Colombian Coffee | Cavendish Small Farmer Cultivation in the Andes Mountains | EXCELSO Grade

Colombian Coffee | Cavendish Smallholder Cultivation in the Andes | Flavor of EXCELSO-Grade Castillo

Colombian Coffee (Cafe de Colombia) comes from Colombia and is one of the few single-origin coffees sold worldwide under a country's name. In terms of quality it has earned unrivaled acclaim among coffees. Compared with other producing countries, Colombia puts more emphasis on product development and promotion, and when that is combined with its superb geography and climate, the result is a high-quality, flavorful coffee known around the world. After roasting the beans release a sweet aroma, with the desirable quality of sweetness within acidity and balanced bitterness. Because its concentration is so well judged, it is often used in premium blends. Colombian coffee gives off a light, elegant fragrance, not as forceful as Brazilian coffee and not as acidic as African coffee, but rather a sweet, gentle aroma that is understated and refined.

Regional Information

Region: Smallholder farms of the Andes Mountains

Varieties: Castillo/Caturra/Colombia

Altitude: 800-1250 meters

Processing Method: Washed

Grade: EXCELSO (visually nearly 15 mesh or above)

History of Colombian Coffee Cultivation

The history of coffee growing in Colombia reaches back to the Spanish colonial era of the 16th century. There are several accounts of how coffee arrived:

First, it is said to have come by sea from the Caribbean island of Haiti, by way of El Salvador in Central America.

Second, in 1808 a priest introduced coffee beans to Colombia for the first time from the French Antilles via Venezuela. One account holds that Colombia's first coffee seeds entered through Santander province from Venezuela.

Third, the earliest written record of coffee cultivation in Colombia appears in "The Illustrated Orinoco" by the Spanish missionary Jose Gumilla. He described his experiences from 1730, when he was preaching along both banks of the Meta River, and mentioned local coffee plantations there. By 1787 other missionaries had spread coffee to other parts of Colombia.

Ideal Growing Conditions

Colombia's favorable climate gives coffee a genuine "natural pasture." Colombian coffee trees are grown mainly in the Andes, on steep slopes around 1,300 meters above sea level. Temperatures there hold at roughly 18 degrees Celsius year-round, and annual rainfall runs between 2,000 and 3,000 millimeters. Lying between latitude 1°-11° 15' N and longitude 72°-78° W, the specific altitude range can exceed 2,000 meters. This special combination of factors, the latitude of the coffee belt, altitude, soil, botanical origin, and varieties, together with the climate of the growing regions and the rain patterns produced by the double path of the Intertropical Convergence, the topography and light intensity that shift through the day, favorable year-round temperatures, well-distributed rainfall, and long-standing cultural practices such as selective harvesting and careful washing and drying, all make the country exceptionally suited to coffee. The climate is mild, the air humid, and harvest is possible in every season without distinction. That is why Colombian coffee reaches such high quality. Three Cordillera ranges run north to south and extend into the Andes, and coffee is planted along the highlands of these ranges. The mountain terraces provide diverse climates, keeping harvest season going year-round as different varieties ripen at different times. Fortunately, unlike Brazil, Colombia does not have to worry about frost damage. Colombia has roughly 2.7 billion documented coffee trees, of which 66% are grown using modern methods in plantations, with the rest on traditionally managed small farms.

Farming Practices

The pure taste of Colombian coffee comes from the country's natural environment, which offers the most favorable conditions for coffee growing, but it also depends on the diligent work of local growers. Coffee cultivation in Colombia reaches 1.07 million hectares across roughly 302,000 farms nationwide, and 30% to 40% of the rural population depends directly on coffee production for a living. Although Colombia has many farms, they are not large: each is only about 2 hectares, and over 80% of coffee plantations hold around 5,000 trees, averaging 3,000 trees. This shows that Colombian agriculture is of the small-farm type. Locals plant tall trees or banana trees around the coffee, and during the seedling stage they build shade to keep the cool, humid conditions coffee needs. Because humidity is high and the temperature difference inside the coffee forest is small, the beans ripen slowly, which favors the accumulation of caffeine and aromatic compounds and yields the finest quality.

Regional Quality

In both yield and quality, coffee from Medellin is the most highly recommended in Colombia. It is full-bodied and nutrient-rich, with moderate acidity, good balance, a rich aroma, and a smooth, mellow mouthfeel. Besides Medellin, the capitals of two neighboring southern provinces, Armenia and Manizales, are also famous coffee regions. They once belonged to the Antioquia province where Medellin sits, which had a Caldas football team that reached the Toyota Cup final. Together these three places form the world-renowned "Coffee Zone."

Harvesting and Processing

Coffee workers harvest the fruit, also called coffee cherries, by hand up the mountainsides, which allows them to select only the ripest, fullest fruit. Most Colombian beans are washed, and after a medium roast and brewing they give a light, silky mouthfeel, sometimes with a hint of acidity, never as forceful as Brazilian coffee or Italian espresso, a quality that has earned them the name "green gold."

Colombian Cavendish

The main variety of Colombian coffee is Arabica (Coffea arabica), that is, small-fruit coffee. By contrast, large-fruit coffee (Coffea robusta) is mostly grown in its native Africa, such as the famous Madagascar coffee. Small-fruit coffee has several varieties. Brazil, the world's number one producer, has larger seeds, stronger adaptability, and higher fruit yields. The mild coffee produced in Colombia, by comparison, is a higher-quality variety, thanks to its special geography and climate.

Colombian coffee is divided into more than 200 grades with strong regional character. Colombian beans use SUPREMO as the highest grade, followed by EXCELSO, though only specialty-grade coffee with beans of size 18 (diameter 18/64 inch) or larger qualifies as specialty coffee. Colombian coffee has a balanced flavor and a smooth mouthfeel, like a gentleman among coffees, well-behaved and proper. Its producing areas are widespread, but the coffee of the central mountain regions is the best, with the fullest texture. The most famous regions are Medellin, Armenia, and Manizales, together known as "MAM." Nariño coffee is delicious and of excellent quality.

Colombian coffee has a silk-like smoothness. People equate it with high quality and good taste. It has sweetness within acidity, low bitterness, plenty of nutrients, and a distinctive acidity and mellow flavor. The sour, bitter, and sweet notes are perfectly balanced in Colombian specialty coffee, and its unique aroma fills the whole mouth after drinking. Exhaling the aroma from the mouth through the nose gives a very full-bodied experience. It can feel almost overpowering, because it quickly occupies the taste buds and the memory. The most distinctive feature of Colombian specialty coffee is its aroma: rich and thick, with bright, high-quality acidity, high balance, and an endless aftertaste.

World coffee falls into two broad camps: the "hard" coffee represented by Brazil, with a strong flavor, and the "soft" coffee represented by Colombia, with a light fragrance. The difference lies in the altitude of origin and the farming methods. Brazil plants coffee on hilly red soil with relatively extensive cultivation, while Colombia produces on mountain black soil with intensive cultivation. Colombian specialty coffee has a rich, thick aroma, bright, high-quality acidity, high balance, sometimes a nutty note, and an endless aftertaste. In both appearance and quality it is quite excellent, like a woman's subtle charm: captivating, just right, and memorable.

Brewing Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90 degrees

Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 3.5

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g coffee, first pour 25g water for a 25s bloom, second pour to 120g then pause, wait until the water level drops to half before continuing to pour, slowly pour until reaching 225g, extraction time around 2:00

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you enjoy the balance of this Colombian cup, FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a rewarding counterpart from across the continent. Cerrado is a well-known Brazilian growing region prized for high-quality beans, and this lot is the Red Bourbon variety common to South America. Roasted medium, it delivers a rich aroma of creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut, with a rounded body, little acidity, and a gentle bitter edge.

Because the flavor is so even and approachable, it is far more than a pour-over bean: it also works well in a moka pot, as an espresso SOE, in a siphon, and in a French press, which makes it easy to explore the same coffee across a range of brewers.