Colombia Sierra Nevada Organic

This Organic, Fair Trade coffee from Colombia is creamy with a clean finish. Medium body with warm cocoa tones and abundant fragrance make this a superb coffee.

Arrival Date: July 22nd, 2016

Acidity & Brightness: Moderately bright and fruity sweet

Balance & Finish: Good balance and clean finish

Body & Texture: Full body and creamy texture

Flavors: Dark chocolate, orange, peach and honey

Grade: Excelso, medium large

Certifications: Organic and fair trade

Processing: Fully washed, hand picked, sun-dried

Varieties: Typica and Caturra

Roasting:  Start with a  Full City (Medium), or just up to the second crack.  Like most Colombia coffee, the Sierra Nevada will accept a wide variation in roast profiles and still deliver a very acceptable cup.  If you can't hear the cracks, then roast until the beans are smooth and medium dark brown with just the first hint of sheen as the oil emerges.  You should get a nice even roast.

Recommendation:  For people who enjoy a warm, balanced and clean cup.   The creamy body of this coffee makes it particularly comforting, so it's perfect for those cold winter mornings.

Reminder:  This coffee is raw.  You have to roast it before brewing.

By volume, Colombia is one of the top three coffee producing countries in the world.  Brazil is first, and Colombia and Vietnam are neck and neck for second and third.  Surprisingly, it was only recently that Colombia began to take a real interest in the specialty grade coffee market.  They had seemed content with funneling their huge amount of beans into the ocean of commercial "commodity" coffee. Then, a few years ago, they noticed something.  People were willing to pay a premium for higher grade coffee.  And another premium for organic coffee.  And now they have entered the specialty "botique" market in a large way.

This is the first organic coffee from Colombia that we ever offered and remains our preferred Colombian to this day.  It is also Fair Trade Certified.  That means it comes from a co-op of small farms, and that the farmers were guaranteed a "living wage" for their coffee.  So you and the planet both benefit because the coffee is organic, and the farmer and his family benefit by getting enough money for his crop to take care of his farm and his family.

This coffee is shade grown which is good for the environment, but also good for flavor -- cherry on shade-grown trees develop more slowly which develops a harder and more flavorful bean.  It is grown at elevations of between 3,300 and 4,300 feet--not exceptional by Colombian standards, but still respectable. The combination of shade and elevation generally lead to a slower maturing coffee cherry.  This usually means a sweeter coffee, brighter acidity, and a harder bean.  So what we get is a sweet, creamycoffee (just what we look for in a breakfast cup) and hard bean that will accept darker roasting if you are so inclined.  This year's crop has some nice dark chocolate tones and lots of fruity sweetness with notes of orange, peach and honey.  Like any good Colombian coffee it has good balanced and leaves the mouth clean.

One of the hallmarks of Colombian coffee is its flexibility.  You can roast or brew it just about any way you want and it is still good.  It works well in blends, too.  It is wet processed, so you get an even roast, a clear taste profile, and none of the edginess that a lot of dry processed coffees have.  If you find the flavor complexity of dry processed coffees distracting, so this would be a good choice.