Is Colombian Coffee Black Coffee? What Are the Flavor Profiles of Colombian Specialty Processed Coffee?

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Discovering Colombia: Traditional Flavors Beyond Modern Innovations

What are your impressions of Colombian coffee? Anaerobic processing? Exotic flavors? A synonym for high quality? All of these are true, but behind this flourishing development, some original flavors have truly faded away. Today, let FrontStreet Coffee guide you to explore this coffee region and its famous coffee varieties to discover what truly makes it exceptional.

FrontStreet Coffee · Introduction to Colombian Coffee Varieties, Flavors, and Geography

Colombia's Rich Coffee Heritage

Colombia, located in South America, was named in honor of Columbus. This country, once a paradise for drug lords, has fertile valley lands that could produce fine coca, marijuana, and poppy, as well as high-quality coffee. After "close exchanges" between the Colombian government, U.S. military forces, and drug lords entrenched in the mountains, drug cultivation was ultimately resolved through military force. Where coca fields once stood, coffee trees began to grow one after another. From then on, Colombian coffee became world-renowned.

Initially, the Colombian government strongly encouraged farmers to grow coffee, providing substantial subsidies. At one point, as long as you planted, you didn't need to worry about sales—the government would help solve it, ensuring you wouldn't lose a single cent. This made Colombia's annual coffee production rank second in the world, currently holding around fourth place, while Arabica coffee bean production remains steadily second.

Colombian coffee beans are exceptionally high quality. When FrontStreet Coffee searched for representative coffee with Colombian flavor characteristics, it discovered that traditional Colombian coffee beans share a common trait: a rich, balanced, intense dark chocolate aroma with caramel sweetness—truly outstanding. Ultimately, FrontStreet Coffee selected washed coffee beans from Huilan province as the representative bean for Frontsteet's Colombian regional flavor, which is part of Frontsteet's daily coffee bean series.

Huilan: Colombia's Premium Coffee Region

Huilan province is located in the southern part of the central mountain range in southern Colombia and is the country's most famous specialty coffee region. This area consists of hills surrounded by mountains, with cultivation altitudes above 1,500 meters. The most important rivers in Colombia converge here, bringing abundant water resources and moisture.

Contrary to the common impression of commercial Colombian coffee as balanced and smooth, many smallholder micro-batch specialty coffees actually possess distinct regional flavor characteristics. In recent years, with the international market's emphasis on coffee quality and demand for specialty coffee, the traditional grading system based on bean size has gradually been abandoned. Instead, micro-regional selections organized by small farmers have become the primary approach, where dozens of small farmers contribute their individual harvests to form a micro-batch for sale. This approach allows for cupping each batch individually, directly selecting many exceptional specific smallholder coffees.

Traditional Washed Processing

American coffee-producing countries primarily use washed processing methods, such as Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, and, as FrontStreet Coffee introduces today, Colombia is no exception. After coffee beans are harvested, underdeveloped inferior beans are removed through flotation. Then, a pulping machine is used to remove the coffee cherry skin and pulp, followed by the fermentation stage. The purpose of fermentation is to use microorganisms to separate the pectin from the inner bean. Coffee beans remain in fermentation tanks for 16-36 hours, after which they need to be thoroughly cleaned with large amounts of running water, and finally sent to drying grounds for sun-drying. The washed method not only shortens drying time and reduces defect rates in green coffee beans but also imparts cleaner, brighter acidity to the coffee.

Similarly, most coffee in Huilan also uses traditional washed processing, which results in cleaner flavor and superior overall quality. Frontsteet's Colombian Huilan coffee beans have uniform appearance and consistent size. Frontsteet uses medium-dark roasting to present a rich mouthfeel, bitterness-free with intense dark chocolate aroma, prominent caramel sweetness in the finish, and a touch of smooth fruit acidity—very pleasant.

Anaerobic Fermentation Processing

Anaerobic fermentation is actually a fermentation method in a low-oxygen or oxygen-free environment, typically using pressure-resistant stainless steel tanks where temperature, time, pH values, and other necessary fermentation data can be controlled. Common anaerobic fermentation processing methods include anaerobic natural, anaerobic enzyme washed, anaerobic double washed, and anaerobic honey processing.

Anaerobic Natural Processing Method

Anaerobic natural processing involves placing freshly harvested coffee cherries into sealed fermentation tanks for low-temperature fermentation, where the temperature must be maintained below 10-15°C. In an anaerobic environment, the decomposition rate of pectin sugars slows down, and pH values decrease more slowly, extending fermentation time to develop better sweetness and more balanced flavors. After more than three days of anaerobic fermentation, the coffee cherries in the tank undergo sun-drying. Once drying is complete, the coffee cherries are mechanically removed of their skin and pulp. Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee found that the most prominent characteristic of this processing method is a jam-like fermentation sensation, with a hint of sweetness in the fermented aroma.

FrontStreet Coffee: Colombian Flower Moon Night Coffee Beans

Region: Colombia, Huilan

Altitude: 1800m

Variety: Caturra

Processing: Anaerobic Natural Processing

Brewing Flavor: First comes the sweet aroma of strawberry jam and fermented notes of ripe berries. Upon entry, cranberry acidity and berry juice sensation spread to every corner of the mouth, followed by chocolate liquor-like aftertaste presented in the nasal cavity.

Why FrontStreet Coffee Created the Daily Coffee Bean Series

Many people believe that low-priced coffee beans must have some hidden issue—that it's impossible to have quality coffee beans below market price. These thoughts are understandable, especially after experiencing so many counterfeit incidents. However, FrontStreet Coffee wants to tell everyone that coffee prices are indeed this low—of course, this refers to coffee futures prices. Friends who understand economics can look at coffee futures prices and calculate the added value through various processes to get the final price. In reality, the price of decent quality coffee is just this inexpensive.

FrontStreet Coffee initially created this daily coffee bean series to allow friends who are new to coffee to try different regional coffee bean flavors at a relatively low price. The coffee beans selected for Frontsteet's daily coffee bean series are highly representative, such as Frontsteet's washed Yirgacheffe coffee beans representing Ethiopia, Frontsteet's Lintong Mandheling coffee beans representing Indonesia, and Frontsteet's Huilan coffee beans representing Colombia. This allows more friends to get acquainted with coffee beans from major regions, select regional beans that match their taste preferences, and then move on to more expensive coffee beans from those regions.

How to Brew Frontsteet's Colombian Huilan Daily Coffee Beans

Considering that Huilan daily beans use medium-dark roasting with flavors leaning toward nutty, chocolate-rich, mellow characteristics, the deeper roasting makes the coffee bean texture more porous and the coffee powder more absorbent, so medium grind would be chosen. To avoid extracting excessive undesirable flavors, FrontStreet Coffee would lower the water temperature slightly, using medium 90°C water temperature paired with a KONO dripper for extraction.

Unlike the V60 dripper, the KONO dripper's only exhaust area is in its one-quarter ribs. When the water level rises above the ribs, the water level in the dripper continuously increases, creating pressure through the water's weight. Due to the relatively small outlet, this prolongs the contact time between coffee particles and water, effectively extracting soluble substances as water flows through, thereby enhancing the coffee's rich, mellow mouthfeel.

Brewing Parameters: KONO dripper, 90°C water temperature, #20 standard sieve with 75% pass-through rate grind, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, coffee amount: 15g, three-stage extraction

Pour the coffee powder into a V60 dripper, wet the coffee bed with twice the amount of water to form a dome and let it bloom for 30 seconds. Then use a small water stream to pour in circles from inside to outside until reaching 125g for the first stage. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the dripper's height, then continue with the same fine water stream to inject the third stage to 225g. Remove the dripper once all coffee liquid has filtered through, taking about 2 minutes total.

This FrontStreet Coffee Colombian Huilan daily bean entry shows distinct roasted aromas of chocolate, nuts, and caramel. It's smooth and sweet with moderate body and clean taste. As the temperature decreases, you can experience pleasant, soft acidity.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473