What Are the Flavor Characteristics of Colombian Coffee? How to Brew Colombian Coffee

Colombian coffee enjoys worldwide acclaim, with names like Rose Valley, Night Flower & Moon, and Paradise Estate representing the finest of Colombian coffee today. Coffee beans processed with special methods like anaerobic fermentation also seem to originate from Colombia. Let's explore the flavor characteristics of Colombian coffee.

The Development History of Colombian Coffee

Colombia's coffee history is closely intertwined with its drug history. Before the 1980s, Colombia primarily cultivated drug crops like coca and poppy. Various armed groups controlled territories, with government forces confined to cities, making Colombian drug lords world-famous. However, most of these drugs entered the American market, which prompted American intervention. In March 1984, under the command of American advisors, Colombian government forces attempted to eliminate the country's largest drug trafficking organization but unfortunately failed.

Later in 2000, US forces directly intervened to eliminate Colombian drug lords and destroy drug plantations. To prevent the resurgence of drugs, a coffee cultivation program led by the Colombian government with American assistance began.

In fact, Colombia had started growing coffee long ago, but it never received much attention. Why grow coffee when growing drugs was more profitable? The more chaotic the place, the more it needed high profits. After eliminating drug lords, many farmers who previously cultivated coca suddenly found themselves unemployed. To maintain stability and generate income, coffee became a substitute crop. The United States also provided significant assistance, including agricultural technology, financial aid, and priority procurement. Today, Colombia has become the world's third-largest coffee-producing country.

The development of Colombian coffee cannot be discussed without mentioning one organization: the Colombian National Federation of Coffee Growers, abbreviated as FNC. This organization deserves much credit for the premium quality of Colombian coffee. With unified leadership uniting coffee growers nationwide and successful growers helping others develop, the entire country's coffee production level has become very high.

Coffee Varieties Grown in Colombia

Colombia cultivates coffee varieties such as Caturra, Catuai, Colombia, and Castillo. Caturra is a Bourbon variety, maintaining Bourbon's excellent flavor quality. Catuai is a hybrid of Mundo Novo and Yellow Caturra, representing the third generation of Arabica lineage, still maintaining good quality.

The Colombia variety is an improved Catimor variety developed through multiple generations of backcrossing by the Colombian National Coffee Research Center in 1980. Simply put, it's a diluted version of Catimor's Robusta genes. Although the government claimed it was different from the original Catimor, its actual cupping performance was not ideal.

Castillo is a new-generation leaf rust-resistant coffee variety jointly developed by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) and the Colombian National Coffee Research Center Cenicafé. Cenicafé aimed to further improve the variety to achieve higher coffee yields, greater resistance, and quality and flavor comparable to Caturra.

After 23 years of research and experimentation, Cenicafé developed the fifth-generation Castillo, which was officially promoted for commercial cultivation in 2005.

Castillo is known for its smoothness, aroma, and citrus acidity. According to blind tasting results from the Colombian National Coffee Research Center, Castillo's flavor quality can match that of Caturra and Bourbon. However, FrontStreet Coffee believes it's difficult to find coffee varieties that excel in both disease resistance and flavor, especially since Castillo still contains Robusta genes, which certainly affects its flavor.

Colombian Anaerobic Processing Techniques

Since the varieties aren't ideal, post-harvest processing can compensate. Before 2005, Colombian coffee was still dominated by Caturra and Catuai varieties, with traditional washed processing being the main method. The flavor profile was characterized by rich chocolate and nutty notes, with a hint of fruity sweetness.

Today, most premium Colombian coffee beans undergo special anaerobic processing, with Paradise Estate and Toucan & Palm Tree Estate being the most representative examples. These estates, like artists, enjoy using various special processing methods to express different coffee flavors. Take FrontStreet Coffee's Paradise Estate Sakura Coffee as an example: the estate used double anaerobic washed processing, resulting in very intense and distinctive basil and mint aromas, with sweet strawberry flavors when tasted—truly fascinating.

How FrontStreet Coffee Brews Colombian Coffee Beans

Given that most Colombian coffee today is anaerobically processed, special attention is needed when brewing these beans with pour-over methods. You need to adjust your grinder to a finer setting, as these coffee beans will be too coarse if you use your regular grind setting for traditionally processed beans, so a finer setting is required. Water temperature should not be too high—FrontStreet Coffee suggests using 90 degrees Celsius. Using FrontStreet Coffee's Sakura Coffee beans as an example:

Filter: V60#01
Water Temperature: 91°C
Dose: 15g
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:16
Grind Size: Medium-fine (Chinese standard #20 sieve, 80% pass rate)

Three-stage pour-over technique: First, pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Then, continue with a small circular pour to 130g before pausing. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 240g and stop. When the water level drops again and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from the bloom) Total extraction time is 1 minute and 50 seconds.

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