How Do Arabica Beans From Huila Taste in the Cup?

Colombia's Huila region grows Pink Bourbon, a rare arabica beans variety created by crossing Red Bourbon with Yellow Bourbon and named for the pink hue of its ripe cherries. Recessive genes make that color hard to keep consistent, so yields stay limited. Two versions are analyzed here: a washed lot with citrus, berries, and cherry tomato notes, and an anaerobic washed lot with smoked plum, blackberry, and cocoa.

Colombia ranks as the world's third-largest coffee exporter and ships more arabica beans than any other country. Its specialty regions sit above roughly 1,500 meters, including San Augustin in Huila, Popayan in Cauca, Narino, and Tolima. The article covers processing methods, roasting recommendations, and pour-over parameters for both Pink Bourbon lots, giving a full brewing reference for each.

Pink Bourbon is a highly representative rare variety from Colombia's Huila region, produced by crossing Red Bourbon with Yellow Bourbon. It gets its name from the unique pink hue of the ripe coffee cherries. The mutual interference of its recessive genes makes this pink color difficult to preserve consistently, and yields are extremely limited. Front Street Coffee has selected two Pink Bourbon beans from the Huila region—semi-washed and anaerobic washed. The former presents bright notes of citrus, berries, and cherry tomatoes on the palate, with honey sweetness and floral undertones emerging as the temperature changes, and a smooth, clean mouthfeel. The latter delivers deep berry flavors of smoked plum and blackberry, with crisp citrus acidity, interwoven with honey sweetness, black tea body, and cocoa in the finish. This article will systematically outline Colombia's coffee-growing regions and variety characteristics, and provide detailed information on the processing methods, roasting recommendations, and pour-over parameters for both Pink Bourbon beans, offering coffee enthusiasts a complete brewing reference.

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Colombia is the world's third-largest coffee exporter, primarily producing Arabica varieties. In Front Street's everyday drinking series, there is a bean from the Front Street Colombia Huila region that showcases Colombia's most classic flavor profile—rich nutty and chocolate notes with excellent sweetness. Huila is a vitally important coffee-producing region in Colombia. In addition to the classic everyday drinking beans, Front Street has also launched a Front Street Colombia Pink Bourbon coffee bean, which has won the favor of many of Front Street's new and loyal customers with its scarcity and outstanding flavor performance.

Colombian Coffee Colombia is located in the northwest of South America, adjacent to Panama in Central America. In 1808, a priest traveling via the French Antilles and Venezuela first brought coffee to Colombia. Today, Colombia has become the world's third-largest coffee exporter, mainly shipping Arabica coffee beans, and is also the country that exports the most Arabica beans. Colombia is rich in resources, with coffee, flowers, gold, and emeralds known together as the "Four Treasures."

Colombian Coffee Regions Colombia's specialty coffee regions are concentrated in the south, generally at elevations above 1,500 meters, covering San Augustin in Huila, Popayan in Cauca, Narino, and Tolima.

From north to south, Colombia's main coffee regions are as follows: Santander/North of Santander: Located in northern Colombia, bordering the Magdalena River to the west, with cultivation at elevations of approximately 1,400–1,600 meters. Coffee from this region is known for its intense flavor, long finish, and unique fresh vegetal notes. Antioquia: Located in north-central Colombia, with a coffee cultivation area of 126,000 hectares, accounting for 18% of Colombia's total production, second only to Huila. Most of the province features the high mountain terrain of the Andes (M. Andes), while also benefiting from warm Caribbean sea breezes. The provincial capital Medellin is Colombia's second-largest city and an important coffee-producing area in Colombia.

Tolima: Adjacent to Huila and Cauca, the north-south trending Andes (M. Andes) and Cordillera (M. Cordillera) mountain ranges run through this area, with the Magdalena River (R. Magdalena) flowing from south to north between the two mountain systems. Huila: Located at the southern end of the Central Cordillera in southern Colombia, it is the country's most renowned specialty coffee region. Surrounded by mountains with predominantly hilly terrain, cultivation takes place at elevations above 1,500 meters. Colombia's most important rivers converge here, bringing abundant water resources and moisture. Cauca: A certified Colombian Coffee Origin region, with an average elevation of 1,758 meters, reaching up to 2,100 meters at its highest. The local terrain, rainfall, temperature, and volcanic soil provide ideal conditions for coffee cultivation. 80% of the province is mountainous, with parallel mountain ranges in the east and center that are part of the Andes. The central range includes two major volcanoes, Sotara and Petacas. Narino: Bordering the Pacific Ocean to the west and Ecuador to the south, the Andes run through the entire province, with multiple rivers flowing southward through it. It is a high-mountain coffee-growing region in Colombia that has nurtured many specialty coffee smallholders. Narino is also Colombia's first coffee region named after its origin.

Colombian Coffee Bean Varieties In addition to the varieties commonly found in the Americas such as Caturra, Bourbon, Typica, and Pacamara, Colombia also has three disease-resistant varieties unique to the country: Castillo, Tabi, and the Colombia variety that shares the country's name. There are also rare and precious varieties such as Geisha, the small-beaned Mocca, Rume Sudan, Eugenioides, Laurina, Maraguesa, and Pink Bourbon. Today Front Street will focus on Pink Bourbon. Pink Bourbon was developed by crossing Red Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon, and was first cultivated in the Huila region. Initially, it was interplanted with other Bourbon coffees and Caturra, and only later was it harvested and processed separately. The ripe coffee cherries display a romantic pink color; however, maintaining this pink is quite difficult because the color of the coffee fruit is ultimately determined by recessive genes in the pollen grains. The pollen grains involved in the cross may carry either the yellow gene偏向 Yellow Bourbon or the red gene偏向 Red Bourbon, and since these are all recessive genes, they easily interfere with one another. As a result, Pink Bourbon is a very rare variety, commonly found in Colombia and Guatemala.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Colombia Huila Semi-Washed Pink Bourbon Coffee Beans

Country: Colombia Region: Huila Elevation: 1,760m Variety: Pink Bourbon Processing: Semi-washed Flavor: Citrus, berries, cherry tomatoes, honey, floral

【Semi-Washed】 Semi-washed is a modified processing method designed to reduce the water consumption of the traditional washed method. The initial steps of screening floating beans and removing the pulp are the same as the washed method, but the mucilage removal stage uses a machine to scrape it off directly, skipping the soaking fermentation and washing rinse processes. Drying is done by natural sun-drying or mechanical drying until the moisture content drops to 12%. The flavor of semi-washed beans falls between sun-dried and washed beans—less acidic than washed beans and less sweet than sun-dried beans. 【Roasting Recommendations】

【Brewing Recommendations】 The specific brewing parameters used by Front Street are: V60 dripper, water temperature 90°C, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15 grams of coffee, grind size with 80% passing through a Chinese No. 20 standard sieve. Front Street uses a staged extraction: the blooming water is twice the weight of the coffee grounds, i.e., 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, followed by a slow circular pour with a thin stream to 125 grams for the first stage. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225 grams and stop. The total extraction time is controlled at 2 minutes.

【Pour-Over Flavor】 The palate presents notes of citrus, berries, and cherry tomatoes. As the temperature changes, honey-like sweetness gradually emerges, with floral notes in the finish, and a smooth, clean mouthfeel.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Colombia Huila Anaerobic Washed Pink Bourbon Coffee Beans

Country: Colombia Region: Huila Estate: Hope Estate Elevation: 1,900m Variety: Pink Bourbon Processing: Anaerobic washed Flavor: Smoked plum, blackberry, citrus, black tea body, cocoa

【Anaerobic Washed】 The coffee beans complete fermentation in an oxygen-free container. After the ripe coffee cherries are picked, they are first placed directly into polypropylene woven bags for a 12-hour dry fermentation. After this stage, the coffee is depulped, ready for the second round of fermentation.

In the second round of fermentation, the coffee beans undergo 24 hours of fermentation in an anaerobic environment—the beans are transferred to plastic tanks and sealed to cut off oxygen circulation. After both stages are complete, the coffee beans are slowly dried on raised beds for 20 to 25 days until the moisture content drops to between 10% and 12%. Anaerobic processing is extremely challenging for the processor, as a slight misstep can easily lead to over-fermentation, making the coffee taste more like vinegar than fruit.

【Roasting Recommendations】

【Brewing Recommendations】 The specific brewing parameters used by Front Street are: V60 dripper, water temperature 90°C, water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15 grams of coffee, grind size with 80% passing through a Chinese No. 20 standard sieve. Front Street uses a staged extraction: the blooming water is twice the weight of the coffee grounds, i.e., 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, followed by a slow circular pour with a thin stream to 125 grams for the first stage. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 225 grams and stop. The total extraction time is controlled at 2 minutes.

【Pour-Over Flavor】 Berry flavors are prominent, reminiscent of smoked plum and blackberry. The citrus acidity is crisp and bright, with honey sweetness in the mid-palate, and a finish carrying black tea body and cocoa notes.

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