Flavor Characteristics and Taste Description of Colombian Coffee Beans - Colombian Coffee Varieties Introduction

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A few years ago, everyone was looking for the Netflix hit American series "Narcos," and the background of this TV series was Colombia in the 1980s. Times have changed, and in recent years, Colombia's coca cultivation area has been decreasing year by year. However, Colombia still has some good things. Colombia is famous for its "Four Treasures": emeralds, coffee, gold, and flowers.

FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia coffee is also one of the few single-origin coffees sold under a country name in the world. Colombia and Brazil are both among the top three largest coffee bean exporters in the world, accounting for about 15% of global production. Unlike Brazil: Brazil has monotonous topography, dry climate, low altitude, and poor soil, relying on technology; while Colombia has rich topography, clusters of volcanoes, fertile soil, and abundant rainfall, relying on good mountains and waters, making the locally produced FrontStreet Coffee Colombia possess a clear taste and rich aroma, while bringing out various fruit notes, impressive acidity, followed by sweetness.

Colombian Coffee Regions

Colombia is located in the northern part of South America, bordering Venezuela and Brazil to the east, Ecuador and Peru to the south, the Pacific Ocean to the west, connected to Panama to the northwest, and facing the Caribbean Sea to the north. Most of Colombia's mainland is located between 4°~12° north latitude, situated in the coffee growing belt.

FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian coffee producing regions are concentrated in the southern section of the Cordillera mountain system—the world's longest folded mountain system running through the American continent, namely the Andes Mountains. The Andes have a mild climate, humid air, and appropriate rainfall, providing an excellent growing environment for coffee trees.

Northern Region

Although Colombia is known for its high altitude, the Bucaramanga producing region in the northern part of the country has a lower altitude, around 1000 meters. Coffee produced in the Bucaramanga region has low acidity and is mellow with good sweetness, with a flavor close to FrontStreet Coffee's Indonesian Mandheling.

Central Region

The most famous coffee producing region in Colombia is the "MAM" region: Medellin, Armenia, and Manizales. The "MAM" region is Colombia's major commercial coffee producing area. This region is the largest coffee producing area in Colombia, with relatively average growing conditions or average coffee bean quality.

Southern Region

FrontStreet Coffee's specialty Colombian coffee bean producing regions are mainly in the south, with an average altitude of over 1500 meters, including Santander, Antioquia, Tolima, Huila, Cauca, Narino, and others. Coffee produced in these places has delicate acidity and berry notes, with caramel aroma and full sweetness.

Santander: The Santander region is located in northern Colombia, bordering the Magdalena River to the west, with a planting altitude of about 1400 to 1600 meters and an area of 30,537 square kilometers. Coffee beans from this region are known for their intense flavor, long aftertaste, and unique fresh herbal notes.

FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia Rose Valley on the bean list comes from the Santander region.

FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Rose Valley

Region: Santander, Colombia

Farm: Big Tree Estate

Altitude: 1700m

Variety: Caturra

Processing: Anaerobic enzyme washed

Antioquia: Located in north-central Colombia, coffee production accounts for 18% of the country's total. Most areas within this region are high mountain terrain belonging to the Andes, but are affected by the warm sea breeze from the Caribbean Sea.

Tolima: The name Tolima comes from the indigenous "Pijao people" of the area, and tolima means "snow-covered" in the language of this ancient group. Farms in Tolima are generally slightly larger than those in other southern Colombian producing regions, around 10 to 15 hectares. Cooperative methods are also popular in this region, where farmers send their small batches of fresh coffee cherries to cooperative processing plants. Some farmers also choose to process themselves, using their small-scale processing facilities to handle coffee cherries picked the same day.

Huila: The Huila region is located in southwestern Colombia. This region is one of Colombia's main coffee cultivation areas, with the region's total coffee production accounting for 12% of Colombia's. FrontStreet Coffee found through cupping that coffee from this region has strong nutty, chocolate, and caramel flavors. FrontStreet Coffee's bean list includes two FrontStreet Coffee Colombia coffees from the Huila region.

FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Flower Moon Night

Region: Huila, Colombia

Farm: El Toledo Farm

Altitude: 1800m

Variety: Caturra

Processing: Anaerobic natural

FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Huila

Region: Huila, Colombia

Altitude: 1500-1800m

Variety: Caturra

Processing: Washed

Cauca: The Cauca region is located in southwestern Colombia. The region's total coffee production accounts for about 8% of the country's total. The average altitude of the Cauca region is 1758 meters, with the highest altitude reaching 2100 meters. The large temperature difference between day and night, low nighttime temperatures, and high altitude slow down the growth rhythm of coffee, allowing coffee beans to more fully absorb the nutrients from coffee cherries.

FrontStreet Coffee's Colombia Sakura is produced in the Cauca region, using double anaerobic washed processing. Double anaerobic is actually similar to anaerobic, but the anaerobic stage is divided into two phases, and controlling the duration of these two anaerobic processes can present different flavors. First, fresh coffee cherries are placed in sealed fermentation tanks for anaerobic fermentation, then the coffee cherries are removed from the skin and pulp and continue to be placed in new fermentation tanks for anaerobic fermentation, finally undergoing drying treatment.

FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Sakura

Region: Cauca, Colombia

Estate: Paradise Estate

Altitude: 2050m

Variety: Castillo

Processing: Double anaerobic washed

Narino: This region is located in the southwesternmost position of Colombia. This region is at 1° north latitude, close to the equator, with sufficient sunlight throughout the year. The altitude is mostly 1600 meters, and volcanic soil also provides rich nutrients for coffee growth. Coffee from this region has round and delicate flavor, with some sweetness and cocoa taste, rich aroma, and walnut fragrance.

Coffee Varieties

Colombia grows extremely diverse coffee varieties: Typica, Bourbon, Caturra, Maragogipe, Pacamara, Catimor, Geisha, Mocha, Laurina, and others—everything you could want. But one variety must be mentioned: Castillo. In 1982, Colombia released a Colombia variety that was a multi-generation backcross hybrid of Catimor and Caturra to wash away the bad taste of Catimor. In recent years, the authorities have launched an improved version of Colombia, namely Castillo. This variety was obtained through multi-generation backcross hybrid purification of Colombia and Arabica.

FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Brewing Parameters

Water temperature: 90°C

Coffee amount: 15 grams

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: Fine sugar consistency (80% pass-through rate on Chinese standard #20 sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee brewing method: First pour 30 grams of water for 30 seconds of blooming, then pour 95 grams (electronic scale shows about 125 grams), completing the pour in about 1 minute. When the water level drops to 2/3 of the coffee bed, pour the remaining 100 grams (electronic scale shows about 225 grams), completing the pour in about 1 minute and 35 seconds. The drip finishes at 2'04", remove the filter cone, completing extraction.

Flavor Description

[FrontStreet Coffee Rose Valley] The sweetness of peach, accompanied by rose aroma, with both the high-quality sweet and sour taste of black grapes and the silky texture of cream toffee, followed by a chocolate liqueur-like aftertaste.

[FrontStreet Coffee Flower Moon Night] The overwhelming sweetness of strawberry jam and fermented notes of ripe berries. Upon entry, the acidity of cranberries and berry juice sensation distribute to every corner of the mouth, immediately followed by a chocolate liqueur-like aftertaste presented in the nasal cavity.

[FrontStreet Coffee Sakura] The wet aroma reveals the sweetness of strawberry jam and chamomile fragrance. The entry has strawberry-like sweet and sour taste, strawberry jam-like fermentation notes, followed by the aroma of basil and rosemary, and finally a hint of mint tea-like coolness in the mouth.

[FrontStreet Coffee Colombia Huila] Overall quite balanced with obvious sweetness. Upon entry, there are dark chocolate, nuts, and caramel, with soft fruit acidity as the temperature changes.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: kaixinguoguo0925

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