How high is the elevation of coffee growing in Colombia? How does altitude affect the quality of coffee beans?

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How high is the elevation of coffee growing in Colombia? How does altitude affect the quality of coffee beans?

Coffee trees in Colombia are mainly cultivated in the Andes, where the year-round temperature is about 18 degrees Celsius, on steep slopes about 1300 meters above sea level. The latitude, altitude, soil, plant origin of species and varieties of coffee in the coffee growing area of Colombia are very suitable for the growth of coffee, with mild climate, humid air and can be harvested regardless of season. Therefore, the pure taste of Colombian coffee comes from Colombia's natural environment with the most favorable conditions for coffee growth. Countries such as Colombia, Kenya and Ethiopia are located near the equator at latitudes less than 10 degrees, so extremely hard beans are planted at higher elevations, ranging from 3,600 feet (about 1100 meters) to 6300 feet (2,000 meters). Can be harvested twice a year. In addition, the producing areas of southern Brazil, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Jamaica and Yunnan are slightly farther from the equator and are subtropical at latitudes between 15 and 24 degrees. Hard beans can be grown at an altitude of about 1,800 feet (550m) to 3600 feet (1100 meters), but the climate in this area varies from dry to wet seasons and can only be harvested once a year.

Coffee grown at higher altitude is rich in sour elves, but the concentration of oil is lower than that of low altitude coffee. These two factors make high-altitude coffee more sour, which can be confirmed by the eight major producing areas of Guatemala, Huehuetenago (located on the border with Mexico in the northwest of Guatemala) and Fraijanes (located on the southeastern border with El Salvador), which are significantly sour than the other six regions, including Angelica. In addition, when the altitude increased by 100 meters, the temperature decreased by 0.6 degrees Celsius, and the study found that for every 300 meters, the sucrose content of coffee beans increased by 10%. In principle, the higher the content of sour elves and sucrose, the more mellow the coffee. This is because higher altitude, lower temperature and large temperature difference between day and night can slow down the growth rate of coffee and accumulate more nutrients.

Shade trees also help to nurture the sour aroma of coffee, because shade can block the noon sun, so that coffee trees will not be exposed to high temperature, their metabolism will not be too fast, and will help the development of nutrients and aromas. Therefore, in bourbon and Tibica in lower altitude areas, shade trees must be planted to improve the sour taste of coffee. Some producing areas are less than 1,000 meters above sea level, but coffee has an elegant sour taste, such as Kona, Hawaii, because Kona Island is far from the equator at a latitude of about 20 degrees, is subtropical and the sun is not as strong as in the tropics. More importantly, the afternoon wind blew up on the Big Island of Hawaii, giving full play to the effect of shading trees, and thick clouds played a great role in cooling coffee trees and lowering their metabolism. In short, high altitudes (but no frost in winter) and shade trees slow the growth of coffee, giving it plenty of time to develop fragrant elves. This kind of ecological coffee has obvious sweet and sour aromas.

Bean size is positively related to altitude, which is easier to produce full-bodied beans, so some producing areas like to determine the grade of beans by bean size rather than hardness. However, the bean size is related to the variety, and the body size is not the best rating standard.

The caffeine content of Arabica is positively correlated with the planting altitude, and the caffeine content increases by 10% for every 300 meters. Caffeine in Guatemala is about 10 per cent higher than coffee at 1100 metres above sea level. On the contrary, chlorogenic acid is inversely proportional to altitude, with each increase of 300 meters, the chlorogenic acid in coffee decreases by 5%, which may be related to the disease-resistant system of coffee; the lower the altitude, the more susceptible to disease, so the higher the chlorogenic acid. Luyuan green is also one of the original culprits of bitter coffee, which explains why the lower the altitude of coffee, the less elegant the sour taste. Coffee trees have the highest content of chlorogenic acid in plants. The chlorogenic acid stored in coffee beans alone accounts for 6 percent of Arabica beans' weight, and more than 10 percent of Arabica beans are thick and strong. The content of chlorogenic acid in coffee trees will increase with the deterioration of the environment, such as high temperature, dryness, and insect pests. The heavier the pressure on plants to survive, the higher the chlorogenic acid will be, but this organic acid is one of the sharp weapons for plants to resist diseases and insect pests. That's interesting. The more neglected the coffee farmers are to take care of the coffee trees, or the more sinister the growing environment, the higher the chlorogenic acid content of the coffee beans, and the more sour and bitter the coffee will be, as if the coffee is also spiritual: "if you don't take care of me carefully, I'll give you bitter coffee!" On the other hand, the carefully planted coffee farm is suitable for soil and water, with a large temperature difference between day and night, foggy and surrounded by shade trees. Such a good Arabica tree makes it grow carefree, and the concentration of chlorogenic acid is relatively low, so it is easy to produce good coffee with sweet and sour and fruity aromas. Therefore, the content of chlorogenic acid can also determine the "regional taste" of coffee, which is particularly important for boutique coffee.

Colombian coffee is a kind of soft coffee, which is sweet in acid, low in bitterness, rich in nutrition, unique sour and mellow, and the sour, bitter and sweet taste of Colombian super coffee match well. Columbia super is characterized by its aroma, rich and thick, with clear high-quality acidity, high balance, endless aftertaste. The Colombian super aroma is rich and thick, with clear high-quality acidity, high balance, and sometimes nutty, lingering aftertaste.

The size of bean grain is closely related to variety and cultivation environment. The study found that 80% iron is more than 17 mesh wider than Kadou-that is, 6.75 mm-but only 65% of bourbon beans meet this standard. The bean size of the main varieties of boutique coffee is Tibica > Kaddura > Kaduai. However, it should be noted that variety is not the only factor that determines the size of soybean grains. Soil nutrients, environmental pressure and planting density also directly affect the size of beans. If the planting environment is not good, even the beans of Tibica will shrink to less than 15 mesh. Coffee trees with insufficient nutrients are easy to produce low-density floating beans and defective beans.

Qianjie recommended cooking:

Hand punch reference

Use key home filter cup, 16 grams powder 32 grams of water steaming for 30 seconds, 89-90 degrees water temperature extraction, 1:15, fine grinding small Fuji 3.5 second water injection to 110ml cut off, wait for water drop and then slowly water injection, uniform speed, the water level should not be too high, again water injection to 233ml stop, extraction time 2:15 seconds-rich sweet sun, we can fine-tune according to their own taste.