The first ever coffee crops, known in the country, were planted around 1730 on the eastern part of the country. Commercial coffee production in Colombia started back around 1835, with six hundred kilograms exported near Venezuela. It wasn’t until the 19th Century that Colombian export began to take off. Colombian landowners took benefits of the world economy expansion, in not just coffee but through tobacco and quinine also.
Over a vast period Colombia was the second largest producer of coffee in the world, however the largest producer in washed coffee. Sitting behind Brazil, not only just for their greater land mass, but who have been the highest global producer of coffee beans for over 150 years. In recent years, Vietnam have overtaken Colombia in the global production ranks and Colombia is now third in the world.
Coffee in Colombia is grown in high altitudes and usually at the foot of rubber and banana trees, which are used to provide shade. The dry and humid conditions of the Colombian mountains, along with the highly fertile, volcanic soil, provide the perfect conditions for producing high quality coffee, this is why Colombian coffee is known as one of the best in the world. The taste and body of the bean is reliant of the region in which it is grown in. The central region coffee, including Cauca, Huila and Tolima, provide a balanced acidity, heavy body and rich in flavour. However, if grown around the mountains, in such areas as Magdalena, Santander and Bucaramanga, the coffee bean tends to be less acidic but give off an even richer and heavier taste. The mountainous bean is generally classified as the finer of the two regions.
If you enjoy drinking good quality Arabica beans, with heavenly undertones of mild fruity and chocolatey flavours, then you can’t go past a Colombian coffee bean.
