Introduction to Colombian Coffee Varieties' Flavor Profiles and Estate Plantation Cultivation

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Colombian coffee beans, located in northwestern South America, are deeply loved by the coffee market and consumers for their rich dark chocolate-like body and caramel-like sweetness. Like Brazil, Colombia serves as a major producer of Arabica coffee beans worldwide, and its geographical environment is practically tailor-made for coffee cultivation.

Although Brazil produces large quantities of coffee beans, the flat terrain cannot create temperature differences between day and night, making Brazilian coffee beans relatively monotonous in flavor. In contrast, Colombia has high altitudes, and surrounding volcanoes provide very nutritious volcanic soil for the country, making coffee beans much richer in flavor.

Colombian Coffee Growing Regions

Colombia's growing areas are divided into two parts: commercial coffee bean growing regions and premium coffee bean growing regions. Colombia is most famous for regions such as Medellin, Armenia, and Manizales, commonly referred to as "MAM," which typically have rich dark chocolate flavor and caramel notes.

Colombia's premium coffee growing regions are mainly in the south, at altitudes above 1,500 meters, including San Augustin (Huila), Popayan (Cauca), Nariño, and Tolima provinces. After cupping multiple sample coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee found that coffee beans from these regions all have delicate fruity acidity and berry aromas, with caramel fragrance and full sweetness.

Today, the main varieties cultivated in Colombia are Caturra and the country's developed Colombia (yes, the variety is called Colombia), Castilla (Colombia's Catimor), with small amounts of Geisha also being cultivated.

Caturra Coffee Variety

A natural mutation of the Bourbon variety. Its advantages over Bourbon include sun exposure properties (no shade needed), dwarf stature (easy to harvest), and many branches (high yield). In terms of flavor, it's comparable to Bourbon. Therefore, it has become Colombia's main coffee variety. FrontStreet Coffee currently offers Huayeyue and Rose Valley, which are Caturra varieties.

Colombia Coffee Variety

To combat coffee leaf rust, Colombia's National Coffee Research Center Cenicafé developed this improved Catimor variety through multiple generations of backcrossing in 1980. Through multiple generations of evolution, its Robusta genes have been more diluted. The Colombian government named this coffee variety after the country "Colombia" to emphasize its difference from first-generation Catimor and help promote nationwide cultivation.

Castillo Coffee Variety

A new generation of coffee leaf rust-resistant variety jointly developed by Colombia's National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC) and Colombia's National Coffee Research Center Cenicafé. Cenicafé hopes to further improve the variety to achieve higher coffee yields, greater resistance, and quality and flavor comparable to Caturra.

FrontStreet Coffee has not yet tasted Castillo coffee beans processed through traditional methods (natural or washed), so we have reservations about whether its flavor matches Colombia's official description. Currently, FrontStreet Coffee offers the Sakura variety from Hacienda El Paraiso, processed through double anaerobic washing, presenting aromas of mugwort, mint, and eucalyptus, with flavors of berries and strawberry candy.

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