How is huila coffee grown and brewed at high altitude?

Colombia is the world's third-largest coffee producer, and the San Agustín area of Huila Department grows Caturra and Colombia variety arabica at an average 1,900 meters. The Cooagustinos association produces these washed lots at Supremo grade, with a harvest split of roughly 30 percent from April to June and 70 percent from September to January.

Cup notes run to lemon, creamy caramel, nutty tones and toffee with a full, sweet mouthfeel, and the guide gives pour-over, French press and AeroPress parameters to draw them out. Colombia's output is about 12 million 60-kilogram bags a year against Brazil's 31 million, and Huila is one of the main regions where arabica beans are grown, alongside Narino, Tolima and Antioquia.

As the world's third-largest coffee producer, Colombia's San Augustin region in Huila Department, with its unique high-altitude canyon terrain and micro-batch production model, nurtures specialty coffee with rich flavor layers. This article provides a detailed introduction to the growing conditions, processing methods, and flavor characteristics of this region, and offers various extraction parameter suggestions for pour-over, French press, AeroPress, and more, helping coffee enthusiasts fully bring out the lemon, caramel, and nutty sweetness of this bean.

Colombian Coffee_Colombian Coffee Region Flavors, Estates, and Taste Characteristics_Colombian Emerald Coffee

Product Name: Colombia Huila Forest San Augustin

Country: Colombia

Region: Huila Department, San Augustin region

Producer: Cooagustinos Production Association, Huila Department

Variety: Caturra, Colombia

Altitude: Average 1,900 meters

Grade: Supremo

Processing Method: Traditional washed processing

Harvest Period: 30% from April to June, 70% from September to January

Certification: N/A

Flavor Notes: Lemon, creamy caramel, nutty tones, toffee, full and sweet mouthfeel.

Introduction:

The western part of Colombia proper is the Andes Mountains, which split into three ranges: the Western, Central, and Eastern Cordilleras. The Cauca River and Magdalena River flow along the Caribbean toward the lowland plains. Colombia is currently the world's second-largest coffee producer, using washed processing for Arabica coffee beans. It is also one of the world's largest producers of high-quality coffee, and traditional dark-roasted coffee has an intense and memorable taste. In 1808, coffee was first introduced to Colombia, brought by a priest from the French Antilles via Venezuela. Today the country is the third-largest coffee producer after Brazil and Vietnam, with an annual output of 12 million bags of 60 kilograms each, while Brazil's annual output is 31 million bags. The status of coffee in Colombia can be seen from the following example: all vehicles entering the country must be spray-disinfected to avoid inadvertently bringing in diseases that could harm coffee trees.

The main producing regions are Huila (San Augustin), Narino, Tolima, Popayan (Cauca), Valle de Cauca, Meta, Antioquia (Medellin), Magdelena (Sierra Nevada), Boyaca, Santander (Bucaramanga), and others. Colombia has approximately 700 million documented coffee trees, of which 66% are planted on plantations using modern cultivation methods, while the rest are grown on traditionally managed small farms. The main varieties include Caturra, Colombia, Tipica, Bourbon, Maragogype, and Tabi. Farms and cooperatives across the country, regardless of size, are operated by more than 500,000 farmers, distributed across 590 municipalities and 14 major coffee-producing regions. A total of 2 million Colombian citizens depend on coffee cultivation for their livelihood, contributing 12.5% to the gross domestic product.

Huila Department is located in western Colombia, where coffee grows on the canyon slopes formed at the junction of the western coastal range and the eastern cordillera. Among these, San Augustin town has the best quality because the Los Naranjos River passes through it. The riverside scenery in this area is beautiful, with large stretches of flowers and plants serving as habitat for butterflies and wind birds. This region is also a stronghold for producing good coffee in Colombia. Many small farmers in this producing area make specialty coffee beans in micro-batches that have very distinctive regional flavor characteristics. In recent years, as the international market has placed greater importance on coffee quality and demanded more specialty coffee, production has shifted to micro-regional selections organized by smallholder coffee farmers. Dozens of small farmers contribute their individual harvests, which are consolidated into a micro-batch for sale. Quality control tends to be better, and as a result there are more opportunities to identify many outstanding smallholder coffees from specific micro-regions through batch-by-batch cupping.

This micro-batch comes from the COOAGUSTINOS Production Association in Huila Department. This production association has about 800 small-scale coffee farmers, with an average farm area of about 2 hectares. The growing altitude and harvest season are divided into winter and summer seasons, with 30% from April to June and 70% from September to January. The coffee flavor has herbal notes, Southeast Asian spices, dark chocolate, dark berry acidity, orange citrus notes, cream, full acidity and body, melon-like sweetness, smooth mouthfeel, rose floral aroma, clean fruit aroma, a solid and balanced mouthfeel, and a good finish.

Brewing Suggestions for Colombian Huila Coffee

Recommended Brewing Method: Pour-over

Grind Size: 4 (Japan Fuji R440)

Water Temperature: 88°C

V60 dripper, 15g coffee grounds, water temperature 88°C, grind size 4, water-to-coffee ratio close to 1:15

Bloom with 28g water, bloom time 26s

Stages: Pour to 120ml and stop, then slowly pour to 230ml, i.e. 28-120-80, total time 1:40

Other drip extraction suggestions:

French press, recommended grind size 3.5-4 / water temperature 90°C

AeroPress, recommended grind size 2.5, water temperature 85°C

Pour-over: grind size 3.5, water temperature 88°C

Basic Knowledge and Flavor Description of Colombian Coffee

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.