Bolivia Alasitas Estate CaturraCoffee Bean Intro:

Front Street Coffee – Bolivia Alasitas Estate Caturra Coffee Beans

Origin: Bolivia    La Paz Caranavi Region

Estate: Alasitas Estate

Elevation: 1650m

Variety: Caturra

Processing Method: Cocoa Natural Process

Bolivian Coffee

Bolivia Coffee

When it comes to specialty coffee from Bolivia, one must mention the Rodriguez family (Finca Los Rodriguez). As promoters of local specialty coffee, despite the sharp decline in Bolivia’s coffee industry economy and production in recent years, they have continued to increase investment in estate development and coffee cultivation to ensure coffee quality and the sustainable future of their coffee business.

To help farmers improve coffee quality and thus increase profits, the “Sun of Tomorrow” program was born. The Rodriguez family provides comprehensive technical guidance in variety selection, planting, and harvesting, and has established large-scale processing facilities to assist smallholders with processing, along with subsequent sales and export services. This has greatly boosted the enthusiasm and income of smallholders, safeguarding Bolivia’s rapidly declining specialty coffee industry through concrete actions.

Alasitas Estate

Finca Las Alasitas

Alasitas Estate is named after Bolivia’s grand “Abundance Festival” (Alasitas), which originally means “buy me.” It originated as a primitive market, where indigenous people traded goods through barter. Here, agricultural products, colorful round gemstones, or any special items would be “purchased.” Alasitas gradually evolved into a traditional Aymara festival. In Bolivia’s spring, farmers worship the Andean god “Ekeko” (Aymara: Iqiqu) to pray for a bountiful harvest.

La Paz Caranavi Region

La Paz Caravani

Alasitas Estate is located in the Caranavi area, which boasts unique geographical advantages. It lies in the heart of the Amazon region, featuring stunning natural landscapes and rich biodiversity—making it an ideal place for coffee cultivation. The estate leaves pathways for harvesting between coffee trees, perfectly following orderly circular lines. Viewed from above, the estate resembles a fingerprint-like pattern.

Bolivia’s coffee production has always been very limited. While managing their own farm’s coffee, the Rodriguez family also focuses on centrally harvesting fresh cherries from smallholder farmers in the Yungas region. By collaborating with smallholders in Caranavi, the estate owner has established processing stations to process coffee and guides farmers in selectively picking coffee cherries. High-quality cherries are even processed as micro-lots separately.

Caturra Coffee Variety

Caturra

This time, Front Street sourced the Caturra variety from this estate. Caturra is a Bourbon mutation, suitable for cultivation at altitudes ranging from 700m (low) to 1800m (high). It has strong altitude adaptability, but the higher the altitude, the better the flavor—though yield decreases accordingly.

Caturra closely resembles Bourbon in appearance, making differentiation somewhat challenging. Visually, the tip of the Caturra variety is slightly more curved than Bourbon, with a round and slender shape being its defining feature.

Cocoa Natural Process

Coco Natural

During the harvest season, the estate hires skilled coffee pickers who carefully select only ripe cherries. These pickers are trained to choose only mature fruits. They conduct multiple rounds of cherry picking throughout the season to ensure optimal ripeness. Harvested cherries are loaded into crates to prevent damage during transport while maintaining airflow to avoid premature fermentation.

After sorting and weighing, the cherries are thoroughly washed and spread on raised African beds to dry, turned hourly. About a week later, they are transferred to a cocoa dryer. The beans are placed in large steel tanks at no more than 40°C for approximately 35 hours, flipped every 30 minutes. Once dried, the estate uses machinery for careful hulling and sorting, followed by manual sorting under UV light and natural light.

Front Street Coffee Roasting Recommendations

Charge at 160°C, fan at 3, heat at 120; turning point at 1’32”, fan to 4 when temperature reaches 140°C, heat unchanged; at 154°C, beans turn yellow, grassy notes vanish, entering dehydration phase; at 8’30”, beans show ugly wrinkles and black streaks, toastiness shifts distinctly to coffee aroma—defining the pre-first crack stage.

At 180°C, reduce heat to 70; listen closely for first crack at 9’52”, then set fan to 5. At 188°C, reduce heat to 50; develop for 2’10” post-first crack, drop at 196°C.

Front Street Coffee Brewing Notes

Dripper: Hario V60

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Medium-Fine (76% through 20-mesh sieve)

Brew Water Temperature: 90°C

This brew uses a pulse method: first pour 30g water for a 30s bloom, causing the coffee to expand into a “hamburger” shape. Second pour: draw a small circle in the center, adding 125g water. Pour height 4cm, gentle to minimize agitation, water flow at 4g per second. When water level drops to half the bed, begin third pour: gently spiral outward from center until reaching 225g. Extraction ends after all drip-through, at 2’01”. Gently swirl the brew before tasting for even extraction.

Brew Flavors: Fermented acidity, grape juice, raisins, rich aroma, smooth mouthfeel.