Are Colombian coffee beans acidic? Why do Colombian coffees have fruity acidity?

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In Colombia, coffee is hailed as "green gold." The locals have a rich coffee-drinking culture, with cafés of all sizes dotting the streets and alleys. From morning to evening, these establishments are filled to capacity, demonstrating the genuine love Colombians have for coffee.

What Makes Colombian Coffee Special

Colombian coffee is often described as having a smooth mouthfeel, rich fruity acidity, and balanced flavors. Such flavor advantages can be attributed to Colombia's natural geography.

Southern Colombia straddles the equator with vast geographical span. Coffee cultivation is mainly concentrated along the western Andes Mountains, with three high mountain ranges extending from south to north. The country boasts diverse ecosystems, with different forests, grasslands, rivers, and lakes beneath each mountain forming varied climate characteristics. Volcanic ash soil that has evolved over millions of years has created various ideal locations for coffee cultivation.

Coffee trees are mostly distributed on sloping highlands. The surrounding clouds and low-temperature environment at high altitudes allow coffee cherries to retain more sugar content, producing coffee with rich flavors and natural sweetness.

Colombian National Coffee Growers Federation (FNC)

Colombia has over 500,000 coffee farmers. Local coffee growers operate in small-scale family models, with all processes of coffee production being purely manual. The overall quality of coffee beans is therefore higher than mass-produced coffee like that from Brazil.

Given the flourishing development of Colombian coffee cultivation, growers dedicated to coffee export formed a coffee producer organization, but it failed to regulate the industry effectively. Subsequently, at the call of coffee farmers nationwide, the government established the Colombian National Coffee Federation (FNC) in 1927. Its purpose was to guarantee local coffee quality, protect the rights and welfare of every coffee producer, provide reasonable and stable income guarantees for coffee farmers, and promote positive development throughout the coffee industry.

In recent years, thanks to the FNC's efforts, local coffee farmers have developed coping mechanisms against leaf rust disease and climate change, while continuously exploring the balance between high-quality coffee flavors and increased yields.

What Grade is Colombian Supremo Coffee?

Colombia's green coffee bean grading system is primarily based on bean size. The highest grade is Supreme screen 18+. Colombian Supremo coffee beans refer to samples where 95% of 500g of green beans are above 18 mesh, meaning the beans are full and uniform in size.

Packaged green coffee beans are typically sorted using fixed-size screens, with different specifications corresponding to different hole sizes. For example, if the screen mesh is 17 size, beans larger than this size cannot pass through. Therefore, the larger the screen number, the larger the bean particles that remain on the screen.

After sorting by size, coffee beans are inspected for defective beans and foreign matter, then evaluated based on defect rates and cupping tests. In defect rate grading, Colombia has specific standards, mainly divided into two categories: Type I defects and Type II defects.

Type I defects (defects affecting cupping characteristics): black, moldy, or sour/rotten aromas. Maximum allowable defect value: 12. Type II defects (defects affecting appearance): discolored (old, faded, yellowed, mottled), damaged beans, broken beans, cracked beans, cut beans, insect-damaged, deformed, immature, gray or soft, etc. Maximum allowable defect value: 60. Points are deducted based on the number of defects, with final scores divided into three grades: AA grade, A grade, and G grade.

Each farmer reports their number and records green bean information, facilitating future green bean traceability. Colombian exported green coffee bean names typically follow the format: country + production area + grade + other information. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Huila daily bean's green beans are designated as Colombia Huila Supremo SC17/18 FNC.

Huila Production Area Coffee Beans

Colombia's coffee growing regions are extremely vast, with flavors varying between different production areas depending on cultivation locations. Among these, specialty coffees are mainly produced in the southern regions of Huila, Cauca, and Nariño.

Huila Province is surrounded by mountains, with an average altitude of over 1,500 meters. Many of Colombia's main rivers flow through this area. The abundant water sources and humid air, combined with cool valley breezes that keep temperatures from getting too high while blocking cold winds, plus the fertile soil brought by Huila volcanoes, allow Arabica coffee here to absorb sufficient nutrients. This results in many batches of coffee beans with complex aromas and fruit flavors.

Through cupping, FrontStreet Coffee discovered that Huila-produced coffee has rich nut and chocolate aromas, with full caramel sweetness. It's smooth and clean on the palate, truly characteristic of Colombian coffee. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee has also included it in their exceptionally cost-effective daily bean series.

On FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu blackboard, each classic producing country has its unique section, and Colombia is no exception. Among the many Colombian coffees on FrontStreet Coffee's menu, two Sidra and Big Navel coffees from the dividing line stand out with their unique flavors, making many coffee connoisseurs marvel and also impressing newcomers to specialty coffee, who discover that coffee can have such wonderful aromas.

The name "Sidra" is a transliteration of "Sidra," which means "apple juice, apple cider" in Spanish. Sidra plants have relatively thick trunks, growing up to four meters in height. The leaves are slender, the flowers have five petals, and the yield is excellent. The fruit size, like the plant itself, is somewhat larger than most Arabica varieties and is suitable for cultivation at altitudes of 1600-1800 meters.

However, since it belongs to the Arabica species, its disease resistance is naturally relatively weak. It's worth noting that its insect resistance is quite good. Therefore, in the absence of disasters, its yield is quite considerable! Nowadays, most Sidra we can find on the market comes from Colombia, which leads many friends to mistakenly believe that Sidra originated in Colombia. But like Geisha, its place of development is not its place of origin - Sidra's birthplace is actually Ecuador!

For this bean, FrontStreet Coffee uses medium roasting to present its richly layered fruit tonality and chocolate sweetness. Since its launch, FrontStreet Coffee has tested it through cupping, pour-over, ice drip, French press, siphon, or cold brew - Sidra consistently displays bright and full grape and passion fruit acidity, with a honey-sweet finish and a hint of elegant jasmine fragrance, very comfortable indeed~

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