One of Colombia’s most loved coffee product is Cafe Bustelo K cups
Cafe Bustelo Coffee is known for their Colombian coffee. What is the secret to this? What is Colombian coffee’s secret? This article will cover this topic from several perspectives.
You can travel the globe with a cup of coffee. After you’ve dialed in your preferred way to brew coffee the next step is to try different kinds of beans.
You want to learn as much as you can about the culture, like any other journey. Colombian coffee culture and Colombian coffee culture go hand in hand like warm water and ground beans.
Just by a chance, while I was writing my Café Bustelo coffee review. It opened for me a whole world about Colombian coffee and I decided to share it with you.
Colombia’s coffee industry is a key part of Colombia’s past. Let’s discover the many qualities of Colombian coffee and how it is a popular choice around the world.
Quick facts
- Total Coffee Farming Area : 940,000 Hectares
- Elevation : 4,000 – 6,066 feet
- Temperature: 46 – 75 degF
- Soil – Volcanic, Fertile
- Cultivar: Arabica
- Processing Wet
- Taste notes: (Depending on where you are)
What makes Colombian Coffee special?
Colombia produces a large amount of coffee from small family farms. Many of these farms can grow less than 12 acre. This is a great opportunity to have delicious green beans.
Colombian coffee is made from 100 arabica beans. Even though they yield less, it’s still a high-quality product. Colombia’s entire coffee industry places a high emphasis on quality.
Pride is a proud tradition
Small farms work together to supply the world’s needs. There’s a pride in each cup that you won’t find at large-scale corporate farms. It’s not that Colombian farmers take pride in what they do, by any stretch, but there is something about the way they do their work there that makes it special.
Small-Farm Quality
Although it is not practical to pay so much attention on large-scale farms and farms, it is possible.
Workers will inspect the plants about every 10 or so days during harvest seasons. They will pick the finest cherries (quite literally “cherry selecting”), leaving the rest to continue maturing till it’s time to pick them.
This is different than in other regions. In these cases, they may use a technique called scrap picking. This basically means that they pick all of the cherries from a specific branch at one time regardless of whether they have been ready for picking yet.
Colombian coffee isn’t just defined by its harvest process. It’s the growing conditions that occur on the steep slopes at the Andes that make Colombian coffee special.
You can only truly taste the flavors of coffee when you try it. Colombia is home to 22 different coffee-growing areas. They are divided into three major groups.
- Northern – Traces of chocolate or nut flavor. You get more body with less acidity.
- Central Herbal and fruity flavors
- Southern – Stronger hints at acidity and citrus.
Colombia’s three distinct flavor profiles and two yearly harvests make it an unusual country of origin. It is difficult to identify a single flavor with these flavors. You can define taste by using a variety of flavors.
What Makes Each Region’s Taste Different?
Colombia is an amazing place to grow coffee. It is the weather (both rainfall and temperature), elevation, and differences in soil that determine the distinct flavor profiles found in each region. Both the arabica beans and the carefully harvested beans are important factors.
There is no one magic bullet that can make Colombian coffee stand apart. This parallels the uniqueness of the coffee-growing farmers. The perfect storm is created by many factors. It’s the result of many factors working together, much like the many farmers who have worked together to preserve the tradition and drive the economy forward.
Thoughts On Roasts: What’s the Difference Between Dark and Light?
When you’re tasting beans from a particular origin, you want to get a deeper understanding of their flavors. A lighter roast will allow for you to detect more of them. As beans get darker their unique flavor tends to disappear.
While you may prefer a darker roast to your coffee, it is perfectly acceptable. Although you will still be able to tell the difference between different beans by tasting them, the differences won’t seem as noticeable as with a lighter variety.
This isn’t to suggest that darker Colombian roasted aren’t worth trying.
A Short History of Coffee Cultivation in Colombia
While we cannot go into all the details of Colombia’s coffee industry’s history, we can highlight the important points that help place everything in context.
Farmers still face this problem today, but recent efforts have been made to improve it. Colombian coffee growers face difficult challenges because of the manual nature and strict quality control.
1994
1994 was the year that the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia established a coffee-themed park, called National Coffee Park. We’ll be discussing that in a moment.
2018
2018 Colombian coffee price are at an 12 years low. Coffee producers have called on big brands like Nestle to help them. A small number of coffee beans are being sold as fancy latte at $5. The difference in price between the beans and the latte (just under a dollar) is really starting to hurt.
“Price levels above $1.15 are embarrassing. Prices of this kind are unexplainable because I have not seen the price of coffee drop anywhere in the globe nor has the price of a pound of coffee on supermarket shelves.” Roberto Velez, the president of the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, explains.
In 2018, 100 billion pesos was pledged by the Colombian Government to farmers in order to address the problem of low prices.
Colombian Coffee Mascot
Juan Valdez is a well-known mascot for the Federation. He is often seen standing next his mule named Conchita. Conchita is used to mark that the coffee is 100% Colombian.
Juan Valdez, although a common name isn’t a real person. He’s a fictional figure who represents the many farmers of the region. He is an instantly recognizable character who has been seen in numerous ads over the decades.
National Coffee Park
This park has two main sections.
The first includes a coffee-themed park with a variety exhibits including a bamboo tower 18 meters high, a cemetery for indigenous tribes, a traditional country house, a musical performance detailing the history and cultural of coffee, as well as an interactive museum.
The second section features the amusement park, which includes a variety of rides and roller coasters as well as many other attractions you’d expect to see at an amusement parks.
The park was visited by over 5 million visitors in 2009 and more than a million more in 2017. It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Colombia.
Colombian Coffee Planting: Triumphs & Setbacks
Colombia is currently third in coffee production worldwide, producing approximately 12%.
The impact of climate change on Colombian farmers’ crops and yields has been a major concern over the past few years. It has been devastating for many farmers with most of them looking very dimly into the future.
The annual exports of 2.58 billion to Colombia are substantial, but it is the declining price and ongoing environmental impact that are the most worrying.
Although the Federation and the government are working together in an effort to improve farmer conditions, it is only time that things will get better.
About Me
We are glad to meet you! Hello! I’m a passionate coffee drinker! I found my passion for coffee in high school, and have been enjoying it for almost a decade. My love of coffee has allowed me the opportunity to travel all over the globe with my coffee mug.
