Nav: Home > Coffee >

Introduction to World Premium Coffee Beans: A Detailed Guide to Colombian SUPREMO Grade Coffee Green Beans

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Introduction: Colombian SUPREMO Grade Coffee Green Beans - Colombia Coffee Green Bean SUPREMO. Colombian coffee is one of the few single-origin coffees sold globally under its country name. In terms of quality, it has earned acclaim that other coffees cannot match. Colombia

For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow our WeChat official account: FrontStreet Coffee

Why is Colombian Coffee So Popular?

Colombian coffee is renowned in the coffee world for its mild yet rich aroma, consistently ranking among the world's top coffee exporters. Whenever high-quality coffee is mentioned, Colombia's presence is indispensable. Whether on FrontStreet Coffee's selection of pour-over single origins or espresso blends, Colombian coffee beans are prominently featured, demonstrating their immense popularity.

Like many agricultural crops, coffee bean quality is influenced by factors such as variety, climate conditions, altitude, harvesting management, and post-processing methods. Coffee is a tropical economic crop suitable for growing in high-altitude, frost-free areas. For every 100 meters of elevation increase, the temperature drops by 0.6°C. Lower temperatures and oxygen levels cause coffee beans to mature more slowly. In this state, coffee trees dedicate most of their nutrients to the fruit, resulting in denser, harder beans with more time to absorb and store nutrients in the form of sugars. The Andes Mountains in Colombia perfectly meet these "stringent" conditions.

The Andes Mountains are situated in western Colombia, divided into three continuous high mountain ranges. Each range features fertile soil rich in organic matter, where coffee trees are planted at elevations between 800-2,300 meters, enjoying nourishing sunlight and appropriate shade from cloud cover. The diverse climate among the mountains creates year-round harvesting seasons, with different coffee varieties maturing at different times, allowing us to witness busy harvesting activities in the forests throughout the year. Local growers typically plant coffee trees under shade trees, mostly tall trees or banana trees. During the seedling stage, shade structures are built for coffee trees to ensure the cool, humid environment required for coffee growth. Due to high humidity and small temperature variations in coffee forests, coffee beans mature slowly, which is beneficial for the accumulation of caffeine and aromatic compounds, resulting in the highest coffee quality.

The secret to Colombian coffee's success extends beyond its unique geographical environment. As the national beverage, coffee farmers' love, dedication, and expertise in coffee cultivation are unparalleled compared to other coffee-producing regions. In recent years, with industry development, Colombian coffee has demonstrated exceptionally rich flavor profiles through the integration of manual fruit selection, precise fermentation, and professional cupping knowledge, naturally becoming the preferred choice for coffee enthusiasts.

Where Does Colombia's Specialty Coffee Come From?

Early Colombian coffee was exported under names of local production areas. Even with specialty-grade beans at that time, they appeared as local micro-batches. The planting scale of Colombian small farmers is not large, and few small farmers have their own processing equipment. The flourishing development of the local coffee industry in the 20th century can be attributed to the establishment of the Federación Nacional de Colombia (FNC - Colombian National Coffee Federation).

The FNC is Colombia's only official professional coffee association, representing over 560,000 coffee farming families, and has become one of the world's largest agricultural non-governmental organizations. The FNC promotes the brand image of Colombian coffee globally and monitors the quality of every coffee bean exported from Colombia. Beyond international market promotion, the FNC also invests significant human and material resources in domestic farming production, management, and sustainable operations within Colombia.

Thanks to the FNC's management and guarantees, coffee is now planted on approximately 875,000 hectares across 590 cities and 14 coffee-growing regions in Colombia, mostly from small coffee farms. The planting area of Colombian small farmers is typically around 2-3 mu. Small farmers send coffee to community coffee processing stations for washing or establish their own green bean processing equipment before sending it for quality grading and testing.

From the map, we can observe that Colombia's coffee-producing regions have quite distinct boundaries, divided from south to north into three major areas: northern, central, and southern regions. Colombia's specialty coffee producing areas are mainly concentrated in the southern region, at elevations above 1,500 meters, including San Augustin in Huila province, Popayan in Cauca province, Nariño province, and Tolima province. The products from these areas all feature delicate acidity, berry aromas, caramel notes, and abundant sweetness.

Colombia cultivates numerous coffee varieties, predominantly traditional Arabica species such as Caturra, Bourbon, Typica, and Pacamara. Of course, there are also some popular rare varieties like Gesha, which have appeared in small batches on the market in recent years. FrontStreet Coffee's selected Colombian daily coffee beans come from Huila, with the coffee variety being Caturra, which is widely planted locally. Using natural washed processing, these beans offer a balanced flavor profile of sweet, sour, and bitter after roasting.

In Colombia, Are Bigger Coffee Beans Better?

Colombian green coffee beans are graded by size before export, typically using fixed-size screens where different specifications correspond to different hole sizes. For example, if the screen mesh is 17 sieve size, beans larger than this size cannot pass through the screen. Therefore, the larger the screen number, the larger the bean particles remaining on the screen. The most common export grades are UGQ, EP, and Supremo.

Regardless of the green bean size grade, as long as green beans are exported, they belong to the Excelso grade. In other words, most Colombian green coffee bean bags exported worldwide today must be labeled with Excelso grade. The Excelso export grade is currently the most widely used export standard adopted by the FNC and is also the optimal grade for Colombian green bean exports. Excelso grade coffee must meet the following requirements: for 500 grams of green beans, the size must be above 14 sieve, allowing no more than 5% of green beans between 12 and 14 sieve, and overall, at least 50% of green coffee beans must be larger than 15 sieve. Must be free from pests, uniform in color, without off-flavors, and clean in taste. Moisture content cannot exceed 12.5%, and cumulative defects cannot exceed 24 points.

Each farmer will report numbers and input green bean information, facilitating future traceability. Colombian exported green coffee beans are typically named as country + region + grade + other information. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Huila daily coffee beans are labeled as Colombia Huila Supremo SC17/18 FNC.

How to Brew Colombian Coffee for the Best Taste?

FrontStreet Coffee's flavor descriptions for each coffee are based on freshly roasted beans. If coffee beans have been stored for more than a month, their aroma may have partially dissipated, making it difficult to reproduce the intended flavors during brewing. FrontStreet Coffee deeply understands the importance of freshness, so we ensure only coffee beans roasted within 5 days are shipped, allowing customers to enjoy the complete flavor window upon receipt.

Considering that the Huila daily coffee beans use medium-dark roasting, with flavors leaning toward rich, full-bodied notes of nuts and chocolate, the deeper roasting makes the coffee beans more porous and the coffee grounds more absorbent. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee chooses a medium grind size. To avoid extracting excessive undesirable flavors, FrontStreet Coffee slightly reduces the water temperature to 90°C, using a KONO dripper for extraction. Unlike the V60 dripper, the KONO dripper has only one exhaust area in its quarter-ribs. When the water level rises above the rib area, the water volume in the dripper continuously increases, creating pressure through the water's weight. Due to the relatively smaller exit, this extends the contact time between coffee particles and water, effectively extracting soluble substances with the water flow, thereby enhancing the coffee's rich, full-bodied texture.

Brewing parameters: KONO dripper, 90°C water temperature, #20 standard sieve with 75% pass-through grind size, 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, coffee amount: 15g, three-stage extraction.

Pour the coffee grounds into a V60 dripper, wet the coffee bed with twice the amount of water to form a dome and bloom for 30 seconds. Then use a small water stream to pour in circles from inside to outside until reaching 125g for the first stage. Wait until the coffee bed drops to half the dripper's height, then continue with the same fine water stream for the third stage until reaching 225g. Remove the dripper once all coffee liquid has filtered through, with a total time of about 2 minutes.

This Colombian Huila daily coffee bean presents distinct roasted aromas of chocolate, nuts, and caramel upon entry. It's smooth and sweet, with moderate body and a clean taste. As the temperature decreases, you can experience pleasant, gentle acidity.