As the world's third-largest coffee exporter, Colombia is blessed with exceptional volcanic soil and a family-farming tradition, producing a balanced, smooth, and highly acclaimed Arabica coffee. From Huila in the south to Santander in the north, and from varieties such as Caturra and Castillo to Sidra, different regions and processing methods weave together rich layers of berry, nut, caramel, and floral notes. Front Street Coffee will guide you through an in-depth understanding of Colombian coffee's growing regions, harvest seasons, variety evolution, and brewing recommendations, and recommend a selection of representative beans to help you fully grasp the unique charm of this South American coffee kingdom.

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Colombia is the world's third-largest coffee exporter, and almost all the coffee it produces is Arabica. It is also the country that exports the most Arabica beans, so it is often listed as one of the best coffee origins in the world. Today, Front Street will introduce this coffee-producing country located on the other side of the globe.

Colombia is located in the northwest of South America, bordering Panama in Central America. Viewed from above, its western terrain looks as if it has been clawed by a wild beast, leaving three vertical "claw marks" from north to south. The country's famous growing regions are precisely distributed within the Andes Mountains, which are rich in fertile volcanic soil.

In 1808, a priest first brought coffee to Colombia by way of the French Antilles and then Venezuela. Today, Colombia is the second-largest coffee producer after Brazil, as well as the world's largest exporter of Arabica coffee beans and the largest exporter of washed coffee beans. Colombian coffee is often described as having a silky-smooth mouthfeel and is considered the most balanced of all coffees. It is soft and smooth on the palate, suitable for drinking at any time, and enjoys the praise of "green gold," a distinction few other coffees can match.

Volcanic Soil + Family-Style Operation

According to legend, coffee was introduced by missionaries from Venezuela in 1730 and began to be planted in the country's southeast. Later, due to civil war and political instability, cultivation gradually shifted to the western mountains. Thanks to the ideal growing conditions of high altitude and volcanic soil, Colombian coffee has been favored by high-end consumers in the United States and Japan since the 1940s, and the cherries must be fully ripe before they can be hand-picked. Local people deeply cherish the land they rely on for survival, and from fertilizer selection to land cultivation they emphasize moderation, so soil fatigue is relatively rare.

In addition to coffee, local people also plant tall trees or banana trees around the coffee trees. During the seedling stage, shade structures are built for the coffee trees to ensure the cool and humid environment needed for their growth. Because the humidity within the coffee groves is high and the temperature difference is small, the coffee beans mature slowly. In addition to natural conditions, another major reason Colombian coffee is superior to Brazilian coffee is family-style operation. They do not have heavy machinery for harvesting and irrigation, nor extra funds to hire workers, so all coffee cherries are picked by hand. This is conducive to the accumulation of caffeine and aromatic substances, resulting in the best coffee quality.

After research by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), it was found that an active volcano in the Huila Department in southern Colombia erupted volcanic ash in 2008. As a result, the coffee grown in this region and surrounding areas is relatively large, usually reaching screen size 17 or above, while the volcanic soil provides very abundant nutrients for the coffee trees.

Through comparative cupping by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), it was found that coffee beans grown in the southern region (including Huila) generally have richer flavors. They have delicate berry acidity, nutty flavors, and caramel-like sweetness. The soft acidity paired with a full-bodied mouthfeel is very balanced.

| Producing Regions and Seasons

Due to Colombia's latitudinal span and the influence of the Andes terrain, the country is divided from south to north into three major regions: northern, central, and southern. The southern and northern harvest seasons are relatively distinct. In the central region, depending on whether it is more northward or southward, there are main and secondary harvest seasons. There are two harvest seasons each year: the main season from October to January, and the secondary season from April to July.

Colombian coffee cultivation is distributed along the Andes Mountains, from south to north, broadly divided into the northern region (green), central region (orange, purple), and southern region (yellow). Among these, the orange and purple areas have two harvest seasons, main and secondary, while the green and yellow areas have one harvest season.

Harvest Season [Varies by Region]

Due to differences in geographical and climatic characteristics from north to south, the northern and southern harvest seasons are exactly opposite. In the central region, depending on whether it leans south or north, there are also different main and secondary seasons. It can be said that beans are produced throughout the year. Here we mainly distinguish regions by winter harvest season and summer harvest season.

The winter harvest season runs from September to December and includes the following areas:

Magdalena

Santander

Antioquia

North of Santander

Boyaca

Meta

Areas in the central region closer to the north have two harvest seasons, main and secondary. The main season is winter, from September to December, and the secondary season is summer, between April and May.

Caldas

Risaralda

Part of Cundinamarca

Part of Quindio

Part of Tolima

Areas in the central region closer to the south have two harvest seasons, main and secondary. The main season is summer, from March to June, and the secondary season is winter, from October to November.

Part of Valle, beginning to emerge in the market

Part of Quindio

Part of Cundinamarca

Part of Tolima

The summer harvest season runs from March to June and includes the following areas:

Part of Valle

Cauca

Part of Cundinamarca

Huila

Narino

Note: The harvest season referred to here is the stage after the coffee cherries in the producing region have ripened, been harvested, and begun post-processing. Usually, only 2-3 months after this stage ends will beans from the truly new harvest season arrive at our consumer end.

| Coffee Varieties

In addition to the varieties commonly seen in American producing regions, such as Caturra, Bourbon, Typica, and Pacamara, Colombia also has three disease-resistant varieties of its own: Castillo, Tabi, and the Colombia variety named after the country itself. Of course, there are also some rare and precious varieties, such as Gesha, the small-beaned Mocca, Rume Sudan, Eugenioides, Laurina, and Maraguesa (a natural hybrid of Maragogipe and Geisha).

The varieties planted in Colombia in the early period were old Typica and Bourbon. Starting in 1970, they began to be replaced by Caturra. Caturra is not only higher-yielding per tree than Typica and Bourbon, but because its tree shape is more compact, more trees can be planted per unit area.

Starting in 1961, CENICAFE began researching the Timor variety, which has Robusta lineage. It then bred the Colombia Catimor series from Timor and Caturra. After five generations of selection, in 1982 CENICAFE released Colombia's first disease-resistant cultivated variety, Colombia. Then, after leaf rust appeared in 1983, the Colombia variety began to be widely promoted for planting.

CENICAFE subsequently continued its research and development. In 2002 it released its second disease-resistant variety, Tabi (a hybrid of Typica, Bourbon, and Timor), and in 2005 it released Castillo, the most successful disease-resistant variety to date. After the major outbreak of leaf rust in 2008, Colombia began vigorously promoting the planting of Castillo.

| Processing Methods

Colombian coffee is mostly washed. Each smallholder family has a small specially made processing machine (Ecomill or Eco-Pulper). The harvested coffee cherries are poured into it, which not only removes the skin and pulp but also removes most of the mucilage, and only requires a very small amount of water. Next, the parchment beans with a small amount of residual mucilage enter a small tank or container, which may be a cement tank (sometimes tiled), or a stainless steel barrel, and are left overnight to ferment, loosening the remaining mucilage. The next day they are rinsed with clean water, completing the washed processing.

For drying, depending on the weather, if the weather is good, natural sun-drying is of course preferred. If conditions allow, there will be a small shed, and the beans are spread on wooden racks to dry in the shade. Otherwise, they are spread on an empty cement ground for drying. If the weather is bad and it is rainy and overcast, then a dryer is used for drying. Dryers all have an air inlet temperature control, usually around 50 degrees Celsius.

| Coffee Producing Regions

Colombia is best known for producing regions such as Medellin, Armenia, and Manizales, conventionally referred to collectively as MAM.

Colombia's specialty coffee producing regions are mainly in the south, at elevations above 1,500 meters, including San Augustin in Huila, Popayan in Cauca, Narino, and Tolima. The products from these places all have delicate acidity and berry aromas, along with caramel aromas and abundant sweetness.

From north to south, Colombia's producing regions include:

Santander/North of Santander

The Santander producing region is a famous region in northern Colombia, bordering the Magdalena River to the west, with a planting elevation of about 1,400-1,600 meters. Coffee beans from this region are known for their strong taste, long finish, and unique fresh herbal flavor. However, with the popularity of anaerobic processing in recent years, coffee beans from this region can display floral aromas and berry-like sweet acidity under anaerobic processing.

Front Street Colombia Rose Valley Coffee Beans Region: Colombia, Santander, Finca El Arbol Altitude: 1,700 meters Variety: Caturra Processing Method: Anaerobic Double Enzyme Washed Flavor: Rose, Strawberry, Liqueur Chocolate

Antioquia

Antioquia is located in north-central Colombia, with 126,000 hectares of coffee cultivation. The coffee beans it produces account for 18% of Colombia's output, second only to Huila in production. Most of the province consists of high mountain terrain belonging to the Andes, yet it is brushed by warm sea breezes from the Caribbean. The provincial capital, Medellin, is Colombia's second-largest city and is also an important Colombian coffee-producing region.

Tolima

Tolima is adjacent to Huila and Cauca. Running through it from north to south are the Andes Mountains (M. Andes) and the Cordillera Mountains (M. Cordillera). Between these two famous mountain systems runs the Magdalena River (R. Magdalena) from south to north.

The name Tolima comes from the earliest people who lived here, the "Pijao people." In the language of this ancient group (Pijao word), Tolima means "snowed," "covered in white snow." Farms in Tolima are generally slightly larger than farms in other southern Colombian producing regions, at about 10-15 hectares. Cooperatives are also common here, with farmers sending their small lots of coffee cherries to the cooperative's processing plant. Some farmers also choose to process them themselves, using their own small-scale processing facilities capable of handling the day's harvest.

Huila

Huila is located in the southern part of Colombia's Central Cordillera and is the country's most famous specialty coffee producing region. This area consists of mountain hills surrounded by mountains, with planting elevations above 1,500 meters. Colombia's most important rivers converge here, bringing abundant water resources and moisture.

In contrast to the common impression of mass-market Colombian coffee as balanced, mellow, and smooth, many Colombian specialty micro-lots produced by smallholders actually have strong regional flavor characteristics. In recent years, with the international market's emphasis on coffee quality and demand for specialty coffee, the original system of grading by bean size has gradually been abandoned in favor of micro-regional selections organized by smallholder coffee producers. Micro-lots provided by dozens of smallholders are consolidated from their individual harvests for sale, making it more possible to directly select many specific smallholder coffees of outstanding quality through lot-by-lot cupping.

Front Street Colombia Huila Coffee Beans

Region: Huila

Altitude: 1,500-1,800 meters

Processing Method: Washed

Variety: Caturra

Flavor Profile: Soft Fruit Acidity, Nuts, Chocolate, Caramel

For friends who like coffee with floral and fruity aromas, Front Street recommends Finca La Divisa Sidra. This is a coffee that uses double anaerobic natural processing. The Sidra variety has been discussed no less enthusiastically than Geisha in the past two years, and it has appeared on the pour-over menus of many coffee shops. When Geisha ascended to the throne of the coffee world in 2004, countless coffee varieties wanted to compete with Geisha, one after another, trying to pull it down from the throne, and Sidra is one of them.

When Front Street cupped Finca La Divisa's Front Street Anaerobic Natural Sidra, it detected a complex fruit aroma of passion fruit, citrus, grape, and honey. As the temperature dropped, it drank like bright orange juice acidity, mixed with a slight spice note of cinnamon, and after swallowing left a cocoa-like residual sweetness in the mouth. Because of such rich aromas, Sidra is suitable for making many kinds of coffee, including but not limited to pour-over, cold brew, ice drip, moka pot, and espresso machine. Different extraction methods also present different flavor tones, showing that this coffee bean has extremely high value for money. Everyone can place orders and purchase it at Front Street's Tmall flagship store.

Cauca

Cauca is a region certified for Colombian coffee origin. Its average altitude is 1,758 m, and the highest altitude can rise to 2,100 m. The region's terrain, rainfall, temperature, and volcanic soil provide suitable conditions for coffee growth. Eighty percent is mountainous, with parallel mountain systems distributed in the east and center as part of the Andes. The central mountain system includes two major volcanoes, Sotara and Petacas. On its border, Cauca is similar to other southwestern producing regions in that rainfall shows a clear monomodal distribution. The dry season mainly occurs from August to September each year, and the subsequent rainy season brings a concentrated coffee flowering season, followed by the next year's concentrated coffee harvest season.

Cauca is a region certified for Colombian coffee origin. Its average altitude is 1,758 m, and the highest altitude can rise to 2,100 m. The region's terrain, rainfall, temperature, and volcanic soil provide suitable conditions for coffee growth. Eighty percent is mountainous, with parallel mountain systems distributed in the east and center as part of the Andes. The central mountain system includes two major volcanoes, Sotara and Petacas. On its border, Cauca is similar to other southwestern producing regions in that rainfall shows a clear monomodal distribution. The dry season mainly occurs from August to September each year, and the subsequent rainy season brings a concentrated coffee flowering season, followed by the next year's concentrated coffee harvest season.

Front Street Colombia Cherry Blossom Coffee Beans Region: Colombia, Cauca Altitude: 2,050 m Variety: Castillo Processing Method: Double Anaerobic Washed Flavor: Berry juice-like mouthfeel, strawberry jam, mint tea tea-like sensation, lingering finish of mugwort and basil.

The biggest climatic difference between Cauca and other producing regions is probably its relatively large temperature difference. The average daily temperature is 11°C, while the average daytime temperature is 18°C. The day-night temperature difference is an important factor constituting high-quality coffee. The low nighttime temperatures and relatively higher altitude slow the pace of coffee growth, allowing the coffee seeds and beans to more fully absorb the nutrients of the coffee cherry, and also creating Cauca coffee's better acidity and much-praised distinctive sweetness.

Narino

Narino is located in the southwest of the country, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the west and Ecuador to the south. The Andes run across the entire province. Coffee is grown at high elevations of 1,600-2,300 meters in the cloud forest belt. The soil is fertile volcanic geology, and the beans are small in shape but plump, with a jade-green color. The vast majority of Narino's annual production is purchased by large American bean traders.

Narino is located in southwestern Colombia, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the west and neighboring Ecuador to the south. The Andes run across the province. Here there are magnificent mountain ranges and beautiful scenery, and many rivers flow through this area toward the south. It belongs to Colombia's high-mountain coffee-growing zone and has nurtured many smallholders producing specialty coffee. Narino's total annual output is about 150,000 bags, while the carefully selected bean portion is only about 6,000 bags.

| Coffee Grading

In Colombia, coffee farmers pay great attention to the size of coffee beans, so Colombian coffee beans are graded according to size. Coffee bean size is the screen size, with one screen being 1⁄64 inch = 0.48 cm. Among these, Supremo is the finest and largest, followed by Excelso, and finally Extra. (Excelso is a commercial bean created by traders mixing Supremo and Extra for cost considerations.)

| Colombian Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Before discussing how to brew, Front Street recommends choosing freshly roasted coffee beans. If you use old coffee beans that have been stored for a long time for brewing, the coffee's aroma may already have been lost, and even the most precise brewing technique will find it difficult to restore the coffee's flavor. Front Street deeply understands the importance of freshness, so the coffee beans shipped are all freshly roasted within 5 days, and when customers receive them they are still in their freshest state.

At present, the 5 Colombian coffee beans sold by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) (Flower Moon Night, Rose Valley, Hanami, Cherry Blossom, and Huila Coffee Beans) all use medium roasting. At this roast level, the substances in the coffee beans are relatively easy to release, so you can use a grind size similar to granulated sugar (75% passing through a Chinese No. 20 standard sieve), and then brew with 90°C water.

Front Street offline store Colombian coffee brewing parameters: 90°C water temperature, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, grind size with 75% passing through a Chinese No. 20 standard sieve, 15 g coffee grounds, V60 dripper, three-stage extraction.

Three-stage extraction: In the first stage, use 30 g of water to bloom for 30 seconds, pouring evenly in circles to form a dome. In the second stage, pour 95 g of hot water. When the coffee bed has dropped halfway, begin pouring the third stage of 100 g until all the coffee has finished dripping. Note: begin pouring from the center point, using a gentle, small stream in circles throughout, to avoid uneven extraction.

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