How did Colombia become a coffee powerhouse?

Colombia is the world's third-largest coffee producer and the largest processor of washed Arabica, with about 40% of exported beans reaching specialty grade. Planting experiments began in the 19th century: Don Mariano Ospina Rodriguez established a coffee trial plantation in Fredonia, Antioquia, in 1835, became president in 1857, and published the country's first coffee cultivation textbook in 1880.

The FNC and later regional specialization shaped today's map, with Huila, Cauca, Nariño, and Santander as representative producing areas. The Sidra variety gained attention through the World Barista Championship, and Finca El Diviso in Huila is one of the farms tied to that cultivation story. Colombian beans appear on most specialty menus, often brewed by pour-over.

As the world's third-largest coffee producer, Colombia is also the largest processor of washed Arabica, with 40% of its exported beans reaching specialty grade. Front Street Coffee regularly offers a variety of Colombian beans in its stores year-round, including Rose Valley, Flor de Luna, Big Belly, Sidra, and Huila, all of which can be brewed by pour-over. This article starts from the 19th-century planting experiments, outlines key milestones such as the founding of the FNC, introduces representative producing regions including Huila, Cauca, Nariño, and Santander, and focuses on analyzing the Sidra variety that has gained fame in recent years due to the World Barista Championship, as well as the cultivation story of Finca El Diviso in the Huila producing region. Finally, it includes the pour-over parameters for Front Street Coffee's Sidra coffee beans.

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Colombia firmly holds the position of the world's third-largest coffee producer and is also the country with the largest volume of washed Arabica processing. Currently, 40% of its exported coffee beans reach specialty grade. On the menus of many coffee shops, Colombian beans are almost never absent. Taking Front Street Coffee as an example, varieties such as Rose Valley, Flor de Luna, Big Belly, Sidra, and Huila can all be presented by pour-over.

Today, Front Street Coffee will start with the planting history of Colombia and take everyone to learn about this specialty coffee powerhouse.

Colombian Coffee History

According to Front Street Coffee's research, coffee was introduced to the land of Colombia as early as the 19th century. Don Mariano Ospina Rodriguez was one of the earliest pioneers to carry out coffee planting experiments in Colombia.

In 1835, Don Mariano established a coffee experimental plantation in Fredonia, Antioquia. With his rich knowledge and experience in coffee cultivation, he began to promote and teach coffee growing techniques to local farmers.

In 1857, Don Mariano was successfully elected President of Colombia.

In 1879, the Colombian government passed the Coffee Act to promote the development of the coffee planting industry.

In 1880, Don Mariano published the country's first textbook on coffee cultivation techniques, titled "Coffee Planting: Basic Concepts Every Farmer Can Master." Shortly thereafter, the price of Colombian coffee on the New York market rose from 10.6 cents per pound in 1887 to 18.8 cents per pound in 1893.

From the 1920s to the 1930s, the Colombian government implemented land reform to provide support for small producers. Therefore, Front Street Coffee believes that the success of Colombia's coffee industry is inseparable from the marketing and promotion of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC).

In 1927, the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia was announced in Medellín. This is a union organization that brings together 560,000 coffee-producing families from 590 municipalities in 22 departments across the country. The first chairman of the FNC was Luis Mariano Ospina Pérez, the grandson of President Mariano. Under Ospina's leadership, the FNC successfully consolidated the country's coffee industry and achieved great success in the global market. This initiative made coffee a major export crop for Colombia and completely transformed the country's economic landscape.

Colombian Coffee Producing Regions

Colombia is located in northern South America. On the map, the country's coffee planting areas are distributed along the Andes Mountains, extending from south to north, with producing regions mainly concentrated in the central and western parts. Due to the large span of planting areas, different geographical conditions and climatic characteristics create different production seasons, and Colombia can harvest coffee almost all year round.

Colombia's planting altitude is relatively high, ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 meters. Influenced by the diverse terrain of the Andes, the local microclimates are rich, rainfall is abundant, and the temperature remains around 18 degrees Celsius year-round, which is very suitable for coffee tree growth. This is also the primary reason for the outstanding quality of Colombian coffee. Between 30% and 40% of the country's rural population depends on coffee production for their livelihood. Local agriculture is operated in a small-farm model, and coffee cultivation is the same. Farms are usually not large, generally only about two hectares. Farm owners carefully tend the plants in their fields and plant tall trees or banana trees around the coffee trees to provide shade.

Geographically, Colombia's coffee planting areas can be divided into three producing regions: northern, central, and southern, among which, in terms of coffee bean quality, they are mainly distributed in the south. Below, Front Street Coffee will introduce a few more representative producing regions: Huila, Cauca, Nariño, and Santander.

Representative Colombian Specialty Coffee Estate — Sidra

At the 2022 World Barista Championship, champion barista Anthony Douglas used Colombian Sidra coffee beans in the competition. Coincidentally, the 2019 World Barista Championship champion Jooyeon Jeon also used Sidra coffee (though produced in Ecuador). This made people start paying attention to what exactly Sidra coffee is.

After reviewing the materials, Front Street Coffee found that Sidra coffee originally came from Pichincha Province in Ecuador, where locals called the variety Sydra. According to records, Sidra is a laboratory variety developed by crossing Typica and Red Bourbon. Later, through genetic comparison, it was found that Sidra coffee shares similar genes with Ethiopian native species. Therefore, some scholars also speculate that Sidra was developed by crossing an experimental research variety exported from Ethiopia with local Bourbon coffee varieties in Ecuador. At present, the Sidra variety is mainly planted in two producing countries: Ecuador and Colombia.

After the exposure from Anthony Douglas's competition, people began looking for the coffee beans used by the champion barista. The Sidra coffee beans selected by Anthony came from Finca El Diviso in the Huila producing region of Colombia.

Where is Finca El Diviso?

Finca El Diviso is located in Huila, one of Colombia's most famous coffee producing regions, at an altitude of about 2,100 meters, covering an area of 14 hectares. This is a family-style coffee estate founded by Jose Uribe Lasso in 1996 and has more than 25 years of coffee planting experience to date.

At present, the estate is mainly operated by Nestor Lasso. He is young and full of drive. His grandfather led him into the grand world of coffee, while his father inherited the farm and has even stronger abilities in coffee cultivation. Influenced by his family, Nestor continuously strives for excellence in coffee planting and processing and has planted twelve bean varieties, including Caturra, Colombia, Sidra, Castillo, Geisha, and Bourbon.

Nestor's family manages the estate together, and the quality of the coffee beans continues to improve, bringing Nestor better returns as well. They successfully established a new large farm to plant and produce higher-quality coffee beans, and they continue to work hard in the hope of becoming a great family estate.

For Nestor, Finca El Diviso is a fortunate new starting point. He believes that the land in Huila is very fertile, and anyone hardworking and willing can escape poverty by growing coffee crops in nutrient-rich soil.

What are the characteristics of Front Street Coffee's Sidra coffee?

Although genetic testing shows that Sidra has a genetic connection with Ethiopian coffee varieties, it is currently mainly planted in Colombia and Ecuador, at altitudes ranging from 1,650 to 1,800 meters. In addition, some producing areas also plant a small amount of Sidra on a small scale for experimental purposes.

The Sidra plant has a thick trunk and can reach up to 4 meters in height. It requires appropriate shade when planted and is immune to many pests, but it is susceptible to leaf rust and coffee berry disease. The leaves are slender, and the flowers have five petals when blooming. The fruit is densely distributed, so yields are very high, and the fruit is larger and rounder than most Arabica varieties; the green beans are slender and elongated, somewhat similar to Geisha.

Given that Sidra is still planted in relatively small quantities and has floral and fruity characteristics comparable to Geisha, expressing flavors such as peach, citrus, grape, and honey, with moderate acidity and a rounded mouthfeel, its price is also relatively high.

Front Street Coffee has also introduced Sidra coffee beans from Finca El Diviso. This coffee bean uses a double anaerobic washed process, highlighting the coffee's rich acidity. Front Street Coffee uses a medium-light roast, and the flavor performance in cupping shows rich fruit flavors such as apricot, citrus, and grape.

Front Street Coffee Sidra Coffee Bean Pour-Over Parameters

Dose: 15g

Ratio: 1:15

Water temperature: 91 degrees

Grind size: medium-fine grind (80% passing through a No. 20 sieve)

Pouring method: three-stage

In the first stage, pour 30ml and bloom for 30 seconds. In the second stage, pour 120ml in a small stream in a circular motion. When the water level drops to the halfway point, in the third stage, pour 90ml in a small stream in a circular motion. The extraction time is 2 minutes.

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