Colombia is famous for its coffee. However, Colombia is not producing the best coffee nor the most. Jamaica was ranked the number one in coffee taste and Colombia is only the third biggest producer of coffee after Brazil and Vietnam. Then, why Colombian coffee is famous?
The Yohany, the local tour guide and a biologist, explained four reasons:
1. The perfect latitude, the same as Ethiopia where coffee was originated from at 6-9 degree north of the equator.
2. The perfect topography with 50% mountain suitable for Arabica coffee and 50% high plain suitable for growing Robusta coffee. But Colombia has chosen to grow only Arabica coffee that contains lower level of caffeine providing milder taste which Colombians like.
3. The perfect soil thanks to volcanic ashes coming from 14 volcanoes in Colombia,
4. The perfect weather of the sun and the rain throughout the year, The lush green scenery all over the places continues year round, we were told. Wow...
The Colombia's coffee region is located at the center of Colombia, experiencing both rainy seasons of the south and the north of Colombia. Thus, they can harvest coffee twice a year, unlike any other coffee regions in the world. In fact, due to continuing repetition of sun and rain, Colombia harvests coffee throughout the year. The sun makes the coffee trees to blossom the flowers and the rain helps the coffee cherries absorb the water.
We visited the Hacienda Venecia coffee plantation to watch the complicated process of producing the world's finest coffee. We arrived at the point of entrance and switched our vehicle to a 4X4 trucks to travel through winding and unpaved roads to the plantation. At one point, we crossed a rapid stream that resulted from the flash flood.
When we arrived at the plantation, we found a beautiful house tucked in the middle of the hacienda.
In the front and backyards of the house, a few colorful peacocks were strolling around, adding the beauty to the house.
The coffee trees start producing coffee cherries after a couple of years of growth. Arabica coffee grows only in high altitude and on the slopes.
Then the coffee cherries need to be processed. There are two ways to process Arabica coffee cherries: dry process and wet process. Usually, Arabica coffee is processed wet at the washing stations, but some low quality is processed dry through heating machines. Also, some coffee cherries can be process through a honey method, where the parchment (coffee cherry meat) is not peeled off and instead the whole cherries are dried naturally, thus preserving the honey inside the parchment.
Once processed, the coffee beans are packed into the sacks for transportation.
The coffee beans are further screened by size, color to categorize them correctly with consistency.
Once the coffee beans arrive at the destination for consumption, then they need to be roasted.
Roasting is another important aspect of producing quality coffee. It depends on a number of factors, such as the heat level, air flow and the degree of roasting.
Kristin bought two bags of Colombian coffee and was happy.
I was happy for her.
Now I know why Colombian coffee is famous and is well deserved. - Jeffrey
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