What is Colombia's Coffee Production? How Should You Drink Medellin Coffee?

Colombian Coffee Overview

The western region of Colombia is home to the Andes Mountains, which split into three ranges: the Western, Central and Eastern Cordilleras. The Cauca and Magdalena rivers flow down to the Caribbean lowlands. Colombia is currently the world's second-largest coffee producer, using wet processing for its Arabica beans, and it is one of the largest producers of high-quality coffee globally. Traditional dark roast coffee has an intense, memorable flavor. Coffee was first introduced to Colombia in 1808 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 (60 kg each), while Brazil's annual production reaches 31 million bags.

The importance of coffee in Colombia is clear from a single example: every vehicle entering the country must be sprayed with disinfectant, so as not to inadvertently bring in 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 700 million documented coffee trees, of which 66% are cultivated using modern methods on plantations while the remainder grow on traditionally managed small farms. The main varieties include Caturra, Colombia, Tipica, Bourbon, Maragogype and Tabi. Nationwide, farms and cooperatives of all sizes are operated by over 500,000 farmers spread 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 country's GDP.

Coffee Trade and Distribution

Colombian farm owners can sell their entire output to the Coffee Growers Federation at official low prices, or to exporters who may offer higher prices. In practice, the Federation controls overall exports to Europe, while coffee exported to the United States is handled mainly through private exporters. All exports, however, remain subject to minimum export price controls.

Antioquia Province

Antioquia Province, in north-central Colombia, has 126,000 hectares dedicated to coffee, producing 2,000,000 bags (60kg each) of green beans and accounting for 18% of Colombia's production, second only to Huila Province. Most of the province is highland terrain belonging to the Andes, yet it benefits from warm Caribbean sea breezes. The provincial capital, Medellin, is Colombia's second-largest city and also an important coffee-producing region.

The region has many small farms producing micro-batch specialty coffees with distinctive regional character. In recent years, as the international market has emphasised coffee quality and demand for specialty coffee, production has shifted toward micro-regional selections organised by small farmers. Dozens of smallholders contribute their individual harvests to form a single micro-batch for sale, which delivers better quality control. It also allows each batch to be cupped individually, so many high-quality micro-regional smallholder coffees can be identified. Their coffees are more vibrant, with fresh ripe fruit and caramel aromas and a more harmonious balance between acidity and sweetness.

Colombia is fortunate to have both Atlantic and Pacific ports, which helps reduce coffee transport costs — in South America it is the only country with this advantage. Colombia's main production areas lie in the Central and Eastern Cordillera regions.

Key Growing Areas

The most important plantations along the Central Cordillera lie in the Medellin, Armenia and Manizales regions. Of the three, Medellin region coffee has the best quality and commands higher prices, characterised by a full body, rich nutrients and aroma, and moderate acidity. The three regions together are known as MAM, an acronym formed from the first letters of the three main city names. Most of Colombia's premium export coffees originate in the MAM region. Along the Eastern Cordillera, the two best areas are around Bogotá and, further north, around Bucaramanga. Bogotá coffee has lower acidity than Medellin coffee, but the two are of comparable quality.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee suggests the following Colombian coffee brewing parameters:

V60 / 90°C / 1:15 / total time two minutes

Flavor: Plum, caramel

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

FrontStreet Colombia Huila Coffee — Huila province, in the southern Central Cordillera, is Colombia's most celebrated specialty region, a mountain-ringed plateau where coffee grows above 1,500 meters and where the country's most important rivers converge, bringing abundant water and humidity. Huila is well represented by FrontStreet's washed Huila lot, which is given a medium-dark roast to bring forward black chocolate and a sweet nutty fragrance, moderate oil and a full body. It suits pour-over and French press, and it also works beautifully in a moka pot or an espresso machine for americanos and lattes.

FrontStreet Colombia Frontera Estate Sidra — Colombian coffee was long processed almost exclusively by the washed method, but innovative processing has become popular in recent years. Anaerobic fermentation — sometimes called carbonic maceration — is a new kind of sensory experience: essentially a fermentation carried out in a low-oxygen or oxygen-free environment, typically in a pressure-resistant stainless-steel tank, where temperature, time and pH can be controlled. The best-known forms are anaerobic natural and anaerobic washed. FrontStreet's Sidra is processed as an anaerobic natural, and the oxygen-free fermentation converts the coffee into a riot of tropical fruit aroma. Given a medium-light roast, it delivers a complex, intensely fragrant cup of passion fruit, grape and apricot when brewed as pour-over, cold brew, drip bag or moka pot.

FrontStreet Signature Espresso Blend — For anyone with a home espresso machine or a moka pot, baristas strongly recommend this blend, created especially for cafés. It combines the creamy nuttiness of Brazilian coffee with the dark chocolate bittersweetness of Colombian coffee, and it extracts with a fine golden crema. It is excellent with milk for a rich, smooth latte, very forgiving for beginners, and works as the base for americanos, cappuccinos and mochas.