Colombia Santa Rita Estate Single-Origin Bean Varieties, Brand Recommendations, and Estate Introduction

Colombia Santa Rita Estate: Single Origin Varieties, Brand Recommendations, and Estate Introduction

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Colombia

Population: 47,073,000

Colombia has well-defined growing regions and produces an impressive variety of coffees. Whether you're looking for a round, heavy coffee experience or a refreshing, fruity coffee (or something in between), Colombian beans are most likely your answer. Colombia is geographically divided, and it's not difficult to find that coffees from this region share many common characteristics. If you like coffee from one region, you'll likely enjoy coffee from other regions as well. Coffee trees in Colombia get two harvests per year: the main harvest and the second harvest, locally called "mitaca."

CAUCA

Cauca is particularly famous for its coffee cultivation surrounding the Meseta de Popayán near Inza and the city of Popayán. The high-altitude plateau provides favorable growing conditions, and its proximity to the equator and surrounding mountains protects the coffee from Pacific humidity and southern trade winds. This creates a very stable climate year-round. Additionally, the region's coffee has notable volcanic soil. Historically, there is a single rainy season from October to December each year.

Altitude: 1,700-2,100m

Harvest: March-June (main crop), November-December (mitaca crop)

TOLIMA

Tolima was one of the strongholds of Colombia's notorious rebel organization FARC until recently. Tolima has suffered from conflict in recent years, making access difficult. High-quality coffee from this region comes from small farmers cultivating very small micro-lots and exported through cooperatives.

Altitude: 1,200-1,900m

Harvest: March-June (main crop), October-December (mitaca)

Varieties: 9% Typica, 74% Caturra, 17% Castillo

NARINO

Some of Colombia's highest quality coffees grow in Nariño, producing truly stunning and complex flavors. Growing coffee in many of these high-altitude areas is challenging, with coffee trees potentially susceptible to leaf rust disease. However, Nariño is close enough to the equator that the climate remains suitable for coffee cultivation. Among Nariño's 40,000 producers, the vast majority are small farmers, each cultivating less than 2 hectares (4.4 acres). Many form associations and organizations to support each other and interact with the FNC. In fact, the average farm size is less than 1 hectare (2.2 acres), with only 37 producers in the region owning more than 5 hectares (11 acres) of land.

Altitude: 1,500-2,300m (4,900-7,500ft)

Harvest: April-June

Varieties: 54% Typica, 29% Caturra, 17% Castillo

HUILA

Huila possesses an excellent combination of soil and geographical advantages for coffee cultivation. Some of the most complex, fruit-forward Colombian coffees come from here. The region has over 70,000 coffee growers covering more than 16,000 hectares (39,500 acres).

Altitude: 1,250-2,000m

Harvest: September-December (main crop), April-May (mitaca crop)

Main varieties: 11% Typica, 75% Caturra, 14% Castillo

Due to a special combination of various factors—latitude, altitude, soil, plant species origins, coffee varieties in growing regions, climate patterns created by the dual paths of the Intertropical Convergence Zone, terrain and light intensity that constantly change throughout the day, favorable temperature ranges year-round, moderate and well-distributed rainfall, and common cultural practices including selective harvesting and processing methods including washing and drying—Colombia provides ideal conditions for coffee growth with mild climate, humid air, and harvests possible year-round. This is why Colombian coffee quality is superior. Colombia has three Cordillera mountain ranges running north-south, extending into the Andes Mountains. Coffee is planted along the highlands of these mountains. The mountain terraces provide diverse climates, making it harvest season year-round, with different coffee varieties maturing at different times. Fortunately, unlike Brazil, Colombia doesn't have to worry about frost damage. Colombia has approximately 2.7 billion documented coffee trees, with 66% cultivated using modern methods in plantations, and the rest grown on traditionally managed small farms.

Currently, Vietnam's coffee production in Asia has surpassed Colombia. Additionally, Indonesia has also developed into the world's fourth-largest coffee-producing country. In 1721, French naval officer Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu overcame numerous difficulties to bring the first coffee seedling from Africa to Martinique in Latin America—this marks the origin of coffee cultivation in Latin America. Because France was under Bourbon rule at the time, the Arabica coffee grown in Latin America acquired another name that remains renowned in the coffee industry today: "Bourbon." Today, Bourbon is an important branch of Arabica coffee. The overall flavor profile of Latin American coffee is known for its balance—all coffee flavors can be found in Latin American coffees. The common use of wet processing for green beans is also one of the characteristics of Latin American coffee. Good processing also makes the bean size larger and more uniform compared to African coffees, with lower defect rates.

Colombia is one of the world's largest producers of high-quality coffee, a shining gem on the world coffee map, a coffee land blessed by God. Arabica coffee is grown on steep slopes at altitudes of 800-1900 meters in the foothills, all hand-picked and wet-processed.

Colombia's suitable climate provides a true "natural pasture" for coffee. Colombia's coffee trees are mainly cultivated in the Andes mountain region on steep slopes around 1,300 meters above sea level, where the year-round temperature is approximately 18°C, annual rainfall is 2000-3000 mm, at latitude 1°-11° 15' N, longitude 72°-78° W, with specific altitude ranges that can exceed 2,000 meters.

Varieties: Catuai, Caturra

Estate: Santa Rita

History of Colombian Coffee Cultivation

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

One theory suggests it arrived by sea from the Caribbean island of Haiti, via El Salvador in Central America.

Another theory states that 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.

A third theory points to the earliest record of Colombian coffee cultivation appearing in Spanish missionary Jose Gumilla's book "The Illustrated Orinoca." He described his experiences while missionary work along both banks of the Meta River in 1730, mentioning local coffee plantations. By 1787, other missionaries had spread coffee to other parts of Colombia.

Hand-poured Colombian Santa Rita: 15g of coffee, medium grind (Fuji Royal hand grinder with ghost teeth), V60 dripper, water temperature 88-89°C. First pour 30g of water, let bloom for 27 seconds. Pour to 105g and stop, wait until the water level drops to half, then slowly pour until reaching 225g. Avoid the tail end. Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, extraction time 2:00.

Flavor: Sugarcane, clean, medium body

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. It was renamed to its current name in 1886 to honor Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the American continent. Colombia features beautiful mountains, 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 texture. Among all coffees, it has the best balance, with a soft, smooth mouthfeel that can be enjoyed anytime. It has earned praise unmatched by other coffees: hailed as "green gold."

Coffee Varieties

Caturra is a natural mutation of the Arabica variety Bourbon, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its plant is not as tall as Bourbon, growing more compactly. Due to its Bourbon heritage, it has relatively weak disease resistance but higher yields than Bourbon. Although discovered in Brazil, Caturra is not well-suited for growing there, so it wasn't widely cultivated in Brazil. Instead, it became popular in Central and South America, with large-scale cultivation in countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

Compared to these botanical characteristics, people might be more concerned about Caturra's flavor. The higher the altitude where Caturra is grown, the better the quality, but correspondingly lower yields. When lightly roasted, Caturra shows obvious acidity and overall brightness. With proper processing, sweetness can perform very well, but the coffee body is relatively low compared to Bourbon, and the cleanliness of the cup is somewhat lacking.

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

Catuai is a coffee variety that is an artificial hybrid of Caturra and Mundo Novo. Catuai has good resistance to natural disasters, particularly wind and rain.

Catuai trees are relatively short. Compared to other coffee trees, Catuai's fruit grows more firmly and is harder to pick. The fruit comes in both red and yellow varieties. To date, no significant flavor difference has been found between yellow and red fruits. In fact, some cuppers have found that although some yellow-fruit processed coffees have good acidity, the cleanliness of the cup is worse than red-fruit varieties.

Catuai was developed in Brazil and is now commonly grown throughout Central America.

Manufacturer: FrontStreet Coffee, Address: No. 10 Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou City, Manufacturer Contact: 020-38364473, Ingredients: In-house roasted, Shelf life: 90 days, Net content: 227g, Packaging: Bulk, Taste: Aromatic coffee beans, Raw/cooked degree: Roasted coffee beans, Contains sugar: Sugar-free, Origin: Colombia, Coffee type: Colombian coffee, Roasting degree: Medium roast

Colombia Santa Rita Special Reserve

Country: Colombia

Region: Antioquia Department

Altitude: 1600-2100 meters

Processing: Washed

Santa Rita Estate is located in Antioquia Department, Colombia, situated in a micro-region adjacent to the Andes Mountains. This premium coffee is produced collaboratively by 9 nearby farms. These 9 farms still use traditional methods to process coffee: hand-picking coffee cherries, then traditional washing of the coffee fruit, with the processed beans laid out on racks to sun-dry. The environment around the Andes Mountains gives this coffee-growing region fertile volcanic soil and unique water resources.

The main variety of Colombian coffee is Coffea arabica. The plant is a small tree or large shrub, 5-8 meters tall, usually with multiple branches at the base; old branches are grayish-white with swollen nodes, young branches are hairless and flattened. Leaves are thin and leathery, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 6-14 cm long, 3.5-5 cm wide, apex long acuminate with acuminate portion 10-15 mm long, base cuneate or slightly obtuse, rarely rounded, entire or shallowly wavy, hairless on both surfaces, with or without small pits in the vein axils on the lower surface; midrib prominent on both leaf surfaces, lateral veins 7-13 on each side; petiole 8-15 mm long; stipules broadly triangular, those on upper part of young branches with conical long apex or awn tip, those on old branches often with abrupt apex, 3-6 mm long. Several cymes clustered in leaf axils, each inflorescence with 2-5 flowers, without peduncles or with very short peduncles; flowers fragrant, with pedicels 0.5-1 mm long; bracts partially fused at base, of two types, two broadly triangular with nearly equal length and width, the other two lanceolate, twice as long as wide, leaf-shaped; calyx tube cylindrical, 2.5-3 mm long, calyx limb truncate or with 5 small teeth; corolla white, length varies by variety, generally 10-18 mm long, usually 5-lobed at apex, rarely 4 or 6-lobed, lobes usually longer than corolla tube, apex often obtuse; anthers exserted beyond corolla tube, 6-8 mm long; style 12-14 mm long, stigma 2-lobed, 3-4 mm long. Berries broadly elliptical when ripe, red, 12-16 mm long, 10-12 mm in diameter, exocarp hard-membranous, mesocarp fleshy, sweet; seeds convex on dorsal surface, flat on ventral surface, with longitudinal groove, 8-10 mm long, 5-7 mm in diameter. Flowering period March-April.

[Colombia Santa Rita] (Washed, Medium-Dark Roast) – Sugarcane, clean, medium body. Santa Rita Estate is located in Antioquia Department, Colombia, using traditional methods to process coffee: hand-picking coffee cherries, then traditional washing of the coffee fruit, with the processed beans laid out on racks to sun-dry. The environment around the Andes Mountains gives this coffee-growing region fertile volcanic soil and unique water resources.

Coffee cultivation also requires sunlight and appropriate shade, growing best in fertile land or volcanic ash soil. Therefore, coffee is widely distributed in regions such as South America, Central America, the West Indies, Asia, Africa, Arabia, the South Pacific, and Oceania. Major coffee-producing regions include Ethiopia and Tanzania in Africa; Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, and Costa Rica in Central and South America; and Vietnam and Indonesia in Southeast Asia. In South America, Brazil's production accounts for 30-50% of world total production, while Colombia accounts for 10-20%.

Important Notice :

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Tel:020 38364473