Introduction to Colombian Coffee Culture

The National Coffee Management Association of Colombia, like the National Management Association of Kenya, is a model of coffee organization. Compared with other producing countries, Colombia is more concerned with developing products and promoting production. It is this, coupled with its superior geographical and climatic conditions, that makes Colombian coffee excellent in quality and delicious and famous all over the world. The status of coffee in Colombia is illustrated by the fact that all vehicles entering the country must be sprayed and sterilized so as not to inadvertently cause disease and damage coffee trees.

Colombia is fortunate to have Atlantic and Pacific ports, which helps to reduce the cost of transporting coffee. In South America, she is the only country with this condition. The main production areas of Colombia are in the central and eastern mountains. The most important plantations along the central mountains are located in Medellin, Almenia and Manisales. Among the above three regions, Medellin has the best quality and high price of coffee, which is characterized by full granules, rich nutrition, rich aroma and moderate acidity. Taken together, these three areas are called MAM.

Colombian coffee is often described as having a silky taste. Of all the coffees, it has the best balance, soft and smooth taste, and can be drunk in more than 200 grades at any time, which means that the coffee is very regional. The country's coffee-producing areas are located in the Andes, where the climate is mild and the air is humid. Colombia has three Codiera mountains running north and south, right into the Andes. Coffee is grown along the highlands of these mountains. The mountain steps provide a diverse climate, where the whole year is the harvest season, and different kinds of coffee ripen at different times. And fortunately, unlike Brazil, Colombia doesn't have to worry about frost. About 700 million coffee trees are documented in Colombia, 66% of which are grown in modern plantations, while the rest are grown on traditionally small farms. Colombian coffee is one of the few original coffees sold in the world under the name of the country. In terms of quality, it won praise unmatched by other coffee, when a priest first introduced coffee to Colombia from the French Antilles via Venezuela in 1808. Today, the country is the second largest coffee producer after Brazil, the world's largest exporter of Arabica coffee beans and the world's largest exporter of washed coffee beans Colombia is located in northwestern South America, bordered in the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. Panama in the northwest, Venezuela in the east, Brazil in the southeast, Peru in the south and Guadore in the southwest.