The Difference Between Colombian Huila and Narino Coffee - Price of Colombian Narino Coffee

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Colombian Geography and Coffee Production

The western part of Colombia is the Andes Mountains, divided into three sections: Western, Central, and Eastern ranges. The Cauca and Magdalena rivers flow through the Caribbean lowlands.

Colombia is currently the world's third-largest coffee producer, using wet-processed Arabica coffee beans. It is also one of the world's largest producers of high-quality coffee. Traditional dark roast coffee has a strong and memorable flavor. In 1808, coffee was first introduced to Colombia by a priest who brought it from the French Antilles via Venezuela. Today, the country is the third-largest coffee producer after Brazil and Vietnam, with an annual output of 12 million bags of 60 kilograms each, while Brazil's annual production is 31 million bags. The status of coffee in Colombia can be seen from the following example: all vehicles entering the country must be spray-disinfected to avoid inadvertently bringing diseases that could harm coffee trees.

Major Growing Regions

The main growing regions include Huila (San Augustin), Narino, Tolima, Popayan (Cauca), Valle de Cauca, Meta, Antioquia (Medellin), Magdelena (Sierra Nevada), Boyaca, and Santander (Bucaramanga). Colombia has approximately 700 million documented coffee trees, of which 66% are planted using modern cultivation methods in plantations, while the rest are grown on traditionally managed small farms. Main varieties include Caturra, Colombia, Tipica, Bourbon, Maragogype, and Tabi. The country's farms and cooperatives, regardless of size, are operated by over 500,000 farmers, distributed across 590 municipalities and 14 major coffee-producing regions. A total of 2 million Colombians depend on coffee cultivation for their livelihood, contributing 12.5% to the gross domestic product. Premium Colombian coffee beans grow in the Andes mountains at altitudes of 1200-2000 meters, with banana and rubber trees interplanted to provide shade for the coffee trees.

Colombian Coffee Trade

Colombian coffee farm owners can sell all their products to the Coffee Management Association at official low prices or to exporters who may offer higher prices. In practice, the Coffee Management Association controls overall exports to Europe, while coffee exported to the United States is mainly conducted through private exporters. However, all exports are subject to minimum export price controls.

Narino Province: Premium Coffee Region

Narino Province is located in the southwestern part of Colombia, entirely within the country's highest region. The provincial capital, San Juan de Pasto, borders Ecuador and faces the Pacific Ocean. Coffee cultivation is an extremely important economic pillar for Narino Province. Traditionally, Narino coffee small farmers have planting areas of less than one hectare.

Most coffee-growing areas within this province belong to the high mountain terrain of the Andes, remote mountainous regions with steep slopes, influenced by Pacific Ocean sea breezes, with the provincial capital at San Juan de Pasto. At the same time, Narino Province is one of Colombia's important coffee-producing regions. Although its planting area is the smallest among the 14 major producing regions, the entire province possesses special natural microclimate conditions of circular valleys, thus producing coffee of the highest quality. Since ancient times, it has enjoyed the beautiful reputation of "the Pope's Holy Grail." Grown near the Ecuador border, green beans from the cloud belt at altitudes of approximately 1600-2300 meters benefit from excellent environment and fertile soil. The harvest and processing procedures are careful and complex, resulting in extremely high quality.

Global Recognition and Processing Methods

Colombian coffee is widely sold among many producing countries, ranking as the world's third-largest producer (first is Brazilian coffee, second is Vietnamese coffee). The most important factor is active volcanic activity that has created the world's most fertile soil, growing coffee beans that are sweet, rich, very appealing, and easy to brew successfully. Whether as simple black coffee or in recipes using Colombian coffee variations, both are excellent choices. In recent years, coffee competitions have increased farmers' income, allowing Colombian coffee to break away from its old impression of being only suitable as a base coffee. Before this, it was mostly regarded as commercial bulk beans or base recipe beans, rarely becoming specialty coffee on its own.

Most Colombian coffee tree varieties are Caturra, with estates intermixing some Typica, Bourbon, etc. Almost all administrative regions have outstanding producing areas and estates. Approximately 500,000 people in Colombia are engaged in coffee production and related work, with 75% of coffee exported to countries worldwide. Colombia's unique wet processing method, after more than 10 years of research and development, has reduced water usage by 95% and pollution by 90%. This not only maintains the natural ecosystem but also adds more variation and layers to the coffee beans.

The southern Narino coffee-producing region near Ecuador has long been renowned for producing the Holy Grail used by the Vatican Papal Court, and it's also the favorite region of the world's largest coffee chain. Most of its coffee is purchased by them and rarely appears on the market. Green bean merchants can only obtain it through direct trading or from a few high-quality coffee estates, though that is also extremely rare. The model estate Reversal Del Patron is the best coffee in this Narino region, with few defective beans and consistent particle size of about 18 mesh. The round, smooth, sapphire-like bean shape is much more uniform and beautiful than typical Colombian coffee.

Narino Coffee Bean Flavor Profile

The dry aroma after grinding reveals distinct nutty chocolate and faint milk fragrance. The wet aroma after brewing presents milk chocolate-like sweetness. Upon sipping, the mouthfeel is smooth, with obvious layered milk chocolate sweetness accompanied by subtle brown sugar-like sweetness. As the temperature decreases, the emitted chocolate aroma becomes clearer and more captivating. The aftertaste carries slight fruit notes. Although this coffee bean has a smooth mouthfeel, it's not primarily characterized by body thickness; instead, the distinct sweet flavor is truly unforgettable.

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