High-Yield Quality Coffee Bean Recommendations: An Introduction to Colombian Coffee Bean Grades

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When you first taste Colombian Huila coffee, you'll be captivated by its dark chocolate and nutty notes. Especially those who love chocolate will definitely fall in love with it at first sip!

Colombia initially didn't focus on specialty coffee, so you would often find Colombian coffee beans in blends. With the advancement of specialty coffee, Colombia also began to focus on specialty coffee. Gradually, Colombian coffee beans appeared on the specialty coffee list, such as FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian Kalendar Coffee and Rose Valley Coffee. At the same time, with market demand, Colombian coffee beans have also become a market for specialty coffee.

Colombia's Growing Environment

Colombia's coffee beans are large and beautiful, depending on their varieties and unique growing environment. Colombia is located in the northwest of the South American continent, bordering Panama in Central America. Located in the tropics, the climate varies with terrain, covering rich volcanic soil with annual rainfall of 2000-3000mm, north latitude 1°-11°15', west longitude 72°-78°, mild climate, humid air, and diverse climate make Colombia a year-round coffee harvesting season. The eastern plains, southern regions, and Pacific coast have tropical rainforest climates, mountainous areas at 1000-2000m altitude have subtropical climates, and the northwest has tropical savanna climate. Average annual temperature: 15.8-20.5°C. The average temperature in coffee regions will vary between 18°C and 22.5°C. Colombia's suitable climate provides a truly "natural pasture" for coffee. FrontStreet Coffee believes this is why Colombian coffee quality is superior.

Colombian coffee (Café de Colombia) originates from Colombia and is one of the few single-origin coffees sold under a country name worldwide. In terms of quality, it has received praise unattainable by other coffees. Compared to other producing countries, Colombia is more concerned with product development and production promotion. This, combined with its superior geographical and climatic conditions, makes Colombian coffee high-quality, delicious, and renowned worldwide.

World coffee is divided into two major series. As the world's largest producer, Brazil's coffee beans are characterized as "hard" with strong flavors; the other is represented by Colombia's "soft" beans with light, fragrant flavors. The difference lies in altitude and cultivation methods—Brazil grows coffee on red soil hillsides more extensively, while Colombia cultivates in mountainous black soil with intensive care. FrontStreet Coffee has found that Colombian coffee exudes a light and elegant fragrance, not as strong as Brazilian coffee, not as acidic as African coffee, but rather a sweet, light fragrance—low-key and elegant.

Colombia's Main Coffee Regions

Colombia is the world's third-largest coffee producer and exporter, the world's largest exporter of Arabica coffee beans, and the world's largest exporter of washed coffee beans. Colombia is most famous for regions like Medellín, Armenia, and Manizales, commonly referred to collectively as "MAM."

Colombia's specialty bean regions are mainly in the south, with altitudes above 1500 meters, including San Agustín in Huila Province, Popayán in Cauca Province, Nariño Province, and Tolima Province. Products from these areas all have refined acidity and berry notes, with caramel aromas and full sweetness.

Colombian Coffee Bean Varieties

It's often said that good coffee离不开its varieties—besides the natural growing environment, variety is also a very important factor. Colombia is the world's largest exporter of Arabica coffee beans and the world's largest exporter of washed coffee beans. Most coffee produced in Colombia belongs to the Arabica species, including varieties like Bourbon, Caturra, Typica, and Maragogipe. Most classic Colombian coffee is Typica, Caturra, and Catuai.

Caturra and Catuai are the most common coffee varieties in Colombia. In addition, some famous local coffee estates plant Geisha coffee and other new coffee varieties, such as Colombia (yes, this is a coffee variety name), Castillo, etc.

Caturra is a natural mutation of the Arabica Bourbon variety, discovered in Brazil in 1937. Its trees are 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 wasn't widely planted in Brazil. Instead, it became prevalent in Central and South America, with countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua planting Caturra extensively.

Catuai is a coffee variety artificially hybridized from Caturra and Mundo Novo. Catuai has relatively good resistance to natural disasters, especially wind and rain. Catuai trees are relatively short, and compared to other coffee trees, Catuai fruits grow more firmly and are harder to pick. The fruits come in both red and yellow varieties. To date, no difference in taste has been found between yellow and red fruits. In fact, some people have found in cupping that although coffee processed from yellow fruits has good acidity, the clean taste of the coffee is not as good as that from red fruits.

Castillo: Starting in 1961, CENICAFE began researching the Robusta-inherited Timor variety. Subsequently, CENICAFE continued its research and development, releasing the second disease-resistant variety Tabi (a hybrid of Typica, Bourbon, and Timor) in 2002. In 2005, it released Castillo, the most successful disease-resistant variety up to that time. After the massive outbreak of leaf rust in 2008, Colombia began vigorously promoting Castillo cultivation.

Colombia: The new variety "Colombia," sharing the same name as the country, was developed in 2008. It carries Caturra and Timor lineage, making it a Catimor variety. However, FNC insists that although Colombia is a direct descendant of Catimor, its flavor is far more elegant than typical Catimor because Colombia has undergone multiple generations of "backcrossing" with Arabica, washing away the musty smell of robusta beans. Its flavor more closely resembles Arabica while maintaining robusta's disease resistance and high-yield advantages, making it a powerful tool for Colombia's production increase.

Colombian Coffee Bean Processing Methods

As the world's largest exporter of washed coffee beans, Colombia naturally mostly uses the washed processing method for its coffee beans. Additionally, specialty coffee is mostly produced by small and medium-sized self-operated farms. Compared to Brazil's large-scale cultivation, small farm coffee quality is typically superior. However, friends might notice that Colombian coffee beans now appear in many other special processing methods, such as barrel fermentation, anaerobic fermentation, etc. These special processing methods continuously create innovation and bring progress to Colombian coffee in the specialty world.

For those who like coffee with full fruit flavors, FrontStreet Coffee recommends trying the Frontsteet Boundary Estate Sidra and Frontsteet Boundary Estate Ombligon. Although both come from the same estate, FrontStreet Coffee discovered through cupping that Sidra and Ombligon present completely different profiles under anaerobic natural processing conditions. Sidra has very rich floral and fruit aromas, but the brewed coffee liquid presents a wine-like mellow charm, while Ombligon has more berry notes, making its juice sensation directly full-bodied.

Washed Processing Method:

After coffee cherries are picked, they are first poured into large water tanks. Some underdeveloped low-quality beans will float to the surface, while mature, full fruits will sink to the bottom. At this point, the defective beans (fruits) floating on the surface are removed.

Then, a pulp remover is used to remove the outer skin and pulp from the coffee fruits. At this point, the coffee beans still have a slippery layer of mucilage attached. The coffee beans with mucilage are placed in fermentation tanks for 16-36 hours. During this process, microorganisms break down the mucilage. After fermentation is complete, large amounts of clean water are used to wash away the mucilage residue from the coffee beans. Finally, the cleaned coffee beans are dried in the sun.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that Colombian premium coffee's acidity, bitterness, and sweetness are perfectly balanced. It has a unique fragrance that fills the entire mouth after drinking. Breathing the aroma from the mouth back through the nose gives a very full sensation. Regardless of which special processing method is used, they are all improvements on the basic washed processing method. At the same time, FrontStreet Coffee believes that the flavor of washed processed coffee beans can better reflect the essential flavor of the coffee beans. Therefore, almost all of FrontStreet Coffee's daily beans are washed processed, and washed Huila coffee also serves as the representative of Colombian coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Recommendations

Of course, to brew a good cup of coffee, besides the coffee variety, the freshness of the coffee beans is crucial. FrontStreet Coffee believes that coffee bean freshness is a very important part of brewing. Coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are all roasted within 5 days because FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands that coffee bean freshness greatly affects flavor. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly roasted good coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when they receive it. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's at its peak flavor.

Of course, some customers need FrontStreet Coffee to grind the beans for them, which is also fine. But FrontStreet Coffee must remind you: once coffee beans are pre-ground, they no longer need a resting period because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide produced in the packaging can also make the coffee flavor more rounded. So you can immediately brew a cup when you receive the coffee powder. However, coffee powder needs to be brewed promptly because coffee powder oxidizes relatively quickly after contact with air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate faster, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends buying whole beans and grinding fresh for brewing to better taste the coffee's flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian Sidra Brewing Parameters:

Colombian Sidra coffee beans use medium-dark roasting, so FrontStreet Coffee chose: Dripper: KONO dripper, Water temperature: 88°C, Dose: 15g, Ratio: 1:15, Grind size: Medium grind (Chinese standard 20-mesh sieve 80% pass rate)

For Colombian Sidra and Ombligon coffee, which use medium-light roasting, FrontStreet Coffee chose: Dripper: Hario V60, Water temperature: 90°C, Dose: 15g, Ratio: 1:15, Grind size: Medium-fine grind (Chinese standard 20-mesh sieve 80% pass rate)

Using segmented extraction, use 2 times the coffee weight for blooming, that is, 30g water for 30 seconds blooming. Starting from 31 seconds, continue pouring in a small circular flow until 125g, then continue pouring to 225g and stop. After the water from the dripper finishes dripping, remove the dripper. Time from the start of pouring: extraction time 2'00". Next, pick up the entire cup of coffee and shake it evenly, then pour it into a cup for tasting.

Flavor Profiles:

Colombian Huila Coffee Flavor: Rich acidity, caramel, sweet nuts, chocolate, admirable soft fruit acidity.

Colombian Sidra Coffee Flavor: Floral, dried fruit, apricot, with wine-like aftertaste, creamy and fermented notes.

Colombian Ombligon Coffee Flavor: Spices, bright orange, blueberry-like flavors, prominent acidity, juice-like mouthfeel, mature pineapple juice.

Different coffee roasting levels require different brewing equipment. KONO drippers are generally suitable for medium-dark roasted coffee beans, which have a more mellow mouthfeel. Medium-light roasted coffee beans pair well with Hario V60 drippers for a richer flavor experience. Whether it's coffee bean selection or brewing methods, welcome to FrontStreet Coffee to explore together.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473