Latest Updates from Colombian Coffee Regions: Do Huila Region's Flower Moon Night Coffee Beans Have Strawberry Flavors?

According to BBC reporting, Colombia's coffee industry — right in the middle of its peak harvest — has been hit by severe labor shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. One farm manager said many temporary harvesters simply hadn't shown up because of the added risks. Coffee picking is grueling work that "offers no fixed income or health insurance," and even though some pickers can earn three times the minimum wage, the pay hardly matches the workload, so many day laborers are unwilling to take the risk.

The central problem for producers right now is a race against the clock to get every cherry picked in time. Cold, rainy weather has slowed ripening slightly, which has spared many Colombian farms serious losses so far — but without enough hands, plenty of others may not be so lucky.

Huilan Coffee Region

The Huayeyue beans FrontStreet Coffee sourced come from the La Acevedogatin farm in Colombia's Huila region. Huila lies in the south of the country along the central Andean cordillera and is Colombia's most renowned specialty coffee region. The terrain is hilly and mountain-wrapped, with cultivation above 1,500 meters. Beans from here can reach Supremo, the highest grade in Colombia's classification system: large, plump beans with minimal defects and foreign matter.

After cupping many coffees from the region, FrontStreet Coffee has found them well-balanced, with rich acidity, a relatively full body, and commendable fruit. It is precisely that balanced profile that has made Huila a favorite playground for Colombia's new wave of experimental processing.

La Acevedogatin

The La Acevedogatin farm sits in the town of Acevedo, Huila. Its owner, Ramirez, was born into a coffee family and started in production at 18, working coffee jobs around Acevedo before buying a farm of his own, where he planted mostly the mainstream varieties of the day. He later sold that farm and purchased the present La Acevedogatin, dedicating it to the Caturra variety.

Caturra Variety

Caturra is a mutation of Bourbon, with curved branch tips and round, slender beans. Both its productivity and disease resistance beat Bourbon's. It grows happily anywhere from 700 meters up to 1,800 meters, showing impressive altitude adaptability — though the higher you plant it, the better the flavor and the lower the yield. At La Acevedogatin's 1,800m, production is modest, but the beans carry rich fruit aromas of pineapple, mango, lychee, melon, and more.

Natural Anaerobic Processing

The farm's previous owner launched a special processing program three years ago and taught Ramirez the ropes. Driven by his passion for growing coffee, Ramirez refined a fermentation process that had previously fallen short, adopting the anaerobic fermentation method that has surged in popularity in recent years.

The method works by injecting carbon dioxide into a sealed container to drive out the oxygen. In that oxygen-free environment, the sugars in the coffee mucilage break down more slowly and the pH falls more gradually, stretching out fermentation time — which builds enhanced sweetness and more balanced flavors. FrontStreet Coffee's Huayeyue uses the natural anaerobic method: after anaerobic fermentation, the beans are dried naturally until moisture reaches 11%, then hulled mechanically to strip off the dried pulp and skin.

FrontStreet Coffee's Roasting Insights

Because the Huayeyue is natural anaerobic, FrontStreet's roasters chose a medium roast — enough to preserve the coffee's own fermentation character while building a full body and sweet flavor notes.

Yangjia 800N roaster, 480g charge. Preheat to 180°C, air damper at 3, heat at 130. Turning point at 1'42". At 140°C on the probe, open the damper to 4. At 150.6°C the yellowing point arrives at 6'20" — the bean surface yellows, the grassy smell vanishes completely, and the drying stage begins. At 180°C, cut heat to 100, damper unchanged. At 8'45", wrinkles and dark spots appear on the surface and the toast aroma clearly turns to coffee aroma — the prelude to first crack. Listen carefully from here. First crack begins at 10'20"; open the damper fully, develop 1'50" after crack, and drop the batch at 196°C.

FrontStreet Huayeyue Cupping Notes

Dry Aroma: Berries, fermented ripe fruit

Wet Aroma: Fruit jam, liquor-filled chocolate

Flavor: Strawberry jam, cranberry tartness, fermented ripe fruit, liquor-filled chocolate

FrontStreet Huayeyue Brewing Tips

Dripper: Hario V60 #01

Water Temperature: 90°C

Coffee Amount: 15g

Water-to-Coffee Ratio: 1:15

Grind Size: Medium-fine (77% pass-through rate with a #20 sieve)

FrontStreet's segmented extraction: first pour 30g of water to fully saturate the grounds into a "hamburger" shape and bloom for 30 seconds (no "hamburger"? Check whether your beans are fresh enough or your grind too coarse). Second pour at 50 seconds on the timer, up to 125g; wait until the water level drops to two-thirds of the coffee bed. Third pour at 1'40", up to 225g. Total extraction time is 1'55" once the liquid has fully drawn down. When it's done, give the brew a gentle swirl to homogenize before tasting.

FrontStreet Huayeyue Brewing Flavor: First comes the sweet scent of strawberry jam and the fermented lift of ripe berries. On the palate, cranberry acidity and a berry-juice sensation spread to every corner of the mouth, followed by a lingering nasal finish of liquor-filled chocolate. So yes — the strawberry character is real.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want to explore more of what Huila can do, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Huila beans are the region's classic expression: hillside farms above 1,500 meters laced with abundant water, roasted medium-dark for black chocolate, nutty sweetness, moderate crema, and a full, smooth body — great in a pour-over or French press, and just as good through a moka pot or espresso machine for americanos and lattes.

For the experimental side of Colombia, try FrontStreet's anaerobically processed Sidra from the Dividing Line Estate: medium-light roasted, it unfolds layers of passion fruit, grape, apricot, and dried fruit across pour-over, cold brew, drip bags, or moka pot — a vivid example of how far Colombian innovation has come since the days when everything was simply washed.