Roast Colombia coffee and recipes

Roasting Colombia coffee beans

Colombia coffee usually has a taste of chocolate and hazelnut when roasted darker, it is a wonderful base in most coffee blends. But can also be very sour if roasted too lightly. Most coffee aficionados think the sour taste is good, while most others prefer to avoid it.

Colombia coffee Known for its diversity of flavors and high quality, Colombian coffee is a favorite among millions of coffee drinkers around the world. Produced by hundreds of smallholder farms, the country has developed into the third largest coffee producer in the world, behind only Brazil and Vietnam.

While coffee from Colombia is often characterized as mild, well-balanced and with a medium to high acidity, this can vary from region to region. A range of varieties, microclimates and farming techniques make it difficult to pin down, with cupping notes that range from ripe and fruity to chocolaty and nutty.

To unlock the full potential of Colombian coffee beans, it is the responsibility of the roasters to ensure that everything from the charging temperature to the rate of rise is controlled. But it is also important to take consumer requirements into account.

What is the best roast profile for Colombian coffee?

Whether dark, light or medium, roast profiles have a significant impact on coffee's taste and characteristics. Defined as a set of parameters used to determine how a coffee is roasted, roast profiles are largely dependent on a roaster's control over their equipment and the data they capture from it.

But to achieve a desired roast profile, roasters must also take into account a number of different factors relating to the coffee itself, from density and processing, to variety and hardness.

For example, Colombian beans tend to be quite dense due to the high altitudes where they are grown. Therefore, to achieve the same roasting profile as lower density beans, a higher charge temperature may be required. According to roasting expert Scott Rao, this is because, for a given bean size, it takes more energy to penetrate the core of denser beans.

For Ishan, whether a roaster chooses light or dark largely depends on the characteristics they want to highlight in their coffee and the customers' requirements.

"Colombian coffee can often offer bold, caramel sweetness and nuttiness when roasted darker, for example for an espresso roast or as a base for a blend," he explains. "On the other hand, when it's roasted light to medium, it's more likely to bring out the floral and citrus qualities. Those florals and citrus, along with plenty of sweetness, make for a great filter coffee."

A lighter roast, a good option for roasters who want to showcase the coffee's distinctive flavor notes. However, it can be very sour with a light roast. This is because when coffee is roasted long after the "first crack", it can start to lose some of its unique characteristics and take on a slightly more "generic" taste.

Medium roast probably suits Colombian beans better than any other roasting style. We don't tend to see a lot of dark, nor a lot of light roasted Colombian coffee in the industry

Rust profile proposal Ailio Bullet

Aillio Bullet Coffee profile

• Brewing Method: Filter (eg V60, Chemex), Aeropress or Cold Brew
• Taste: pronounced acidity and complexity, sweet and fruity
• Beans: Colombia Diluma