The Coffees of Colombia

A note on Colombian selections: Coffee from Colombia comes in all grades to suit different markets: there are lower grades for commercial and food service applications, generic medium grades, Specialty grades, and at highest end of the spectrum there are specific appellations with designated varietal and farm or micro-region. The later has only become available in the last two years or so (before that many fine coffees were pooled with not-so-fine lots to form large exportable shipments). This means that the marginally Specialty grades, pooled lots designated only by a general region like Huila, Medellin, Antioquia, Popayan, etc. no longer represent the best of Colombian coffee. These lots can be okay, but recent samples have showed a tendency toward the aqua-pulp rapid milling process. The use of non-traditional varietals like Variedad Colombian is also a trend towards higher production detrimental to cup quality. Our response is to carry the best Colombians we can find, traditional varietals, farm and micro-regional lots, special selections. I'll certainly cup the other lots too and if there's something good we'll get it. But I think you won't see much pooled Colombians on our list anymore (well, never say never!)... Tom

The Primary Growing Regions of Colombia: These are the regions our samples come from, and from these we chose the ones we feel are best in any given season ...

Popayan, Cauca	Huila, San Augustin	Antioquia, Medellin	Quindio, Armenia	Santander, Bucaramanga	Magdelena, Sierra Nevada	Nariño

Colombia Antioquia -Jardin Cerulean Warbler
Country:	Colombia	Grade:	(Excelso EP)	Region:	Andes, Antioquia	Mark:	Co-op Andes Shade Grown "C.W. Project"
Processing:	Wet Processed	Crop:	March 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	.2 d/300gr, 15-17 Screen	Varietal:	60% Caturra, 40% Typica
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.5	Notes: Antioquia coffees haven't been receiving the attention of other coffee-producing areas in Colombia, such as Narino and Huila. Formerly, is was just a part of the great "coffee triangle" known as MAM: Medellin, Antioquia, Manizales. The focus was on quantity, although like all Colombia the coffee came from small-holder farms and was pooled indiscriminately, graded non-sensically for size (Excelso, Supremo, Etc) rather than cup and apellation. Things have changed so much since then, and great coffees are being singled out for special recognition. Now the smaller cooperatives are doing the same on behalf of their "socios", their members. This is a small lot that distinguished itself with outstanding cup character, but also as part of a progressive environmental project at Co-op Andes in Antioquia. The coffee is basically called "Cerulean Warbler Garden"! Hmm... well, it is part iof a specific project for conservation a bird in dire straits, the Cerulean Warbler, with a population of around 500,000. Much of this is due to destruction of mature forest in the Eastern U.S. but the effect of coca-leaf growing and full-sun coffee in it's winter habitat, the Andes, plays a key role. Co-op Andes has forest conservation projects and is shade grown. The Cerulean Warbler lot is a joint effort between small farmer-members of Co-op Andes and a local conservation group. No, there is a not a Cerulean Warbler in every bag, and in fact I diodn't know it was part of an audubon project when I first cupped it ... it was the favors and aroma that impressed me! The dry fragrance is sweet and delicately fruited, with tamarind character and sweet , toasted hazelnut. In the cup there is a wonderful bright tamarind fruit, matching the fruited aromatics, with peach notes as it cools. The aftertaste has this fantastic peach-tamarind flavor linger, and beautifully fade. There's a twist of citrus initially, which passes quickly to the above mentioned fruit, while floral character prevails from start to finish: passionfruit flower. This is an amazing, delicate cup and needs a fairly light roast treatment to preserve these floral aromatic qualities.
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.8
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		8.4
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.9
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3.9
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.8
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		1	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / at C+ roast, peach-tamarind fruited notes
add 50		50	Roast: City+ is ideal. It may still appear a bit "dry", with a wrinkled surface texture at this point, but we don't taste with our eyes! Also works great at FC+ but the delicate fruited notes are muddled a bit.
Score (Max. 100)		88.3	Compare to: Very refined Colombia cup profile, highly floral

Colombia Huila - Las Piedras de San Augustin
Country:	Colombia	Grade:	Estate (Excelso EP)	Region:	San Augustin, Huila	Mark:	San Augustin small lots
Processing:	Wet Processed	Crop:	March 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	.2 d/300gr, 15-17 Screen	Varietal:	60% Caturra, 40% Typica
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.5	Notes: San Augustin is know for several things: the fantastic pre-Colombian "Piedras", large carved-rock idols at archeological sites dating to 3000 B.C. And then there are bandits and guerillas still active in the surrounding areas (although the town of San Augustin itself is quite placid). And finally there is the remarkable coffee grown in the area. This lot is from combined smallholder farms and has a distinction from our other Huila coffees of late: it is incredibly balanced. We have found Huila coffees with more striking acidity (and I love a good, bright, citric accent in the cup). And usually I look to coffees from the Cauca valley for more tenor-to-bass toned cups. But here is a Huila with fat, rounded body, and moderate acidity. The dry fragrance has a strong milk chocolate scent with almond undertones. There are suggestions of almond in the wet aromatics, as well as the cup flavors. Remarkably balanced between these nutty and chocolate tones, there is a long aftertaste with fruited (pear, papaya) secondary flavors. It's the rounded body that makes the cup so alluring and balanced. I would rank this as a top "crowd-pleaser" coffee, which is not to say it lacks character, or is middle-of-the-road in any way. There are fruited tones here, from aroma to aftertaste, that are outstanding, sweet, clean, complex. Inisitally it smells so sweet and candy-like I thought of grape Pez! In the cup the flavor is more like a creamy papaya mousse, if there even is such a thing. It's a great cup. It has the body that people respond to, and avoids the acidity that can be controversial for some folks- it's drinkin' coffee!
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.5
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		8.5
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.7
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3.9
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.7
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		0	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity /incredible balance, great body, moderate acidity
add 50		50	Roast: City+, Full City
Score (Max. 100)		86.8	Compare to: This Huila cups a bit more like the Cauca/Popayan coffees. Great depth of character.

Colombia Huila Valencia
Country:	Colombia	Grade:	Excelso 15+	Region:	Huila Department, South Colombia	Mark:	Valencia
Processing:	Wet Processed	Crop:	January 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	.2 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Caturra, Typica
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.6	Notes: This is an stand-out lot from a fairly large coffee supplier that ships full container loads of coffee. Their coffees (Valencia is simply their brand for Huila coffees, not a farm designation or area) are always good, but this one really jumped out at me for it's brightness, balance, and plain-old drinkability. It was clearly better than the 4 other lots offered. It might sound odd to say, but after tasting a lot of exotics, it's ncie to come back to a solid, classic, balanced cup like this. It takes a wide range of roasts and performs well across the board. Light roasts have clean nutty tones, almond (not like the dry-roasted peanut you find in Brazils). The coffee shows a good bittersweetness starting around Full City through Vienna. There's pear and mango fruit note, very clean and mild, lurking behind the roast flavor, and a good "dark brown sugar" sweetness in the finish. Even at the lightest roasts I tested, the acidity was never too agressive or sour, but makes it's presence known enough to provide that necessary balance and prevent the cup from having the proverbial "flat" taste that lower grown coffees demonstrate. So if you are in need of some relief, or want some solid crowd-pleasing coffee, I can't recommend this lot enough.
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.5
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		8.4
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.6
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3.3
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.5
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		0	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / balance, fruit hint, bittersweet
add 50		50	Roast: Takes a wide, wide range of roasts from City+ to Full City to Full City+ to Vienna. I am partial to FC here.
Score (Max. 100)		85.9	Compare to: Classic balanced Colombia with a clean finish. Note that this coffee is graded at 15+ screen Excelso but I screened it at 17-18

Colombia Los Naranjos de Huila
Country:	Colombia	Grade:	17-18	Region:	Huila Department, South Colombia	Mark:	Los Naranjos de Huila
Processing:	Wet Processed	Crop:	January 2008 Arrival	Appearance:	.2 d/300gr, 17-18 Screen	Varietal:	Caturra, Typica, Colombia
Dry Fragrance (1-5)		3.6	Notes: I remember this coffee from the quirky "competition" they hold at the Specialty Coffee (SCAA) conference each year. There are individual cuppings for many origins, but whole vast coffee-producing areas don't enter the event (for example, the only Indonesia coffee was papua New Guinea). There are winners for each region, then overall winners. The reason I bring this up is that Colombia had a full table of entrants and the winner for Colombia was this coffee, Los Naranjos de Huila. I cupped it blind against a bunch of new Huila arrivals and it was more dynamic, brighter, crisper, cleaner than the "pooled lots". Indeed, this is a pooled lot too, a combination of a lot of small growers, and not all lots of this coffee have been so stellar, but this one is a standout for me. And since the average production of a farmer in Colombia is around 10 bags, often less than 100 small growers, at altitudes ranging from 1600 to 1900 meters, wet-processed and sun-dried, then cupped, classified and combined based on the cup flavors. Los Naranjos means "The Oranges", but that's not exatly the fruit I get from this cup. The dry fragrance has a tropical fruit smell, with a surprising nutty (macademia) tone in some cups. The wet aroma has sweet lychee and a bit of passionfruit. The cup has a jammy sweetness to it (strawberry preserves), and jasmine tea, especially in the finish. I do get hints of sweet orange in some cups true to the name. The body is not as big as other Colombias, but this is a brighter, much more dynamic cup than other Huilas so far this year. The finish is sweet and fades beautifully, with strawberry accents and a bit of black tea.
Wet Aroma (1-5)		3.8
Brightness - Acidity (1-10)		8.6
Flavor - Depth (1-10)		8.7
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5)		3.4
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10)		8.7
Cupper's Correction (1-5)		1	Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / balance, fruit hint, bittersweet
add 50		50	Roast: Takes a wide, wide range of roasts from City+ to Full City to Full City+ to Vienna. I am partial to FC here.
Score (Max. 100)		87.8	Compare to: Classic balanced Colombia with a clean finish. Note that this coffee is graded at 15+ screen Excelso but I screened it at 17-18

South America: Colombia