What Are the Characteristics of Colombian Coffee?

Colombian coffee reflects a low-latitude, high-altitude growing environment, and the country ranks third in global production. Its flavor is more layered than Brazilian coffee, with lower body and higher, more varied acidity. Common descriptors include rose floral notes, strawberry-jam sweetness, fermentation notes as the cup cools, chocolate in the finish, plus nutty and caramel tones.

The variety lineage runs from Caturra to the Colombia variety and on to Castillo, bred to resist leaf rust, and Supremo is the top screen-size grade. As one of the major coffee producers, Colombia is often blended with Brazil for nuttiness and body; single-origin lots instead show the floral and berry profile.

Colombian coffee ranks third in global production, and its low-latitude, high-altitude growing environment creates superior quality. From Caturra to the Colombia variety, and then to the evolution of Castillo, the Colombian coffee industry has continuously innovated while battling diseases such as leaf rust. This article will systematically sort out the variety lineage of Colombian coffee, the distribution of major producing regions, the Supremo grading standards, and, combined with Front Street Coffee's brewing plan, take you deeper into the unique charm of this South American specialty coffee—from rose floral notes to berry jam flavors, from nutty tonality to caramel sweetness, all in one go explaining the key points of tasting Colombian coffee.

Many customers who come to FrontStreet Coffee often mention that the Americano produced by Front Street tastes noticeably different from that of other cafes. This phenomenon is actually easy to understand—different coffee beans are used, so the final flavor naturally varies.

Front Street's current flagship espresso blend, Warm Sun, is composed of Honduras Sherry and Natural Red Cherry, with a rich fermented wine aroma that has captured the taste buds of a large number of coffee lovers. However, when it comes to traditional-style espresso blends, Front Street also has reserves. In the early days of opening the shop, Front Street used the approach common to most cafes on the market: Brazilian beans blended with Colombian beans. The consideration behind this combination was to strengthen the nutty tonality in the espresso while enhancing the drink's body, making it perform better when combined with milk.

Because Brazil plus Colombia long occupied the mainstream blend position, many consumers therefore developed the misconception that the coffees of the two countries have similar flavors. In fact, the coffee styles of Brazil and Colombia are completely different. In simple flavor terms, Front Street believes Brazilian beans have lower acidity and greater body, while Colombian beans have richer and more varied flavor layers. Take Front Street's Colombian single-origin Flower Moon Night as an example: in the cup you can feel intense rose floral notes, with a very distinct strawberry jam-like sweetness. As the temperature drops, fermented notes gradually emerge, and the finish leans toward chocolate tonality.

Colombia currently ranks third in the world in coffee production. Almost all coffee in the country is uniformly produced and exported by the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC). This is a non-profit commercial association representing more than 50,000 producers, the vast majority of whom are small family farms. Front Street once analyzed in detail the growing environments of Brazil and Colombia in an article discussing the differences between Brazilian and Colombian coffee. Colombia's coffee growing conditions can be called uniquely favorable: low latitude, high altitude, plus rich surface topography, fundamentally laying a superior foundation for coffee quality.

According to specialty coffee books, the two main varieties of Colombian coffee are Caturra and Colombia. After Caturra was introduced from Brazil in the 1960s, this variety replaced the earliest Typica. By the 1980s, the promotion of the new Colombia variety caused Typica's production to shrink sharply. Everyone is relatively familiar with Caturra, but what about the Colombia variety? It is actually a hybrid variety bred in the 1980s, with Caturra and Timor ancestry. Friends who know coffee may ask: isn't that just Catimor? At the time, the FNC insisted that although the Colombia variety is related to Catimor, its flavor is far more elegant than ordinary Catimor. The reason is that this variety underwent multiple generations of Arabica hybridization, and its flavor quality had fundamentally changed.

The Colombia variety (Variedad Colombia) was developed by Cenicafe between 1968 and 1982 through more than five generations, and is the product of a successful combination of Caturra and a Timor hybrid. The development timing of this variety happened to come just before Colombia's first outbreak of coffee leaf rust in 1983. Although the new variety helped the country's farmers survive the crisis, Cenicafe predicted that other diseases would follow, so it continued its improvement work. In the early 2000s, coffee berry disease (CBD) appeared in the country, further accelerating the research process. These efforts ultimately gave rise to the two varieties Tabi and Castillo.

The Castillo variety was officially granted to coffee growers in May 2005, marking a milestone achievement in the rust-resistant Colombia program promoted by the FNC. The core goal of this program was to restore and renew the production of high-quality Colombian coffee. At present, Castillo has become the most widely planted variety in Colombia. Front Street Sakura is a Castillo coffee bean, produced in the country's famous Huila region.

In recent years, when people mention the specialty coffee region Huila, they always think of Finca El Diviso, which appeared at the World Barista Championship. Here we recommend Front Street Sidra coffee and Front Street Maragogipe coffee. Both beans use medium roasting and have charming floral aromas and juicy character, suitable for many brewing methods, including moka pot, coffee machine, cold brew pitcher, pour-over, clever dripper, etc., and therefore have become the first choice of many coffee lovers. Everyone can place orders at Front Street's Tmall flagship store.

Brew according to FrontStreet Coffee's standard three-stage extraction method:

Dripper: V60 #01

Dose: 15g

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Brewing water temperature: 90°C

Grind size: medium-fine grind (78% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve)

First pour in 15 grams of coffee grounds, then add water at twice the dose for blooming. After even heating, the coffee bed will swell into a moderately sized dome. After waiting 30 seconds, begin the second pour, circling from the center outward to about 125 grams. When the liquid level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, perform the third pour, which needs to reach 225 grams. After extraction is complete, control the total time to about 2 minutes.

This Colombian coffee has a relatively prominent spice note on the palate, with a slight mugwort-like aroma, obvious berry jam flavor, and a strong fermented feel.

Colombian specialty coffee beans mainly come from the southern region, generally at altitudes above 1,500 meters, covering San Agustin in Huila Department, Popayan in Cauca Department, Narino Department, and Tolima Department. The coffee produced in these areas all carries delicate floral aromas. The overall flavor characteristics of Colombian coffee are that both acidity and sweetness are very prominent, accompanied by caramel aroma and abundant sweetness. Colombia's coffee-growing belt is also called the "Coffee Triangle," distributed along the Andes Mountains from south to north.

Main producing areas of Colombian coffee:

Antioquia - Medellin (18% of total production)

Tolima - Ibague

Caldas - Manizales (29% of total production)

Valle del Cauca - Cali (13% of total production)

Huila - Neiva (5% of total production)

Cauca - Popayan (4% of total production)

Santander - Bucaramanga

Anyone who knows coffee knows that altitude is closely related to coffee quality. The higher the altitude, the thinner the oxygen and the lower the temperature, and the longer the coffee tree's growth cycle, thus giving it more ample time to accumulate sugars and aromatic substances. Because only high-quality coffee is allowed to be exported, the FNC implements extremely strict controls on every shipment. Coffee beans are classified according to the following grades.

Supremo 18: large and smooth beans, appropriately selected on a No. 18 screen, with 10% flexibility allowed below that screen, but retained by a No. 17 screen. Supremo 17/18: large, uniform, and flat beans, retained above No. 17/18 screens, with 5% flexibility below that mesh, but retained by a No. 14 screen. Excelso EP 10% and 5%: flat beans, between large, medium, and small in size, retained above a No. 15 screen, with 10% or 5% flexibility for beans collected on No. 14/12 screens. UQG: "Usual Good Quality": below No. 14 screen but above No. 12 screen, with a maximum of 1.5% of production allowed.

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