What Makes Huila Coffee and Sidra Beans Stand Out?

Colombia ranks as the world's third-largest coffee producer, behind Brazil and Vietnam, and its southern Huila Department is known for a pure, mild profile. Finca El Diviso drew wider attention after the 2022 WBC champion chose its Sidra beans, which brought the farm and the variety into the specialty coffee spotlight.

Colombia's growing conditions support that reputation: high-altitude mountains, volcanic soil, plentiful rainfall and steady sunlight. The country has coffee, flowers, gold and emeralds as its four treasured resources, and its climate shifts with topography, from tropical rainforest on the eastern plains and Pacific coast to subtropical zones between 1,000 and 2,000 meters. Those varied zones shape the characteristics of colombian coffee by region.

Colombia, with its high-altitude mountains, volcanic soil, and abundant rainfall, has become the world's third-largest coffee-producing country. Among its many producing regions, the southern Huila Department is known for its pure and mild flavors, while Finca El Diviso has gained great fame after the 2022 WBC champion selected its Sidra coffee beans. This article will guide you through Colombia's coffee-growing conditions and the terroir characteristics of the Huila region, provide an in-depth look at Finca El Diviso's family background and the origins and plant characteristics of the Sidra variety, and include complete brewing information and flavor descriptions for Front Street Coffee's double anaerobic natural Sidra.

Colombia is rich in natural resources, with coffee, flowers, gold, and emeralds known together as the country's "four treasures," among which coffee is especially well known to the world. As the world's third-largest coffee producer, Colombia's output is second only to Brazil and Vietnam.

Colombia spans both land and sea, located in northern South America, bordering Venezuela and Brazil to the east, Ecuador and Peru to the south, Panama to the west, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the north. Its terrain can be broadly divided into the Andean mountain region in the west and the Orinoco-Amazon plain in the east.

Because it lies in the tropics, Colombia's climate varies markedly with topography: the eastern plains and Pacific coast have a tropical rainforest climate, the mountainous areas between 1,000 and 2,000 meters above sea level are mostly subtropical, and the northwest has a tropical savanna climate. Locally, the year is divided only into dry and rainy seasons, with average annual rainfall of about 11,000 millimeters and temperatures generally between 25 and 30°C. The country has many volcanoes and rivers, and forest coverage reaches as high as 51.9% of the national territory. High-altitude mountainous areas, volcanic soil, diverse climates, abundant rainfall, and sunlight together create ideal conditions for coffee cultivation.

Huila Producing Region Huila

Colombia is vast, and its coffee-growing areas are widely distributed. Influenced by mountainous terrain and microclimate differences, the flavors of coffee from each producing region vary. Currently, better-known producing regions include Antioquia, Santander, Huila, and Narino, among others.

The Huila Department is located in southern Colombia, in the southern section of the Central Cordillera, formed by the middle and eastern ranges of the Andes. Most of the area lies in the Magdalena River Valley, and it is Colombia's most renowned specialty coffee producing region. Surrounded by mountains, coffee here is grown at altitudes between 1,200 and 1,800 meters, with temperatures usually between 17°C and 23°C. Combined with abundant water resources and a unique climate, the coffee produced often has a pure, balanced, and mild taste. Front Street Coffee has a washed Colombian Huila coffee that serves as an introductory selection, with light, mild fruit acidity, along with nut, dark chocolate, and caramel flavors. It is balanced overall with noticeable sweetness.

Finca El Diviso

The Huila producing region is home to many well-known estates, and Finca El Diviso is one of them. This is a small farm of only 14 hectares. The family has been growing coffee for 27 years, and it was established in 1996 by founder Jose Uribe Lasso. It is currently managed mainly by his grandson Nestor Lasson, and the workers are almost all family and friends. Nestor is young and energetic, constantly improving cultivation and processing. In addition to varieties such as Bourbon, Caturra, and Geisha, he has also introduced rare varieties such as Pink Bourbon, Sidra, and Castillo.

At the 2022 World Barista Championship (WBC), Australian competitor Anthony Douglas chose coffee beans from Finca El Diviso for the competition and won the championship, which made Finca El Diviso and the Sidra variety suddenly famous.

Sidra Variety

Sidra, also written by some coffee farmers as Sydra or Bourbon Sidra, means "apple juice" or "cider" in Spanish. The variety is generally considered to be a hybrid descendant of Typica and Bourbon, and later genetic testing found that its genes are close to the Ethiopian landrace Heirloom. According to some records, Sidra is an experimental variety that originated from a coffee breeding center established by Nestle in Pichincha Province in northern Ecuador in earlier years. That institution was mainly dedicated to hybridizing Ethiopian landraces with local Typica or Bourbon. Although it closed several years ago, Sidra is considered one of the "unreleased varieties."

In terms of plant morphology, Sidra has slender leaves, five-petaled flowers when blooming, dense fruiting, and relatively large, round fruit. The green beans are relatively slender, and the plant as a whole is relatively tall, reaching up to 4 meters. It requires appropriate shade when cultivated and has high yield. It is resistant to several pests, but is susceptible to leaf rust and coffee berry disease.

Front Street Coffee Colombian Finca El Diviso Sidra Coffee Beans Region: Huila Producing Region Farm/Processing Plant: Finca El Diviso Altitude: 1,700-1,850 meters Variety: Sidra Processing Method: Double Anaerobic Natural Flavor: Grape, Passion Fruit, Dried Apricot, Citrus, Fermented Notes

Front Street Coffee's Finca El Diviso Sidra coffee beans use a double anaerobic natural process and a medium-light roast. Front Street uses a V60 with a 1:15 ratio and 92°C water for brewing. You can smell fermented wine aromas. On the palate, it presents fruit flavors such as grape, passion fruit, and dried apricot, with citrus-like acidity and a mild mouthfeel.

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