Colombia Coffee – Homeland of charming coffee beans with natural beauty

Coffee was first introduced to Colombia thanks to the priests Jose Gumillia and Spanish immigrants in the early 17th century. Initially, the first coffee growing areas were only in the Northeast region of Colombia. Some time later, coffee was quickly adopted nationwide by small family farms.

By the early 18th century, the first batches of Colombia coffee were exported, starting a large industry later. At this time, the industry was in a short-lived decline, with a period known as the “Thousand Days War.” International coffee prices fell, many farm owners were forced to divide agricultural land to workers. This gave workers local ownership and independence over their own farms.

By the early 19th century, Colombia began peace, allowing rural farmers and small estates to boost coffee exports. This initiated a new period of growth and gave farmers the opportunity to continue producing Colombia coffee. Currently this supply accounts for about 12% of the world’s coffee supply. By 1972, the National Coffee Growers Federation of Colombia was established to protect the interests of coffee growers. This organization quickly expanded its support for farmers to improve coffee quality. From there, in just the next few years, Colombia grew to become the world’s third largest coffee exporter. The country’s annual exports average 11 to 13 million bags. In particular, in 2020, Colombia reached nearly 14 million bags of 60 kg Colombia coffee beans.

Colombia’s coffee industry has grown to become the world’s third largest coffee exporter

Colombia is home to dozens of microclimate zones, providing perfect conditions for the growth of Arabica. This country also owns the coffee region (eje cafetero) – an extremely unique Colombia coffee cultural landscape. It stretches across the Caldas, Quindio, Risaralda and northern Valle coffee growing areas. With thousands of hills and mountains with diverse soil, humid climate and high altitude, farmers here easily grow Colombia Coffee with a unique taste. For example, coffee grown in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Perija Mountains, Casanare, Santander and northern Santander will have low acidity and rich flavor. Meanwhile, coffees from the southern regions of Narino, Cauca, Huila and southern Tolima grow at higher altitudes, closer to the equator, giving them higher acidity and lingering sweetness. Thanks to this uniqueness, in 2011, UNESCO honored the country’s coffee cultural landscape as a World Heritage Site. This has become a source of pride for Colombia coffee  farmers.

In 2011, UNESCO named Colombia’s coffee cultural landscape a World Heritage Site

Due to the humid climate and traditional wet processing methods, Colombia coffee often has mild acidity and balanced sweetness. You can feel that in each cup of coffee there is a pleasant acidity, a pleasant sweetness and a clarity of flavors that cannot be confused with coffee from other countries.

Colombia coffee usually has mild acidity and balanced sweetness

However, the ecosystem in Colombia is very diverse, so coffee lots in each region will have different unique flavors. For the northern regions of the country, such as Santa Marta and Santander, lower altitudes and higher temperatures produce richly flavored coffee. The central coffee regions of Antioquia, Caldas and Quindio will tend to be full-bodied with chocolatey, mildly sweet and mellow flavors. In southern coffee regions such as Nariño, Cauca and Huila, higher altitudes produce coffee with bright acidity and rich floral aromas. Even in the same area as Valle del Cauca, with the same Gesha variety, each small batch of Colombia coffee also radiates its own unique characteristics. Las Margaritas coffee beans #0333 in Calcedonia, Valle del Cauca highlight the elegance of jasmine, black tea and orange. Cerro Azul #0350 at Cerro Azul green hill, Cauca valley is fresh with layers of melon, apple cider, kiwi and custard apple. Buenos Aires Gesha #0370 is sweet and captivating with the flavors of red apple, apricot, banana and orange.

Colombia coffee often has a strong flavor

If you want to experience the colorful flavors of these Colombia specialty coffees, stop by XLIII Coffee to feel it!

Don’t forget to follow XLIII Coffee’s Journal channel every day to update interesting coffee information.

Articles you may be interested in:

– How did Colombia specialty coffee become famous?

– Buenos Aires Gesha #0370 – Colombian coffee lot from a combination of people and nature

– GrainPro packaging recycling – Green responsible solution in the coffee industry