Colombian Coffee Characteristics & Flavor Description - Which Colombian Coffee Brands Are Good to Drink

Colombian Coffee Overview

Colombia is the world's third-largest coffee producer and exporter, after Brazil and Vietnam, and the largest exporter of Arabica beans. It borders top producer Brazil to the southeast and Panama to the northwest, and Panama is of course famous for Geisha, home to some of the finest Geisha varieties on earth. That geography makes it easy to see why Colombian coffee is so often equated with high-quality coffee. At FrontStreet Coffee, Colombian coffee is defined by the three "river-shaped" ranges of the Andes that run north to south, with coffee grown along the highlands of each range. The unique microclimate, combined with high altitude and rich volcanic-ash soil, creates natural conditions that are exceptionally well suited to growing high-quality Arabica.

Colombian Coffee Regions

Colombia today has two broad kinds of producing region: commercial and specialty. Commercial coffee comes from the central-northern areas of Medellín, Armenia, and Manizales, collectively known as MAM. Specialty coffee comes from the high-altitude south, in places such as Huila (San Augustin), Cauca, Tolima, and Nariño (often rendered "Na Linglong" in Taiwan).

Commercial vs. Specialty Coffee

This is where the commercial traps are hidden. How can you tell whether the beans you bought are commercial or specialty coffee?

Coffee Bean Grading

Colombian beans are graded by the size of the green bean, where 1 screen mesh equals 1/64 inch. So how do you judge green bean size? You "screen" them. There are three grades in total: Supremo (the highest grade, 17 or 18 screen; 17 screen is 6.75mm and 18 screen is 7mm), Excelso Extra (16 or 15 screen), and U.G.Q. (Usual Good Quality, 14 or 12 screen, which is commercial coffee). So when choosing Colombian beans, besides judging bean size by eye, you should repeatedly confirm the producing region to be sure you are getting authentic FrontStreet specialty Colombian coffee.

Colombian Supremo Characteristics

Colombian Supremo is the country's most representative bean. FrontStreet Coffee's Colombian coffee shows a fruity aroma and a rich, multi-layered body, with a faint chocolate fragrance in the aftertaste and a caramel-like finish.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Colombia shares the Andes with Panama, the country that made Geisha famous, so if you enjoy the bright, layered character of high-grown Colombian coffee, the next step is to explore the Geisha family itself. For an affordable introduction, FrontStreet Coffee's Boquete Gesha is an entry-level Panama Gesha from one of Panama's most representative specialty regions. With pure varietal genetics and washed processing, it lets you taste the classic orange-blossom honey sweetness, oolong tea-like body, and delicate fruit acidity that define Geisha.

If you want to go further, FrontStreet also offers the Esmeralda Green Label Gesha (Private Collection), a blend of several high-altitude plots that expresses the estate's signature Geisha profile at a very reasonable price, and the Esmeralda Red Label Gesha (Esmeralda Special), grown at 1,600-1,800 meters with each lot cupping above 90 points and coming from a single small plot for maximum traceability.