Colombia's Three Major Estates Introduction to Colombia La Granja

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FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Colombia's La Granja Estate

Colombia's climate is a genuine "natural pasture" for coffee. Coffee trees are grown mainly in the Andes, on steep slopes at altitudes around 1,300 meters, where the temperature stays close to 18 degrees Celsius year-round and annual rainfall runs between 2,000 and 3,000 millimeters. It is the combination of many factors at once, the latitude and altitude of the growing regions, the soil, the botanical origin and varieties, terrain that shifts through the day, light intensity, favorable year-round temperatures, well-spread rainfall, and customary practices such as selective picking and the washing and drying steps, that makes these conditions so well suited to coffee: mild weather, humid air and the possibility of a harvest at almost any time of year.

La Granja Estate lies in Colombia's Santander region. The farm owner, Vargas, has run La Granja for as long as 20 years, accumulating a deeper understanding and more practical experience of planting and processing through years of development and trial.

Santander La Granja Estate Region

La Granja Farm is located in Colombia's Santander region, and its owner, Vargas, has cultivated coffee there for up to 20 years.

At La Granja, only fully ripe, bright red cherries are picked. After washing, defective floating beans are removed, and the lot then goes through two rounds of anaerobic fermentation with specific enzyme cultures. The drying stage is handled just as carefully: excessively high temperatures are avoided in favor of a slow, gentle dry.

La Granja Estate is located in Colombia's Santander region. The farm owner, Vargas, has cultivated coffee at La Granja for up to 20 years. Only fully ripe, bright red cherries are selected for picking. After washing, defective floating beans are removed, followed by anaerobic fermentation with specific enzyme cultures. Great care is taken over the drying process as well, avoiding excessively high temperatures and adopting a slow drying method.

Caturra - [Suitable for Intensive Cultivation]

The Caturra variety was discovered in Brazil around 1935 and is an excellent mutant of Bourbon. The Caturra tree is small, usually only about 2 m tall, with a short, thick trunk and plenty of branches and leaves, but its productivity, quality and bean size are only average. Caturra adapts to a wide range of growing environments. Colombia, the South American coffee producer long famous for its mild flavor and excellent balance, grows it widely, and this bean suits coffee lovers who are new to coffee.

Knowledge Point

Ethiopia holds the ancestral position in the coffee world: it is the birthplace of Arabica and remains Africa's largest Arabica-producing country. The Kaffa Forest in Ethiopia is even known as the "coffee gene bank."

In Summary

FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research center that loves to share coffee knowledge with everyone. Our unreserved sharing exists only to help more friends fall in love with coffee. We also hold three low-discount coffee events every month, because FrontStreet Coffee wants more friends to enjoy the best coffee at the lowest prices. That has been our mission for the past six years.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

To taste the gentle, balanced Colombian profile that Santander represents, start with FrontStreet Coffee's washed Colombia Huila. Huila, in the southern part of Colombia's central cordillera, is the country's most celebrated specialty region: ringed by mountains, planted above 1,500 meters, and watered by the confluence of Colombia's most important rivers, which brings it abundant water and humidity. We roast it medium-dark to draw out black chocolate, the sweetness of nuts, a moderate oiliness and a full body. It works in a pour-over or French press, and it also extracts beautifully in a moka pot or espresso machine for Americanos and lattes.

If you want to see where Colombian processing is heading, try FrontStreet Coffee's Sidra from Finca La Divisa, a competition-winning lot grown at 1,650 to 1,800 meters and processed as anaerobic natural, then roasted medium-light. Anaerobic fermentation, sometimes called carbonic maceration, develops in a sealed, oxygen-poor tank where temperature, time and pH can all be controlled. The result is a rush of tropical fruit: passion fruit, blueberry, grape and apricot, with a soft, bright acidity and a lingering cocoa finish. It shines as a pour-over, a cold brew, a drip bag or in a moka pot.

For those with a home espresso machine or a moka pot, FrontStreet Coffee's Signature Blend is the barista's pick. Built for cafes, it marries the creamy, nutty sweetness of Brazilian coffee with the dark chocolate bittersweetness of Colombian coffee, pulling a fine golden crema and turning silky and rich with milk. It is forgiving enough for beginners and works as the base for Americanos, cappuccinos and mochas.