Introduction to Tolima, Colombia - Colombian Coffee Overview and Flavor Profile

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Today FrontStreet Coffee cupped another new bean—a Geisha coffee with sweet, balanced flavor and complex taste from the Tolima region of Colombia. This Geisha uses washed processing, so its flavor profile tends toward clean, gentle, and aromatic characteristics, which was exactly what we found during cupping. Beyond the typical citrus and honey notes, it also features star fruit acidity and orange sweetness and texture. Wow, a bean performing so exceptionally must be shared!

Tolima Region Introduction

Colombia is divided into 32 departments. Tolima Department is located in the southwest, adjacent to renowned specialty coffee producing regions Huila and Cauca. The departmental capital is Ibagué. Within Tolima Department, the north-south running Andes Mountains and Cordillera Mountains traverse the area, with the Magdalena River flowing northward between these two famous mountain ranges.

The name Tolima originates from the earliest inhabitants here, the "Pijao people." In the language of this ancient group (Pijao word), tolima means "snow-covered." From this, one can easily imagine that this distant land would also be home to quality coffee. Tolima borders Huila and Cauca and is a region that coffee enthusiasts must determinedly journey to visit. The road conditions here are not ideal, and some experts who have visited Tolima have described in their travelogues the bumpy hardships experienced during the journey.

Farms in Tolima are generally slightly larger than those in other southern Colombian producing regions, averaging about 10-15 hectares. Cooperative methods are also popular here, with farmers sending their small batches of fresh coffee cherries to cooperative processing plants. Some farmers also choose to process their own coffee using small-scale facilities that can handle the day's harvest. Meticulously processed green beans can be priced based on cupping results, while a few outstanding batches are preserved as "microlots" and sent to the capital Bogotá for further cupping. The remaining green beans are typically sold as blends based on cupping flavors.

Processing Method

This Geisha variety coffee from Colombia uses the washed processing method.

Selecting coffee cherries → Removing pulp → Fermentation → Washing → Drying → Hulling

Selected coffee cherries are placed in a depulper to initially remove their skin and pulp; coffee beans with remaining pulp and mucilage are placed in water to ferment for about 24 hours; after fermentation, the parchment coffee beans are placed in flowing water channels to wash away the pulp and mucilage; after washing, the coffee beans are dried either by sun-drying or using drying machines until the moisture content reaches about 12%. Finally, the parchment is removed from the green coffee beans.

FrontStreet Coffee Roasting Analysis

This bean comes from a high altitude and has a hard bean density. To highlight this bean's characteristics and aroma, we chose a light roast, which best brings out the bean's inherent qualities, using medium heat for dehydration.

Roaster: Yangjia 800N (300g batch size)

Preheat the roaster to 180°C, set the air damper to 3. After 30 seconds, adjust heat to 150, keeping the air damper unchanged. Return temperature at 1'36". When the drum temperature reaches 140°C, adjust heat to 130 and open the air damper to 4. At this point, the bean surface turns yellow and grassy aroma completely disappears, entering the dehydration phase. When the drum temperature reaches 166°C, adjust heat to 110, keeping the air damper unchanged. At 7'50", the bean surface shows ugly wrinkles and black spots, with the toast aroma clearly transitioning to coffee aroma—this can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this moment, listen carefully for the first crack sound. At 8'20", first crack begins—reduce heat to 50 and adjust air damper to 5 (adjust heat very carefully, don't reduce it so much that cracking stops). Develop for 1'30" after first crack, then drop at 190°C.

Agtron bean color value: 82 (above image), Agtron ground color value: 97.4 (below image), Roast Delta value: 15.4.

FrontStreet Coffee Cupping Notes

Citrus, star fruit, orange, oolong tea, floral notes, honey

Colombia Tolima Finca San Pedro

Country: Colombia
Region: Tolima
Altitude: 1,860m
Processing: Washed
Grade: SUPREMO
Variety: Geisha

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Recommended Brewing Method: Pour-over

Dripper: Hario V60 or wave filter

Water Temperature: 90-92°C

Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15-1:16

Grind Size: BG 5R (80% pass-through rate on China standard #20 sieve)

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Technique

30g water for bloom, wait 30 seconds. Pour to 130g in stages. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 230g and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from the bloom) Extraction time is two minutes.

During brewing, you can smell the citrus acidity and green-tea-like freshness. When hot, the sucrose and licorice sweetness are prominent, with some lemon acidity and oolong tea aftertaste—somewhat like a cup of lemon tea. As the temperature drops, the citrus flavors become more pronounced, with honey and sucrose aftertaste lasting long. When cooled further, it feels like honey green tea.

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