Flavor Profile of Colombian Coffee Beans - Main Characteristics of Huila Coffee Region

For more premium coffee knowledge, please follow the WeChat official account: FrontStreet Coffee

Introduction to Colombian Coffee

When mentioning Colombia, a country rich in natural resources, FrontStreet Coffee naturally thinks of its famous "four treasures": coffee, flowers, gold, and emeralds. Among these, one of Colombia's treasures—coffee—has become a series in FrontStreet Coffee's bean selection. Colombia is currently the world's third-largest coffee-producing country, surpassed only by Brazil and Vietnam.

Colombian coffee is one of the few specialty coffees sold worldwide under a country name, receiving unparalleled praise in overall quality compared to other coffees. Compared to other producing countries, Colombia focuses more on product development and production promotion. This, combined with its superior geographical and climatic conditions, makes Colombian coffee high-quality, flavorful, and renowned globally.

Colombia boasts excellent geographical conditions for coffee cultivation. The coffee-producing regions are located in the Andes Mountains, with a mild climate and humid air. Three Cordillera mountain ranges run north-south, extending into the Andes, where coffee is planted along the highlands of these mountain ranges. The mountain terraces provide diverse climates, making Colombia a year-round harvesting country where different types of coffee mature successively at different times. In FrontStreet Coffee's bean selection, several Colombian coffees are particularly favored by many customers, such as the Rose Valley from the Santander region of Colombia, whose strawberry and fermented notes are deeply impressive.

Colombia is located in the northwestern part of the South American continent, bordering Panama in Central America. In 1808, a priest first introduced coffee to Colombia from the French Antilles via Venezuela. Today, Colombia is the world's third-largest coffee exporter, primarily producing Arabica coffee beans, and is also the country that exports the most Arabica coffee beans.

Coffee Producing Regions

Colombian coffee bean producing regions are characterized by small estates, with high-quality coffee harvested twice a year. The Andes Mountains, with an average elevation of over 4,000 meters, have small estates on their steep slopes at elevations of about 1,000 to 3,000 meters—these are Colombia's coffee-producing areas. Colombia's specialty bean producing regions are mainly in the south, with elevations above 1,500 meters, including San Agustin in Huila, Popayan in Cauca, Nariño, and Tolima.

From north to south, Colombia's main producing regions include:

Santander/North of Santander: Located in northern Colombia, bordering the Magdalena River to the west, with cultivation elevations of about 1,400-1,600 meters. Coffee beans from this region are known for their intense flavor, long aftertaste, and unique fresh herbal notes.

Antioquia: Located in north-central Colombia, with 126,000 hectares of coffee cultivation, producing 18% of Colombia's coffee production, second only to Huila province. Most of this province consists of high mountain terrain belonging to the Andes, but is influenced by the warm Caribbean sea breeze. The provincial capital, Medellin, is Colombia's second-largest city and also an important coffee-producing region.

Tolima: Bordering Huila and Cauca provinces, this area features the north-south Andes and Cordillera mountain ranges, with the Magdalena River running from south to north between these two famous mountain systems.

Huila: Located in the southern part of Colombia's central mountain range, it is the country's most famous specialty coffee-producing region. This area consists of hills surrounded by mountains, with cultivation elevations above 1,500 meters. Colombia's most important rivers converge here, bringing abundant water resources and moisture.

Cauca: A Colombian coffee origin-certified region with an average elevation of 1,758m, reaching up to 2,100m at its highest. The region's topography, precipitation, temperature, and volcanic soil provide suitable conditions for coffee growth. 80% of the area is mountainous, with parallel mountain ranges in the eastern and central parts, forming part of the Andes. The central mountain range includes two main volcanoes: Sotara and Petacas.

Nariño: Bordering the Pacific Ocean to the west and Ecuador to the south, the Andes Mountains traverse this province. Many rivers flow through this area toward the south, belonging to Colombia's high-altitude coffee cultivation zone, nurturing many small farmers of specialty coffee. Nariño is also Colombia's first coffee-producing region named after its origin.

Colombian coffee features balanced flavors with a smooth mouthfeel, much like a gentleman among coffees—steady and refined. The coffee aroma is rich and full-bodied, with bright, high-quality acidity.

Coffee Bean Grading

Colombia has over 200 different grades. Colombian coffee beans are graded with "Supremo" as the highest grade, followed by "Excelso." Only Supremo grade coffee beans above 18 (18/64 inches in diameter) can qualify as specialty coffee.

Coffee Bean Processing Methods

Colombian coffee beans are primarily processed using the washed method. Friends who frequently purchase FrontStreet Coffee's daily bean series know that most beans in this series use the washed processing method. This is because the washed method represents the basic flavor profile of a producing region and is the starting point for understanding regional characteristics. Compared to the natural method, the washed method allows better control over coffee bean quality, mainly by cleaning the coffee to slow down the "fermentation" process. However, since it requires large amounts of water, the washed method is less common in countries with limited water resources.

Coffee Bean Varieties

In addition to common varieties in American growing regions such as Caturra, Bourbon, Typica, and Pacamara, Colombia also has three unique disease-resistant varieties: Castillo, Tabi, and the Colombia variety (named after the country). Of course, there are also some rare and precious varieties like Gesha, small-grained Mocca, Rume Sudan, Eugenioides, Laurina, Maragogipe (Maracaturra), and Pink Bourbon.

Typica

As in other regions, Typica is a long-established coffee variety cultivated in Colombia, first introduced around the late 16th to early 17th century by a priest from the French Antilles via Venezuela. Typica offers excellent flavor with delicate floral notes, outstanding acidity, and full body, but due to low yields and high agronomic costs and technical requirements, most coffee farmers choose to plant higher-yielding coffee varieties. Currently, only a few regions in Colombia still grow Typica. FrontStreet Coffee cupped an anaerobic natural processed Typica from Colombia's Pearl Estate this year, featuring quality citrus acidity, passion fruit, and fermented aromas.

Bourbon

Bourbon is a variant of Typica, whose main characteristic is its rounder bean shape and superior acidity, with red wine-like notes. In 1860, Bourbon was officially introduced to the South American continent, initially to Brazil to replace the low-yielding Typica, and later spread to Colombia. However, Bourbon cultivation was not widespread in Colombia, with only a few regions growing it. FrontStreet Coffee once offered a Pink Bourbon from the Paraiso Estate in Cauca, whose clear, clean acidity with lemon and small tomato notes evoked associations with Kenyan coffee.

Caturra

Caturra is a natural variant of Bourbon. Its advantages over Bourbon include sun tolerance (no need for shade trees), compact size (easy to harvest), and more branches (high yield). In terms of flavor, it's comparable to Bourbon. Therefore, it has become Colombia's main coffee variety. Interestingly, Caturra was discovered in a plantation in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and later screened by the Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC) in São Paulo. However, experimental cultivation results in Brazil were not ideal, but when Caturra reached Colombia, it was completely transformed and planted nationwide. The coffee varieties currently offered by FrontStreet Coffee, Karyeon and Rose Valley, are both Caturra.

Colombia

To combat leaf rust, Colombia's National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafé) developed the multi-generation backcross improved variety of Catimor in 1980. Through multiple generations of evolution, its Robusta genes have been more diluted. The Colombian government, to emphasize the difference from the first-generation Catimor and to help promote nationwide cultivation, named this coffee variety "Colombia" after the country.

The Colombia variety shows excellent performance in disease resistance and yield, but compared to Caturra, its flavor is somewhat lacking and is generally used for commercial commodity bean exports. It is also one of Colombia's main coffee varieties.

Castillo

Castillo is a new generation of leaf rust-resistant coffee variety jointly developed by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) and Colombia's National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafé). Cenicafé hoped to further improve the variety to achieve higher coffee yields, greater resistance, and quality and flavor comparable to Caturra.

After 23 years of research and testing, Cenicafé developed the fifth generation of Castillo, which was officially promoted for commercial cultivation in 2005. Castillo is known for its smoothness, aroma, and lemon acidity. According to blind test results from Colombia's National Coffee Research Center, Castillo's flavor can match the quality of Caturra and Bourbon. Currently, Colombia is promoting its cultivation nationwide, according to official statistics.

However, FrontStreet Coffee has not yet tasted Castillo coffee beans processed by traditional methods (natural or washed), so we reserve judgment on whether its flavor matches Colombia's official description. The Castillo variety currently offered by FrontStreet Coffee is "Sakura" from Paradise Estate, processed through double anaerobic washing, presenting aromas of mugwort, mint, and eucalyptus, with flavors of berries and strawberry candy.

At FrontStreet Coffee, there is also a Gesha variety from Colombia. This Gesha coffee bean comes from the "Hanami" Gesha blend from Montblanc Estate in Huila, Colombia. Initially, the estate planted Caturra and Catuai coffee varieties. In 2016, the owner and his team introduced Gesha varieties from Panama, which began bearing fruit in 2020 and entered mass production in 2021. Therefore, this coffee bean can be considered Montblanc Estate's first Gesha coffee sold to the market.

FrontStreet Coffee Colombian Gesha Blend · Hanami Coffee Beans

Region: Huila, Colombia
Estate: Montblanc Estate
Altitude: 1,900 meters
Variety: Gesha, Caturra, Catuai
Processing Method: Washed
Flavor: Pink pepper, chamomile, tangerine, honey, almond

FrontStreet Coffee used this Colombian coffee bean for brewing to see its flavor characteristics～

Colombian Coffee Brewing Method

Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee learned that Colombian coffee beans are generally soft and balanced, so we recommend brewing at 90-91°C with a 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio. For coffee bean grind size, we recommend medium-fine grinding (78% retention rate on a China standard #20 sieve). Filter: V60 #01.

FrontStreet Coffee's three-stage brewing method: First, pour 30g of water for a 30-second bloom. Then, continue pouring in small circular motions to 130g before pausing. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring to 240g and stop. When the water level drops again and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the filter cup. (Timing starts from the bloom) Total extraction time is 2'15".

Through FrontStreet Coffee's brewing, the Hanami Gesha coffee beans reveal floral notes, soft acidity of orange/tangerine, honey-like sweetness, and a tea-like aftertaste.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473