw sugar. Tip the grounds into the dripper and give it a gentle tap so the bed sits flat and level — a level bed is what allows water to move through the coffee evenly.

Step 4: Blooming

Pour 85–90°C water slowly into the center of the bed, keeping the stream off the filter paper; the exact temperature depends on the roast level and the grind size. Stop as soon as the grounds are fully moistened and the first drops fall into the server, then let the bed bloom for 30–45 seconds. Blooming releases trapped gas, mostly carbon dioxide. Once that gas is gone, the particles can take on water evenly and extract uniformly. You will see the bed puff up as it happens.

Step 5: Main Pour

After the bloom, pour in slow circles working outward from the center; you can do this as a single pour or break it into several. Keep the stream steady and moderate — never heavy, never rushed. During this stage the bed drains fully, releasing oils, solubles and aromatics that fill the room with the smell of the coffee.

Step 6: Completion

Stop pouring at 270 ml total and serve in a preheated cup.

About FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee is a specialty coffee roastery and research center in Guangzhou, dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge openly. Every month we hold three promotional events with significant discounts, because our mission for the past six years has been to bring the best coffee to as many people as possible at the lowest possible price.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If this black honey lot appeals to you, the following FrontStreet beans explore the same softly sweet, fruit-forward territory.

FrontStreet Mozart — a floral, fruit-driven coffee with a distinctive raisin character, the kind of cup that shows off exactly what the Hario V60 was designed for. Its delicate aromatics and soft acidity open up beautifully in a fast pour-over, making it a natural companion to the brewing method in this tutorial.

FrontStreet Strawberry Candy — a Geisha-leaning blend with a pronounced floral lift and sweet fruit notes. It brews just as well as a pour-over, and it is a good choice for anyone who wants the elegant, perfumed side of coffee without stepping all the way up to a single-origin Geisha.