Characteristics of Colombian Santa Rita Coffee Beans and Brewing Methods

About Caturra

Caturra is a natural variant of the Arabica variety Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant is not as tall as Bourbon but more compact. Because it inherits Bourbon's bloodline, its disease resistance is relatively weak, though its yield is higher than Bourbon's. Although it was discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not suited to growing there, so it was never cultivated on a large scale in the country. Instead it became widely popular in Central and South America, with Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua growing it extensively.

Flavor Profile

Compared with these botanical traits, you may care more about Caturra's flavor. The higher the altitude where Caturra is grown, the higher the quality, but the lower the corresponding yield. Lightly roasted, Caturra shows distinct acidic aromas and overall brightness. With proper processing, the sweetness can perform exceptionally well, but the body is relatively lower than Bourbon's and the cleanliness of the cup is somewhat lacking.

Variety Characteristics

Caturra usually produces red cherries, but in extremely rare regions there are also yellow Caturras—Hawaii, for example, grows a very small amount of yellow Caturra.

About Catuai

Catuai is a variety artificially hybridized from Caturra and Mundo Novo. Catuai has good resistance to natural disasters, particularly wind and rain.

Catuai trees are relatively low-growing. Compared with other coffee trees, Catuai's fruits grow more firmly and are not easy to pick. The fruits come in both red and yellow types. To date, no evidence shows that yellow fruits taste better than red. In fact, cupping tests have found that although coffee processed from some yellow fruits has good acidity, its cleanliness is worse than coffee from red fruits.

Catuai was cultivated in Brazil and is now also widely planted in Central America.

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Ingredients: In-house roasted
Shelf life: 90 days
Net weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk
Taste: Mellow and aromatic
Coffee bean state: Roasted beans
Contains sugar: Sugar-free
Origin: Colombia
Coffee type: Colombian coffee
Roast level: Medium roast

Brewing Method

Hand-poured Colombia Santa Rita. 15 g of grounds, medium grind (Fuji ghost tooth blade #4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30 g of water, let it bloom for 27 seconds, pour to 105 g and stop, wait until the bed level drops to half before pouring again, then slowly pour until reaching 225 g. Discard the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Colombia Santa Rita Special Reserve

Country: Colombia

Region: Antioquia Province

Altitude: 1600-2100 meters

Processing method: Washed

Hacienda Santa Rita is located in Antioquia Province, Colombia, in a micro-production area adjacent to the Andes Mountains. This premium coffee is produced collaboratively by 9 nearby farms. The 9 farms still use traditional methods: hand-picking the cherries, then performing traditional washed processing, with the processed beans spread on racks to sun-dry. The environment around the Andes gives this growing area fertile volcanic soil and unique water resources.

Varieties: Catuai, Caturra

Estate: Santa Rita

Colombian Coffee History

The history of coffee cultivation in Colombia can be traced back to the Spanish colonial era of the 16th century. There are many theories about coffee's history in Colombia:

Theory 1: It is said to have come from the Caribbean island of Haiti, arriving by sea via El Salvador in Central America.

Theory 2: In 1808, a priest first introduced coffee beans to Colombia from the French Antilles via Venezuela. One version suggests Colombia's first coffee seeds entered through Santander Province from Venezuela.

Theory 3: The earliest record of coffee cultivation in Colombia appears in Spanish missionary Jose Gumilla's book "The Illustrated Orinoca." He described his experiences as a missionary on both banks of the Meta River in 1730, mentioning local coffee plantations. By 1787, other missionaries had spread coffee to other parts of Colombia.

Flavor: Sugarcane sugar, clean, medium body

About Colombia

Colombia, in the northwest of South America, is a beautiful country with a long history. Since ancient times indigenous people have lived and multiplied on this land. It became a Spanish colony in 1531 and gained independence in 1819. It was renamed to its current name in 1886 to honor Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the American continent.

Colombia boasts beautiful mountains, pleasant scenery, comfortable climate, spring-like weather year-round, and fresh air. It is rich in natural resources, with coffee, flowers, gold, and emeralds known as the "four treasures." Today the country is the second-largest coffee producer after Brazil, the world's largest exporter of Arabica coffee beans, and the world's largest exporter of washed coffee beans.

Colombian coffee is often described as having a silky-smooth texture. Among all coffees it has the best balance, with a soft, smooth taste that can be enjoyed anytime. It has earned praise unattainable by other coffees: it is known as "green gold."

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Whether you are exploring Colombia through its classic Caturra and Catuai or branching out, FrontStreet Coffee's South American coffees cover both. Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, and its beans carry a moderate acidity with a fine balance of sweetness, bitterness, and body, which makes them ideal for medium roasting: the result is a nutty aroma, a mellow cup, and a gentle acidity that works as a single origin or in a blend. FrontStreet's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic single-origin entry from the well-known Cerrado region—roasted medium, it shows creamy peanut, toast, caramel, and hazelnut aromas with a rounded body, no sharp acidity, and a light bitterness, and it works for pour-over as well as a Moka pot, espresso SOE, siphon, or French press. For a rarer cup, FrontStreet's Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon comes from Mogiana near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil gives the cherries full aroma; Yellow Bourbon is a natural mutation of Red Bourbon with a cleaner fruit character, delivering a sugarcane sweetness found in almost no other region alongside fruit and chocolate notes. Brazilian beans are also the backbone of FrontStreet's espresso blends—low-acid and balanced, they add chocolate and cream aromas and a soft sweet-bitter balance that keeps extraction stable.