How Colombian Santa Rita Coffee Comes About and How Colombian Coffee Bean Grades Are Classified

Caturra and Catuai Coffee Varieties

Compared to these plant characteristics, you might be more concerned about the taste of Caturra. The higher the altitude where Caturra is grown, the better the quality, but the corresponding yield is lower. When lightly roasted, Caturra has distinct acidic aromas and an overall brightness. With proper processing, its sweetness can be exceptionally well-expressed, but the coffee body is relatively lower compared to Bourbon, and the cleanliness of the mouthfeel is somewhat lacking.

Typically, Caturra produces red cherries, but in extremely rare regions, there are yellow Caturra varieties. For example, Hawaii grows very small quantities of yellow Caturra.

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

The Catuai tree is relatively short. Compared to other coffee trees, Catuai's fruit grows more firmly and is not easy to pick. The fruit comes in both red and yellow varieties. To date, no superior taste has been found in yellow fruit compared to red fruit. On the contrary, some people have discovered in cupping that although coffee processed from some yellow fruits has good acidity, the cleanliness of the coffee mouthfeel is worse than that from red fruits.

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

Product Information

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee
Ingredients: House-roasted
Shelf life: 90 days
Net weight: 227g
Packaging: Bulk
Taste: Mellow and aromatic
Coffee bean state: Roasted beans
Contains sugar: No
Origin: Colombia
Coffee type: Colombian coffee
Roast level: Medium roast

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, situated in a micro-production region adjacent to the Andes Mountains. This premium coffee is collaboratively produced by 9 nearby farms. These 9 farms still use traditional methods to process coffee: hand-picking coffee cherries, then subjecting them to traditional washed processing, with the processed beans laid out on racks to dry in the sun. The environment surrounding the Andes Mountains provides this coffee-growing region with fertile volcanic soil and uniquely advantageous water resources.

Varieties: Catuai, Caturra

Estate: Santa Rita

History of Colombian Coffee

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

First theory: It is said to have come from the island of Haiti in the Caribbean Sea, arriving via waterway through El Salvador in Central America.

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

Third theory: The earliest record of coffee cultivation in Colombia appears in Spanish missionary Jose Gumilla's book "The Illustrated Orinoca." He described his experiences while preaching 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.

Brewing Recommendations

Hand-poured Colombian Santa Rita: 15g of grounds, medium grind size (Fuji Royal's ghost tooth grinder #4), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water for a 27-second bloom, then pour to 105g and pause. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g. Avoid the tail section. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Flavor notes: Sugarcane, clean, medium body

Colombia: Coffee Paradise

Located in northwestern South America, Colombia is a beautiful country with a long history. From ancient times, indigenous people have lived and thrived on this land. It became a Spanish colony in 1531 and gained independence in 1819. In 1886, it adopted its current name to honor Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the American continent. Colombia boasts beautiful mountains and rivers, pleasant scenery, comfortable climate, spring-like weather year-round, and fresh air. Colombia 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 mouthfeel. Among all coffees, it has the best balance, with a soft, smooth taste that can be enjoyed anytime. It has received unparalleled praise from other coffees: it is known as "green gold."

Caturra Variety Details

Caturra is a natural variant of the Arabica Bourbon variety, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant is not as tall as Bourbon, being more compact. Due to inheriting Bourbon's lineage, it has relatively weak disease resistance but higher yields than Bourbon. Although discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not suitable for growing there, so it was not widely cultivated in Brazil. Instead, it became widely popular in Central and South America, with countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua planting Caturra extensively.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you enjoy Colombian coffee, it pairs beautifully with Brazilian beans in blends — and FrontStreet Coffee's espresso lineup leans on exactly that combination. Low acidity, balance, and an approachable price have made Brazilian coffee the first choice for many specialty espresso formulas. The crema-rich Classic Blend, the nut-forward Signature Blend, the well-rounded Black Cocoa Blend recommended by many baristas, and the café-focused Commercial Blend all contain Brazilian beans, which contribute chocolate and cream aromas plus a soft interplay of sweet, sour, and bitter, with a stable extraction to match.

For single-origin exploration, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a classic starting point: medium roasted, it shows cream peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut aromas with a rounded, non-acidic cup and a light bitter finish, and it works equally well as pour-over, moka pot, single-origin espresso, siphon, or French press. Another standout is the Brazil Queen Estate Yellow Bourbon from Mogiana, where fertile red volcanic soil feeds the rare Yellow Bourbon variety — a mutation of Red Bourbon with a cleaner fruit character — yielding sugarcane sweetness, fruit, and chocolate notes you won't find from other origins.