Colombia Nariño Region: Flavor Profile and Brewing Guide

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Narino: Colombia's Premier Coffee Region

Colombia's Narino province is located in the southwestern part of the country, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the west and Ecuador to the south. The Andes Mountains run through the entire province, with coffee grown in the high-altitude cloud forest belt between 1,600-2,300 meters. The soil consists of fertile volcanic geology, producing small but full beans with a vibrant green color. The vast majority of Narino's annual production is acquired by large American coffee merchants and is highly popular in the North American market.

Coffee cultivation is an extremely important economic pillar for Narino province. Traditionally, coffee smallholders in Narino have cultivated 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, bathed by Pacific Ocean breezes, with the provincial capital being San Juan de Pasto. Meanwhile, Narino is also one of Colombia's important coffee-producing regions. Coffee grown near the Ecuadorian border in the cloud forest belt at approximately 1,600-2,300 meters altitude benefits from excellent environment and fertile soil, with careful and complex harvesting and processing procedures, resulting in extremely high quality. Many micro-batch specialty coffee beans from small farmers in this region possess distinctive regional flavor characteristics.

In recent years, with the international market's emphasis on coffee quality and demands for specialty coffee, there has been a shift toward micro-regional production organization, primarily focusing on micro-batches provided by coffee smallholders (Micro-regional selections).

Dozens of small farmers contribute their individual harvests, which are consolidated into micro-batches for sale. This approach allows for better quality control and creates more opportunities to select many excellent quality specific micro-regional smallholder coffees through batch-by-batch cupping. The coffee flavor is relatively lively, with fresh ripe fruit and caramel notes in the aroma, and a more harmonious balance between acidity and sweetness.

Colombia's Coffee Heritage

The western part of Colombia is formed by the Andes Mountains, which split into three ranges: the Western, Central, and Eastern Cordilleras. The Cauca and Magdalena rivers flow through the Caribbean lowland plains. Colombia is currently the world's third-largest coffee producer, using washed processing for Arabica coffee beans. It is also one of the world's largest producers of quality coffee, with traditional dark roast coffees possessing a rich 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 production of 12 million bags of 60 kilograms each, while Brazil's annual production reaches 31 million bags. The importance of coffee in Colombia can be seen from the following example: all vehicles entering the country must be spray-disinfected to prevent unintentionally introducing diseases that could harm coffee trees.

Major Growing Regions

The main producing 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 remainder are grown in traditionally managed small farms.

The main varieties in Colombia include Caturra, Colombia, Tipica, Bourbon, Maragogype, and Tabi. More than 500,000 farmers operate farms and cooperatives of all sizes, 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 domestic gross product. Premium Colombian coffee beans grow in the Andes Mountains at altitudes of 1,600-2,300 meters, interplanted with banana and rubber trees that provide shade for the coffee trees.

Colombian coffee farm owners can sell all their products at official low prices to the Coffee Management Association or to exporters who might 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.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee's brewing recommendations for Colombia Narino:

V60/1:15/90°C/2 minutes

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