Colombian Coffee Growing Process Introduction to Colombian Coffee Varieties

Colombia is one of the world's great coffee origins, but the country's varieties tell a story of their own. FrontStreet Coffee looks at how Colombia's plantings shifted over the decades, and at one estate where a rarer variety still shines.

FrontStreet Coffee Colombian Paraíso Pink Bourbon, Colombian Coffee Varieties Introduction

Caturra was introduced from Brazil in the 1960s and currently accounts for 45-50% of Colombia's production, having replaced the earliest Typica variety.

The new variety named "Colombia," sharing the same name as the country, was developed in the 1980s as a hybrid coffee with Caturra and Timor lineage, which is the notorious Catimor. However, the FNC (National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia) insists that while Colombia is a direct descendant of Catimor, its flavor is far more elegant than typical Catimor because Colombia has undergone multiple generations of "backcrossing" with Arabica, eliminating the musty smell of Robusta beans. The flavor more closely resembles Arabica while maintaining Robusta's disease resistance and high yield advantages, making it a powerful tool for increasing Colombian production.

Currently, most Colombian estates adopt a mixed cultivation model of 70% Caturra and 30% Colombia, with the delicious Typica no longer found.

The overall coffee variety configuration in Colombia roughly presents as Caturra 50%, Colombia 30%, and Typica 20%.

Colombia's diverse topography, low latitude, and high altitude provide excellent conditions for growing specialty coffee.

Colombia's coffee regions are located between 3 and 8 degrees north latitude, belonging to the low-latitude coffee belt, allowing for two harvests annually. From south to north, ripe coffee can be harvested almost every month.

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 (sharing the country's name). Of course, there are also some rare and precious varieties like Gesha, small-grained Mocca, Rume Sudan, Eugenioides, Laurina (Pointed Bourbon), and Maragesa (a natural hybrid of Maragogipe and Gesha).

There is also Pink Bourbon, which revealed itself to be an extraordinary coffee variety. Simply put, Bourbon is a coffee variety belonging to a branch of the Arabica species, generally bearing red fruit called Red Bourbon. In addition, there are Yellow Bourbon and Orange Bourbon. Yellow Bourbon has relatively lower yields but better quality.

Coffee Information

Country: Colombia

Region: Cauca Department

Estate: Paraíso Estate

Variety: Pink Bourbon

Processing Method: Washed

Altitude: 1,930 meters

Flavor Profile: Overall clean and balanced, feeling relatively light and smooth, with flavors of peach, plum, grapefruit, cream, roasted almonds, and cocoa. The finish has persistent tea and floral aromas.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, and its beans are prized for balance: moderate acidity, mild sweetness and bitterness, and a rounded body. That profile makes Brazil a natural fit for medium roasting, which brings out a nutty aroma, a smooth, rich taste and a light acidity. Brazilian beans work equally well as a single origin or in a blend.

If you want a gentle introduction to Brazilian flavor, FrontStreet Coffee's Cerrado Red Bourbon is a very classic single-origin Brazilian lot. Cerrado is a well-known local region, famous for high-quality beans, and this is the common red Bourbon variety of South America. Roasted medium, it shows rich aromas of creamy peanut, toast, caramel and hazelnut, with a rounded body, no acidity and a light bitter note. It is not only for pour-over; it also works in a moka pot, as an espresso SOE, in a siphon or in a French press.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brazil Queen Estate is another single-origin lot, from Mogiana near South Minas, where fertile red volcanic soil lets the cherries take up plenty of nutrients and develop a full aroma. Some farms there keep traditional practices while others have adopted modern, standardized management, and quality has improved greatly as a result. The variety is a rare Yellow Bourbon, a natural mutation of Red Bourbon, with a cleaner fruit character. Through pour-over, a moka pot or a home espresso machine, this coffee shows a sugarcane sweetness that other regions rarely offer, along with fruit and chocolate notes.

Brazil's low acidity, balanced taste and friendly price also make it the first choice in many espresso recipes. The rich, oily FrontStreet Coffee Classic Blend, the nutty Premium Blend, the balanced FrontStreet Coffee Dark Cocoa Blend recommended by many baristas, and FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend made for coffee shops all contain Brazilian beans. Brazil adds not only chocolate and cream aromas but also a soft sweet-sour-bitter balance that makes extraction more stable.