Colombian Cauca Coffee Brands and Brewing Steps

This batch comes from a special Cup of Excellence selection from Colombia. Variety: Caturra. Process: fully washed, then sun-dried.

Coffee Details

Variety: Caturra

Batch: Special micro-lot

Flavor notes: Nuts, dark chocolate, caramel

Colombian Coffee Heritage

True to Colombia's fine traditions, Cauca coffee is hand-picked and wet-processed. And while many producing regions have been replacing their old coffee varieties with newer ones in pursuit of better disease resistance and higher yields, Cauca stands out for keeping predominantly Caturra, along with the heirloom Typica and Bourbon varieties.

The defining traits of Cauca coffee are its wonderful acidity and beautiful sweetness. Combined with Colombia's typically mild mouthfeel, this has made the region's coffee highly sought after by buyers. High-quality Cauca coffee typically shows rich floral notes, high acidity, pleasant sweetness, medium body, purity, gentleness, and overall balance.

Origin Profile

Cauca Department, named after the Cauca River, sits in southwestern Colombia. Together with Narino and Huila, it forms one of the country's most important specialty coffee regions.

Cauca is an origin-certified Colombian coffee region with an average altitude of 1758m, rising to 2100m at its highest. The region's topography, rainfall, temperature, and volcanic soil create near-ideal conditions for coffee cultivation.

The most striking climatic difference between Cauca and other regions is its wide temperature swing. The daily average temperature is 11°C, with a daytime average of 18°C. That day-night gap is a key factor in quality: cooler nights and the relatively high altitude slow the coffee's growth rhythm, letting the seeds and beans absorb more nutrients from the fruit, which is exactly why Cauca coffee shows such vibrant acidity and such a distinctive sweetness.

Brewing Method

To hand-pour Colombian coffee, use 15g of coffee at a medium grind size, a V60 dripper, and water at 88-89°C. Pour 30g of water first for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and pause. Wait until the water level drops to about half before continuing, then pour slowly up to 225g total, leaving the tail end behind. The water-to-coffee ratio is 1:15, with an extraction time of about 2 minutes.

Product Information

Colombia Cauca Best Cup Regional Select

Country: Colombia

Grade: Cup of Excellence

Region: Cauca Department

Roast degree: Medium roast

Processing method: Washed

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Colombian coffee is remarkably versatile, it works as an espresso blend component and as a single-origin pour-over, in bright fruity styles as well as full-bodied ones, so there is something for every taste. If you enjoy the nutty, chocolatey depth of this Cauca lot, try FrontStreet Coffee's Washed Huila next. Huila, in the south of Colombia's Central Cordillera, is the country's most famous specialty region: rolling hills planted above 1500 meters, where Colombia's most important rivers converge and supply abundant water. Roasted medium-dark, it highlights the sweet aroma of dark chocolate and nuts with a moderate crema and a full-bodied cup, great as a pour-over or in a French press, and equally at home in a moka pot or espresso machine for americano and latte.

Brewing suggestion: keep the recipe above, 15g of medium-ground coffee, a 30g bloom for 27 seconds, water at 88-89°C, a 1:15 ratio, and a 225g total pour in about two minutes. If you brew with a home espresso machine, FrontStreet Coffee's Signature Espresso Blend, which pairs Brazilian cream-and-nut sweetness with Colombian dark chocolate bitterness, also makes a dense, silky, milk-friendly base for lattes.