Colombia, with the advantageous terrain of the Andes and its diverse climates, has become an important origin of high-quality Arabica coffee worldwide. This article will start from the role of FNC and systematically sort out the screen-size grading system for Colombian green beans—the relationship among UGQ, EP, Supremo, and the Excelso export grade—and analyze the terroir characteristics and washed processing methods of the Huila region. At the same time, Front Street Coffee uses a medium-dark roasted Huila everyday coffee as an example to share brewing parameters and flavor performance, taking you to experience the classic sweet and mellow charm of Colombian coffee in the cup.

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Compared with many coffee-producing countries in Central and South America, Colombia enjoys uniquely favorable coffee-growing conditions—vast land and undulating, varied terrain together foster rich climate types, laying a solid natural foundation for the birth of high-quality Arabica coffee. Next, Front Street will take everyone to learn about the unique qualities of Colombian coffee.

Colombia has more than 500,000 coffee growers, the vast majority of whom operate on a small scale. For these people, coffee is not just a crop for making a living, but also embodies generations of hard work and the hope of harvest. Every harvest season, they can always be seen carefully selecting fruits at just the right ripeness among the trees. The Colombian coffee industry’s ability to thrive owes much to the Federacion Nacional de Cafeteros (FNC).

The FNC is a non-profit organization founded in 1927, with the core mission of safeguarding the rights and interests of coffee producers. From variety research and development, cultivation techniques, harvesting standards, green bean processing to quality control, the FNC actively participates in the dissemination of knowledge at every stage, and insists on purchasing coffee farmers’ green beans at the best price of the day, striving to fully unlock the “land potential” and “coffee farmer potential” of Colombian coffee. In terms of commercial promotion, the FNC created the classic image of Juan Valdez with his mule, making Colombian coffee famous worldwide.

At present, Colombian coffee green beans are graded according to screen size, generally using fixed-size screens, with different specifications corresponding to different aperture sizes. For example, if the screen aperture is 17 mesh, beans larger than that size cannot pass through, so the larger the screen number, the larger the particles remaining on the screen surface.

The most common grades on the market are UGQ, EP, and Supremo. It should be noted that no matter which screen-size grade the green beans belong to, as long as they are used for export, they all fall under the Excelso grade. In other words, most jute bags of Colombian coffee green beans currently sold around the world must be marked with the word Excelso—UGQ belongs to Excelso, EP belongs to Excelso, and Supremo likewise belongs to Excelso. The Excelso export grade is currently the most widely used export standard by the FNC, and it is also the best grade for Colombian green bean exports.

Excelso UGQ 12*60 (1.5%): UGQ stands for Usual Good Quality. The green bean size is above 14 mesh, with 1.5% of beans allowed to be between 12 mesh and 14 mesh, but they must be above 12 mesh, and more than 50% must be larger than 15 mesh.

Excelso EP 12*60 (10%): EP stands for European Preparation. The green bean size is above 15 mesh, with 10% of beans allowed to be smaller than 15 mesh, but they must be above 14 mesh.

Excelso Supremo 12*60 (5%): The green bean size is above 17 mesh, with 5% of beans allowed to be smaller than 17 mesh, but they must be above 14 mesh.

In addition, Colombia also has a grade called Extra for beans above 16 mesh, a grade called Premium for beans above 18 mesh that are larger than Supremo, and a grade called Minama for green beans almost entirely uniform at 15 mesh, and so on. Every farmer reports a number and enters green bean information so that green bean traceability can be carried out later. The naming of Colombian coffee green beans for export usually follows the format of country + region + grade + other details. For example, the green bean name of Front Street’s Huila everyday coffee is Colombia Huila Supremo SC17/18 FNC.

After consulting relevant materials, Front Street learned that Colombia’s coffee-growing areas are mainly distributed along the Andes Mountains. The Andes are located in western Colombia and consist of three long mountain ranges. Each mountain is like an “Eden” for Colombian coffee—the soil is fertile and rich in organic matter, and coffee trees are planted at elevations of 800 to 2,300 meters, where they can enjoy sunlight while also receiving proper shade from cloud cover. The climate among the mountains is diverse, allowing harvest seasons throughout the year. Different varieties of coffee mature one after another at different times, so busy picking figures can be seen in the groves in every season.

Colombia is vast, and its producing regions have rich coffee varieties. In addition to high-quality varieties commonly seen in Central America such as Caturra, Bourbon, and Typica, there are also disease-resistant varieties developed by Colombia itself, such as Castillo, Tabi, and the nationally named “Colombia.” With the pursuit of variety diversity, some local estates have also begun to introduce popular varieties such as Geisha.

Colombia’s producing regions are rich in water resources, and most coffee is washed processed. Family-based farms are usually equipped with special green bean processing machines (Ecomill or Eco-Pulper). After the harvested coffee cherries are poured into the machine, not only can the skin and pulp be removed, but most of the mucilage can also be cleaned off with only a very small amount of water. The parchment beans with a small amount of remaining mucilage then enter a small pool or container—possibly a tiled tank—and are left overnight to ferment, so that the remaining mucilage loosens. The next day they are rinsed clean with clear water, and finally spread out in the sun to dry to the target moisture content. The washing step greatly reduces the defect rate of coffee beans, preserves the beans’ own flavor, and presents higher cleanliness.

Located in the south, Huila is a hot specialty producing region in recent years, accounting for 12% of Colombia’s total coffee production. It is surrounded by diverse hills and mountainous terrain, with elevations above 1,500 meters, and the Colombia River converges here, providing sufficient water for coffee tree growth. Unlike the classic mellow flavor of Colombian coffee in the public impression, Huila is mostly dominated by micro-lot coffees supplied by smallholders. Different microclimates and distinctive green bean processing methods shape unique flavor aromas. But Front Street believes that to understand a coffee origin, one should start with tasting the flavor of the coffee itself, that is, using natural processing methods: washed and natural. Front Street chose washed Huila coffee as the representative face of Colombia, using medium-dark roasting to restore the classic sweet and mellow taste of Colombia.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Colombia Huila Coffee Beans

Region: Colombia Huila

Altitude: 1,500-1,800 meters

Processing method: Washed

Variety: Caturra

Flavor: Nuts, dark chocolate, caramel, soft fruit acidity

In terms of brewing, Front Street considered that this Huila everyday coffee uses a medium-dark roast level, with flavors leaning toward the rich, mellow tone of nuts and chocolate. Deeper roasting makes the coffee beans more porous, and the coffee grounds more absorbent. To avoid over-extraction, Front Street uses a medium grind size and medium water temperature, paired with a KONO dripper for extraction.

Brewing parameters: KONO dripper, 90°C water temperature, No. 20 standard sieve pass rate 75% grind size, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, 15 g coffee dose, three-stage extraction

Pour the coffee grounds into the V60 dripper, wet the coffee bed with twice the amount of water as the coffee grounds, and let it bloom for 30 seconds to form a dome. Then pour in a thin stream in circles from the inside out to 125 g in stages. When the coffee bed drops to half the height of the dripper, continue pouring the third stage with the same thin stream to 225 g, until all the coffee liquid has filtered through. Remove the dripper; the time is about 2 minutes.

This Colombia Huila everyday coffee has obvious roasted aromas of chocolate, nuts, and caramel on entry, smooth and sweet, with moderate body and a clean mouthfeel. After the temperature drops, a pleasant soft acidity can be felt.

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