Where to Find Good Coffee in South America: How Colombian Coffee Bean Altitude Secures Its World's Second Position

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Colombian Coffee

Colombia is the world's third largest coffee producer and exporter, located in the northwestern part of South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east, Brazil to the southeast, Ecuador to the south, and Panama to the northwest—all of which are coffee-producing countries.

Colombia is rich in natural resources, with coffee, flowers, gold, and emeralds being known as the "four treasures." Today, the country is the second largest coffee producer after Brazil, the world's largest exporter of Arabica coffee beans, and the world's largest exporter of washed coffee beans. Colombian coffee is often described as having a silky smooth texture. Among all coffees, it has the best balance, with a soft, smooth taste that can be enjoyed at any time. It has earned praise unmatched by other coffees, being hailed as "green gold."

The earliest record of coffee cultivation in Colombia appears in a book titled "The Illustrated Orinoca" by Spanish missionary Jose Gumilla. He described his experiences while missionary work along the Meta River in 1730, mentioning local coffee plantations. By 1787, other missionaries had spread coffee to other parts of Colombia.

Local people plant tall trees or banana trees around coffee plants. During the seedling stage, shade structures are built for coffee trees to ensure the cool, humid environment needed for coffee growth. Due to the high humidity and small temperature difference in the coffee forest, coffee beans mature slowly.

They don't have heavy machinery for harvesting and irrigation, nor do they have spare money to hire workers. All coffee cherries are hand-picked and selected by themselves, which is beneficial for the accumulation of caffeine and aromatic substances, resulting in the best coffee quality.

Unique Coffee Varieties

Pink Bourbon, as the name suggests, has romantic pink coffee cherries when mature. It belongs to a very rare new variety, cultivated by crossing Red Bourbon and Yellow Bourbon. The reason Pink Bourbon is considered a rare variety is mainly because maintaining this beautiful pink color is extremely difficult. Sometimes orange Bourbons are harvested because the color of coffee cherries is ultimately determined by recessive genes in pollen grains. Among the pollen grains we selected for hybridization, there are both yellow genes leaning toward Yellow Bourbon and red genes leaning toward Red Bourbon, all of which are recessive genes that easily interfere with each other.

Currently, Pink Bourbon can be found in Colombia and Guatemala. Taking this batch of Pink Bourbon coffee as an example, there are approximately 1,800 coffee trees, with each tree producing about 1.8kg of fresh cherries per harvest season. After removing the pulp and skin, about 0.36kg of coffee beans are obtained. In a normal harvest season, the total production of this coffee is less than 650kg.

Knowledge Point

Colombian coffee is world-renowned for its specialty quality, smooth taste, and high grade.

In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research hall, willing to share knowledge about coffee with everyone. We share without reservation just to let more friends fall in love with coffee. Every month, there are three low-discount coffee activities because FrontStreet Coffee wants to let more friends drink the best coffee at the lowest price. This has also been FrontStreet Coffee's principle for the past 6 years!

Important Notice :

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