Why Colombian Coffee Beans Are Supremo

There are so many names among Colombian coffee, not because there are so many coffee flavors to choose from, but because the individual bag is dubbed with the name of the seaport from which it is shipped or the name of some other arbitrarily selected term, usually geographical, having nothing at all to do with flavor.

Most of the Colombian coffee is grown in Cundinamarca, Tolima (the Bogota and Tolima crops being most highly valued), Antioquia, Caldas, Cauca, on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada and in Santander, Cucuta being a great center, with its principal outlet through Venezuela.

A good portion of Colombia’s coffee exports comes from the district around the little city of Cucuta, whose official name is San Jose de Cucuta.

It is the capital of North Santander, is situated in a beautiful valley of the Colombian Andes mountains that is watered by several rivers, and is only about a half-hour’s drive from the Venezuelan frontier.

Cucutta coffee is grown along the dividing line between Colombia and Venezuela. As they are shipped through the port of Maracaibo they are classed as Maracaibo coffee and sold under that name.

Ospina Coffee is the oldest coffee company in the world, established in Colombia, by Don Mariano Ospina Rodríguez in 1835. Ospina Rodríguez was one of the pioneers of coffee growing in Colombia.

“Coffea Arabica Typica” (Arabica contains less caffeine than any other commercially cultivated species of coffee) coffee beans, known as “supremos” or Columbian Supremo Coffee Beans are shipped to the United States, where they are roasted to a medium dark roast and then packaged.

Columbian Supremo Coffee is considered “Top Of The Line” or Best Colombian Coffee.

Colombian planters classify their coffee beans as:

cafe trillado (natural or sun-dried)
cafe lavado (washed),
cafe en pergamino (washed and dried)

They grade Colombian coffee beans as:

excelso (excellent),
fantasia (excelso and extra),
extra (extra),
primera, (first),
segundo (second)
enrncol (peaberry)
monstruo (large” and deformed)
consumo (defective)
casilla (sif tings)

According with the type of roasting, from low roast to high roast, the coffee beans are classified as:

Level: Cinnamon Roast. Aspect: Slightly roasted, Light cinnamon color. features: Nut flavor, High acidity
Level: American Roast. Aspect: Mid Roasted, Chestnut color. Features: caramel flavor
Level: City Roast. Aspect: Mid Roasted, medium brown, no oils on surface. features: Full coffee flavor, mid acidity.
Level: Full City Roast. Aspect: Mid Roasted, medium-dark brown. Features: Full coffee flavor, low acidity
Level: Vienna Roast. Aspect: Intense Roast, dark brown, traces of oil on surface. Features: Slightly bitter flavor
Level: French Roast. Aspect: Intense Roast, dark brown-black, oily surface. features: Bitter flavor
Level: Italian Roast. Aspect: Intense roast, bitter, black, oily surface. Features:Smoked flavor
Espresso Roast. Aspect: Intense Roast, specific for espresso machines. features: Smoked sweet flavor. This is not an actual roast level, since there are many different styles to roast espresso from Full City to Italian.

Gourmet Colombian coffee stands very high as regards quality, coming immediately after choice Arabic beans.

The trees grow freely enough at altitudes between say 500 and 7,000 ft. above sea-level. They do best under temperatures ranging between 59° and 77° F.

On the lower warm slopes, large, rather strong berries are grown, and here the trees require shade trees and a fair amount of attention.

Higher up the berries are smaller, milder and more choice, the trees do not require shade, demand little attention, but have a comparatively short life.