Colombia La Union

Still one of the best Colombian coffees we have cupped in the last 12 months.

Please note - we stock the Colombia Excelso Munchique instead of La Union

Colombian La Union Coffee Beans

Colombia deserves it's well-earned placed as one of the most highly sought after coffee origins in the world.

When a Colombian coffee is ON, there are few origins that can match it in terms of complexity, depth and character.

The challenges with Colombia have been well documented over the last couple of years.

Incredible rain forcing problems with crucial flowering during the growing season and of course that fungus ripping through the crops like an uncontrollable epidemic.

It's been a tough few years and I'm gobsmacked how they could have still managed to harvest and process 8 - 10 million bags despite the weather and crop issues.

Colombia have commenced rebuilding their coffee plantations by removal and replanting programs in stages to establish a crop base that is more resilient to inclement weather patterns.

A marvel at genetic engineering.

Vast hectares of plantations are being ripped out and replaced with the next generation crops.

It's going to take up to 4 years for this renewal program to reap the rewards as the major growth cycle for coffee is in 2 year spans (despite up to 6 monthly crop cycles).

Anyway, we have always had a soft spot for a great Colombian ever since we first discovered specialty coffee.

In fact, it was a Colombian coffee that became the catalyst in our roaster's heart that spurned him towards the adventure to discover and deliver the best coffees in the world.

In December 2011, our roast master Jeff Carlin cupped a Colombian sample that re-affirmed his belief in the region as a producer of fine and complex coffees that can stand up against the best from other origins. The dark days of 2010 and 2011 with minimal choice of excellent Colombians appear to be drawing to an end - here we have a sign of safety to re-enter the Colombian buying market again

Arrived in our store just before Australia Day 2012.

Screen: Excelso (14 - 16)
Farm: Kyoto
District: Transjordania
Altitude: 1300m
Variety: typica and caturra
Nose: Dry wood, caramel, malt
Acidity: Citric with orange impression
Cup: Clean, very sweet with sugar cane and honey notes

Roaster's notes:
Producer suggests this is a low acid coffee but I beg to differ - exhibits sparkling acidity.

Taken to a finish of 209.5 degrees C at 15mins 05 seconds and just into the first snaps of 2nd crack, the roast level displays typical Colombian monk-brown color.

It's a small screen and a medium density bean and would benefit from a darker roast profile to bring in additional soft chocolate and heavy caramel tones, balancing out some of the acidity, but we want it to retain the character of a punchy coffee, especially in milk.

The orange/tangerine citric character offers a lively cup.

You can order our single origin Colombian coffee beans online.