Introduction to Colombian Huila Coffee Region - Flavor Characteristics of Colombian Huila Coffee Beans

When FrontStreet Coffee recommends coffee beans to beginners just starting with pour-over coffee, the washed-processed beans from Colombia's Huila region are always the top recommendation. Compared to Yirgacheffe beans with their bright acidity or Mandheling beans with their heavy body, Colombian coffee beans truly offer a much friendlier experience~

With traditional processing methods, Colombian coffee beans always feel clean, balanced, and gentle, making for a soft experience for those new to pour-over coffee. This Colombian coffee bean can exhibit such gentle flavors, thanks both to the care of its growing environment and the meticulous attention paid during the coffee bean extraction process.

Geographical Environment of Huila Region

Colombian Huila is located in the southern region of Colombia, a hilly area surrounded by mountains. The mountains shield the coffee trees here from cold winds while also bringing cool breezes that carry away high temperatures. Additionally, important rivers throughout Colombia flow through this area, making it a uniquely advantageous growing environment created by nature for the coffee trees. Such superior geographical conditions have made this region one of Colombia's most famous specialty coffee producing areas.

The Huila producing region spans the Andes Mountains and contains famous tourist attractions within its province: the Nevado del Huila volcano and the Magdalena River. The coffee growing areas are near the equator, with higher altitudes compared to the northern regions, generally resulting in more distinct and bright fruit acidity in the coffee. The southern coffee growing belt experiences distinct dry and rainy seasons, with the dry season lasting from June to September, during which coffee trees flower. The rainy season then extends from October through May, with the harvest season typically starting each April and ending around June.

Planting and Varieties

Coffee trees in the Huila region are typically planted on slopes of high-altitude hills above 1500 meters, where the soil is rich in nutrients from volcanic ash. The day-night temperature difference brought by this altitude, combined with the mineral components in volcanic soil, often results in coffee beans with charming complex fruit juice notes, roasted nut aromas, and caramel-like sweetness.

The vast Colombian producing region offers numerous coffee varieties. In addition to high-quality varieties most commonly found in Central America such as Caturra, Bourbon, and Typica, there are also disease-resistant varieties developed by Colombia itself: Castillo, Tabi, and the variety named after the country "Colombia." With the pursuit of diverse varieties, some local estates have begun introducing popular varieties like Geisha.

Harvesting and Processing Methods

On these hills, people employ pure manual harvesting, partly to protect the growth of coffee trees and the integrity of coffee cherries, and partly because only fully ripe coffee cherries are picked. This approach better ensures the overall quality of the final coffee beans during the extraction process (coffee bean processing), resulting in cleaner flavors and more pronounced sweetness.

The technique of obtaining raw coffee beans through water tank fermentation is also passed down through generations of Colombian coffee farmers. The water used in the Huila region is natural mountain spring water. Mountain spring water contains more minerals than river water sources, allowing coffee beans to develop cleaner acidity and a refreshing sweet sensation during the fermentation process.

The Colombian producing region has abundant water resources, and most coffee undergoes washed processing. Family-run farms are equipped with specialized raw bean processors (Ecomill or Eco-Pulper). Harvested coffee cherries are poured into these machines, which not only remove the skin and pulp but also require only minimal water to remove most of the mucilage. The parchment beans with residual mucilage then enter a small pool or container, possibly a tiled pool, for overnight fermentation to loosen the remaining mucilage. The next day, they are thoroughly rinsed with clean water and finally spread under the sun to dry to the target moisture content. The washing process significantly reduces the defect rate of coffee beans, preserves the beans' inherent flavors, and presents higher cleanliness.

Roasting and Brewing

For roasting, to allow this Colombian coffee bean to better showcase its chocolate sweetness, FrontStreet Coffee employs medium-dark roasting. Medium roasting allows the coffee beans to retain some fruit acidity while the caramelization process brings roasted nut and caramel-like aromas to the washed Huila beans.

Considering that the Huila daily coffee beans use medium-dark roasting with flavors leaning toward rich nuts and chocolate, the deeper roasting makes the coffee beans more porous and the coffee grounds more absorbent. To avoid over-extraction, FrontStreet Coffee uses medium grind size and medium water temperature, paired with a KONO filter for extraction.

Brewing parameters: KONO filter, 90°C water temperature, #20 standard sieve with 75% passing rate grind size, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, coffee amount: 15g, three-stage extraction

Pour the coffee grounds into a V60 filter, use twice the weight of the coffee grounds in water to wet the coffee bed, forming a dome for 30s of blooming. Then use a small water stream to pour in circles from inside to outside until reaching 125g for the first segment. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the filter's height, then continue with the same fine water stream to pour the third segment to 225g. Remove the filter once all coffee liquid has filtered through, taking about 2 minutes total.

This Colombian Huila daily coffee bean presents distinct roasted aromas of chocolate, nuts, and caramel upon entry, with smooth sweetness, moderate body, and a clean mouthfeel. As the temperature decreases, one can experience pleasant soft acidity.

Contact Information

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