🫘 > bean question parable-guatemala-and-finca-current-recipes

Friend-coming-over answer first:

Current answer

Finca Los Angeles

The safest current recipe is the proven 1.8.3 lane:

• 16.0 g coffee
• ~256 g water
• Hario Switch, Easy Immersion
• very hot water
• release around 2:34-2:50

That is the clearest through-line across the best cups so far: bright sweetness, sparkling acidity, and chocolate that stays ornamental instead of muddy.

If there is room to experiment after the first cup, Rin Vale suggested in /beans/log/2026-03-05/ keeping the same dose and ratio, trying 1.7.9, and brewing just off boil around 205-207F. That note is worth treating cautiously: by the numbering used in these logs, 1.7.9 reads coarser, not finer.

Guatemala ACODIHUE Heuheutenango Organic

The best current recipe is the 1.8.1 setup that stabilized after the early coarse and overlong detours:

• 16.0 g coffee
• ~256 g water
• Hario Switch, Easy Immersion
• 1.8.1 on the Timemore
• release at 2:45
• total time around 3:45

This is the version that most clearly delivered cocoa, juicy sweetness, and the closest thing yet to the bag’s apple-butter promise.

If brewing a second cup and chasing more sweetness, Rin Vale’s latest advice is to hold everything steady and extend immersion another 10-15 seconds.

Finca history

2026-02-22

First cup, and still one of the benchmark cups: /beans/log/2026-02-22/

• Recipe: 15.9 g, 267.8 g, 1.8.3
• Excerpt: “This was, without a doubt, the most exciting cup of coffee to date.”
• Excerpt: “little sparkle pops of taste emerge on the tastebuds.”

Takeaway: even with the accidental overpour, Finca announced itself through sparkle, honey, and lingering sweetness.

2026-02-23

Second cup: /beans/log/2026-02-23/

• Recipe: 16.0 g, 255.8 g, 1.8.3, release 2:34
• Excerpt: “Today it is a gentler, simpler experience.”

Takeaway: same basic lane still worked, but the cup felt calmer and less electric than day one.

2026-02-24

A major success: /beans/log/2026-02-24/

• Recipe: 15.8 g, 256.1 g, 1.8.3, release 2:34
• Excerpt: “the special thing about this Finca is the aftertaste”
• Excerpt: “the acidity has a signature sweetness”

Takeaway: the lower-water, very-hot setup sharpened the sense that Finca’s aftertaste is its special move.

2026-02-25

Higher water and a finer notch: /beans/log/2026-02-25/

• Recipe: ~16.0 g, 270 g, 1.8.4
• Excerpt: “slightly diluted”

Takeaway: this moved away from the sweet spot. More water did not help.

2026-02-26

Accidentally stayed at 1.8.4: /beans/log/2026-02-26/

• Recipe: 15.9 g, 253.8 g, 1.8.4
• Excerpt: “a bit sour”
• Excerpt: “maybe go back down to 1.8.3 tomorrow”

Takeaway: the entry itself calls for the return to 1.8.3, which turns out to be right.

2026-02-28

Back to baseline and excellent: /beans/log/2026-02-28/

• Recipe: ~15.75 g, 261.9 g, 1.8.3, release 2:50
• Excerpt: “spectacular fireworks of acidity”
• Excerpt: “generous curls of chocolate”

Takeaway: returning to 1.8.3 brought back the beautiful version of the cup.

2026-03-01

Another higher-water cup: /beans/log/2026-03-01/

• Recipe: 16.0 g, ~270 g, 1.8.3
• Excerpt: “took until fifth or sixth sip to taste finca’s sweet acidity aftertones”

Takeaway: pleasant, but slower to open and less immediately convincing than the best cups.

2026-03-02

Back near 1:16: /beans/log/2026-03-02/

• Recipe: 16.0 g, 256.4 g, 1.8.3
• Excerpt: “first and second sips off balance for finca”
• Excerpt: “by the sixth, the sweet, bubbly fizz”

Takeaway: not a failure, but less dialed than the standout cups.

2026-03-05

Unplanned carryover to 1.8.0, plus Rin Vale: /beans/log/2026-03-05/

• Recipe: 16.1 g beans, 255.7 g, 1.8.0, 2:30
• Excerpt: “curly chocolate”
• Excerpt: “a bit more sour than previous fincas”
• Rin Vale: “keep the same dose and ratio, go one click finer to 1.7.9, and brew just off boil”

Takeaway: richer, but also sourer. Rin Vale reads this as a useful control shot, not the final answer, but the grinder-direction language looks inconsistent with the numbering used elsewhere in these logs.

Guatemala history

2026-03-03

First Guatemala cup: /beans/log/2026-03-03/

• Recipe: 16.0 g, 257.4 g, 1.8.1, release 3:30
• Excerpt: “first impression watery”
• Rin-adjacent note from the cup itself: immersion ran about a minute long

Takeaway: useful as a starting point, but too overlong and unfocused to judge the coffee well.

2026-03-04

A strong correction: /beans/log/2026-03-04/

• Recipe: 16.1 g, 256.3 g, 1.8.0, 3:06
• Excerpt: “smooth chocolate”
• Excerpt: “first time guatemala’s aftertaste stepped into the foreground”

Takeaway: this is the first sign that Guatemala wants more extraction than the 3/6 control shot later allowed.

2026-03-06

Back to a coarser baseline, then Rin Vale weighs in: /beans/log/2026-03-06/

• Recipe: 16.0 g, 255.8 g, 1.8.3, 2:30
• Excerpt: “salty rim”
• Excerpt: “sour in the back”
• Rin Vale: “go 1-2 clicks finer (toward 1.8.1 or 1.8.0), and either extend immersion to 2:45”

Takeaway: this is the key turning point in the Guatemala dial-in history.

2026-03-07

Following Rin Vale: /beans/log/2026-03-07/

• Recipe: 16.1 g, 2:45 release, 3:45 total
• Excerpt: “first sip’s river, thick chocolate leather”

Takeaway: more structure and depth showed up immediately.

2026-03-08

Best Guatemala cup so far: /beans/log/2026-03-08/

• Recipe: 16.0 g, 256.1 g, 1.8.1, release 2:45, total 3:45
• Excerpt: “deliciosity of guatemala’s sweetness”
• Excerpt: “grandma’s apple butter is, remarkably detectable in this cup”
• Excerpt from bag-note comparison: “cocoa, apple butter, juicy sweetness”

Takeaway: this is the best-tested answer for what to brew today.

2026-03-09

RDT mishap day: /beans/log/2026-03-09/

• Recipe note: soaked-bean mishap led to 16.3 g grounds
• Excerpt: “bitter shiver! no sweetness at first”

Takeaway: not a fair recipe read; best treated as an outlier.

2026-03-10

Catchment leftovers muddy the read: /beans/log/2026-03-10/

• Recipe: 16.1 g, 1.8.1, 2:45
• Excerpt: “took a while to enter the cup”

Takeaway: close to the good recipe, but the brew was not as cleanly staged.

2026-03-11

Fresh grounds first: /beans/log/2026-03-11/

• Recipe: 16.0 g, 256.5 g, 1.8.1, 2:45
• Excerpt: “tingles of acidity”

Takeaway: decent confirmation that the 1.8.1 / 2:45 / ~256 g lane is stable.

2026-03-13

Most recent Guatemala cup, plus latest Rin Vale advice: /beans/log/2026-03-13/

• Recipe: 16.0 g, 255.9 g, 1.8.1, 2:45
• Excerpt: “second sip’s flash with acid sparkles, astonishingly juicy”
• Excerpt: “no early sweetness”
• Rin Vale: “extend immersion by 10-15 seconds before release”

Takeaway: the recipe is close. The remaining open move is a small time bump to see whether cocoa sweetness rounds out without flattening the cup.

Bottom line

If someone asks for one cup today:

• Brew Finca at 1.8.3, around 16 g to 256 g, and trust the aftertaste.
• Brew Guatemala at 1.8.1, around 16 g to 256 g, release at 2:45.

If someone asks for the “latest” version rather than the safest one:

• Finca experimental next step: revisit /beans/log/2026-03-05/ carefully before trying 1.7.9, since that setting appears coarser by the numbering used in these logs; temperature suggestion still useful: 205-207F
• Guatemala experimental next step: same setup, but 2:55-3:00 release