What is the Grading System for Colombian Coffee Beans? The Historical Story of Colombian Coffee? Colombia

Colombia's coffee is defined as much by its history and institutions as by its flavor. This article covers the grading system, the story behind the industry, and how to brew the coffee.

Colombian Coffee Bean Grading System and Historical Story

What is the grading system for Colombian coffee beans? What are the historical stories of Colombian coffee? How should Colombian coffee be consumed?

Colombia is currently the world's second-largest coffee producer and uses washed processing for its Arabica beans. It is also one of the world's largest producers of high-quality coffee. Traditional dark roast coffee has a rich and memorable taste. In 1808, coffee was first introduced to Colombia, brought by a priest from the French Antilles by way of Venezuela. Today the country is the third-largest coffee producer after Brazil and Vietnam, with an annual output of 12 million bags of 60 kg each, while Brazil's annual production is 31 million bags.

Colombia's main production areas lie in the central and eastern mountain ranges. The most important plantations along the central range are in the Medellín, Armenia and Manizales regions, and among these three the Medellín region has the highest-quality coffee and higher prices. Its characteristics are full-bodied beans, high nutrition, a rich aroma and moderate acidity. These three regions are collectively known as MAM. Along the eastern range, the two best areas are around Bogotá and, further north, around Bucaramanga. Bogotá coffee has lower acidity than Medellín coffee, though both are of similar quality. Germany takes 25% of Colombia's total exports, which reflects the country's excellent coffee quality from another angle.

Coffee Grading System

Coffee grades are divided into three levels: Supremo, Excelso and UGQ. The Cruz coffee within the Excelso grade is exported to Germany, while Europa coffee is exported to the Nordic countries. Most coffee shops can buy Excelso and Supremo grade coffee. The professional distinction between them is this: Supremo uses larger beans, with raw material taken from newly harvested coffee, making product quality easier to guarantee. Excelso grade coffee typically has a milder taste than Supremo and slightly higher acidity, but both belong to the aromatic coffee types with medium-sized beans and excellent fruit quality.

Colombian coffee is often described as having a silky smooth texture. Among all coffees it has the best balance, with a soft, sweet taste that can be enjoyed at any time. The Supremo variety accounts for only about 10% of all original coffee beans, but the standard Excelso is also a high-quality original bean, popular with the public whether consumed as single-origin or in a blend. The biggest characteristic of Colombian coffee is richness and sweetness. Combined with a rounded acidity, a strong bitterness and a sweet aroma, it has a distinctive flavor that is enough to showcase the qualities of a fine bean.

The overall flavor impression of Colombian coffee is nutritious and highly balanced, sometimes with nutty notes. The recommended roast degree is medium to dark. Grade: excellent.

Colombia uses bean size as a distinguishing standard. Excelso and Supremo are both considered large beans, but the latter is slightly larger than the former. Colombia is often used as an example: compared with bean size, knowing the origin region is more helpful for understanding quality.

Grade Specifications

• Supremo: 17 mesh
• Excelso: 14-16.5 mesh

The status of coffee in Colombia can be seen in the following example: all vehicles entering the country must be spray-disinfected, to avoid accidentally bringing in diseases that could harm coffee trees. Colombian coffee is one of the few original-flavor coffees sold worldwide under a country name, and in terms of quality it has received praise other coffees cannot match. The country is the world's largest exporter of Arabica beans, while Robusta is rarely cultivated, and it is the world's largest exporter of washed coffee beans.

Compared with other producing countries, Colombia is more concerned with its by-products and with promoting production. This, combined with its superior geographical and climatic conditions, is what makes Colombian coffee high-quality, delicious and renowned worldwide. The coffee-producing areas lie in the Andes Mountains, where the climate is mild and the air humid. Colombia has three Cordillera ranges running north to south and extending into the Andes. Coffee is grown in the highlands along these mountains, and the mountain terraces provide diverse climates, which means harvesting occurs year-round as different coffees mature at different times. Fortunately, unlike Brazil, Colombia does not have to worry about frost damage. Colombia has approximately 700 million documented coffee trees, of which 66% are planted using modern methods on plantations, while the rest are on traditionally managed small farms.

Coffee History

In the early 1960s, coffee yield was about 600 kg per hectare, but it has now risen to about 900 kg, with individual farms reaching 2500 kg. Ensuring quality, however, is the primary issue in the coffee industry. Colombia established the National Coffee Management Association in 1927, responsible for quality supervision. Although the institution is privately owned, it acts on behalf of the government. Besides organizing the industry, it is also responsible for raising funds in bountiful harvest years. In recent years coffee prices have tended to decline, and the association has almost depleted its financial reserves.

The National Coffee Management Association also bears responsibility for healthcare, education, road construction, hiring cultivation technicians, conducting surveys, supervising product quality, directly managing 50% of total export business and hiring marketing staff. Like Kenya's National Coffee Management Association, it is a model of coffee organization. In practice, the association controls exports to Europe, while coffee exported to the United States mainly goes through private exporters, though all exports are subject to minimum export prices. Colombia is fortunate to have both Atlantic and Pacific ports, which helps reduce coffee transportation costs; in South America it is the only country with that advantage.

Growing Environment

Colombia produces more Arabica coffee than other countries, second only to Brazil. Unfortunately, it is now beginning to develop diversified cultivation, so its quality is not as high as before, though authentic high-quality Colombian coffee can still be found. Good Colombian beans are full-bodied and aromatic, without the acidity and strong flavors found in other coffees. Colombian coffee is balanced and full-bodied, with a mild acidity and some sweetness, leaving a beautiful aftertaste.

Premium Colombian beans grow in the Andes Mountains at altitudes of 3500-4000 feet, intercropped with banana and rubber trees that shade the coffee. The Colombian coffee industry consists of alliances formed by cooperatives of hundreds of family farms. Some of the best coffee soils have fertile topsoil and a ventilated subsoil of decomposed volcanic rock. Colombian farm owners can sell all their product to the Coffee Management Association at official low prices, or to exporters who may offer higher prices, or indeed no price at all.

Colombian coffee is often described as having a silky smooth texture. Among all coffees it has the best balance, with a soft, smooth taste that can be enjoyed at any time.

Flavor Profile

Dry Aroma

Woody, rice and tea notes, malt aroma, caramel sweetness, with nutty and creamy aromas apparent

Wet Aroma

Rich nutty aromas, tea notes, coffee pulp, maple syrup sweetness, cucumber, spices and clove notes

Sipping

The initial acidity resembles orange and berry acidity, the sweetness is direct and lasting, the body is thick and excellent, the middle carries tea aromas, and the aftertaste brings out orange and wheat tea aromas

Flavor

Nutritious, highly balanced, sometimes with nutty flavors

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing

• Dripper: Hario V60
• Water Temperature: 88°C
• Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 4

Brewing Method

Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g coffee grounds. First pour 25g of water for a 25-second bloom. Second pour to 120g, then pause. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g total water. Extraction time approximately 2:00.

Analysis

Using a three-stage brewing method to clearly distinguish the front, middle and back-end flavors of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, pausing the pour can extend the extraction time, better extracting the nutty and chocolate flavors from the back end.

Flavor Notes

Multi-layered, overall clean, lighter body, persistent caramel sweetness in the finish

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

As the largest coffee-producing country, Brazil offers a wide range of coffees. Brazilian beans carry a moderate acidity, and the balance of sweetness, bitterness and body is excellent, which makes them ideal for a medium roast; the result is an aroma of nuts, a rich, mellow taste and a light acidity, suitable as a single origin or in a blend.

To get a first taste of the Brazilian profile, the FrontStreet Cerrado Red Bourbon is a very classic Brazilian single origin. Cerrado is a well-known local producing region noted for high-quality beans, and this lot is the Red Bourbon variety common in South America. Medium roasted, it shows the rich aroma of cream, peanut, toasted bread, caramel and hazelnut, with a rounded body, no sourness and a slight bitterness, and it works not only for pour-over but also in a moka pot, as an espresso SOE, in a siphon or in a French press.

FrontStreet's other Brazilian single origin, Queen's Manor, comes from Mogiana, close to South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the cherries absorb abundant nutrients and develop a full aroma. Part of the area keeps traditional farming methods while another part has adopted modern, standardized management, and local coffee quality has improved greatly as a result. Queen's Manor is the rare Yellow Bourbon, a mutation of Red Bourbon with a cleaner fruit character; brewed as pour-over, in a moka pot or in a home coffee machine, the FrontStreet Brazil Queen's Manor shows the clear sugarcane sweetness found in no other region, along with fruit and chocolate notes.

Low acidity, a balanced body and a friendly price have made Brazilian coffee the first choice in many espresso blends. The rich-crema FrontStreet Classic Blend, the intensely nutty FrontStreet Premium Blend, the balanced FrontStreet Black Cocoa Blend and the FrontStreet Commercial Blend made for coffee shops all contain Brazilian beans. Their addition supplies not only chocolate and cream aromas but also a soft sweet-sour-bitter taste, and their balanced character makes extraction more stable.