A Brief History of Colombian Coffee

Historical data indicates that the Jesuits brought coffee seeds to South America with them circa 1730 CE, but there are different versions of this. Tradition says that the coffee seeds were brought by a traveler from Guyana who passed through Venezuela before reaching Colombia. The oldest written testimony of the presence of coffee in Colombia is attributed to a Jesuit priest, José Gumilla. In his book The Orinoco Illustrated (1730), he registered the presence of coffee in the mission of Saint Teresa of Tabajé, near where the Meta river empties into the Orinoco. Further testimony comes from the archbishop-viceroy Caballero y Gongora (1787) who registered the presence of the crop in the north east of the country near Giron (Santander) and Muzo (Boyaca) in a report that he provided to the Spanish authorities.

The first coffee crops were planted in the eastern part of the country. In 1835 the first commercial production was registered with 2,560 green coffee bags that were exported from the port of Cucuta, near the border with Venezuela. A priest named Francisco Romero is attributed to have been very influential in the propagation of the crop in the northeast region of the country. After hearing the confession of the parishioners of the town of Salazar de la Palmas, he required as penance the cultivation of coffee. Coffee became established in the departments of Santander and North Santander, Cundinamarca, Antioquia, and the historic region of Caldas.

By 1875 170,000 bags were leaving the country bound for the U.S. and Europe. The exports grew exponentially over the next hundred years or so and peaked in 1992 at around 17 million bags. Today, Colombian coffee exports are around 10 million bags per year.

Colombian coffee beans are grown at high altitudes and tended with painstaking care in the shade of banana and rubber trees. This coffee is among the best in the world, rich, full-bodied, and perfectly balanced. Coffea Arabica L., more commonly known as the Arabica bean, prefers higher altitudes and drier climates than its cousin, the lower quality Robusta bean (C. Robusta). Therefore, the arid mountains and the well-drained, rich volcanic soil of Colombia provide ideal conditions for growing high quality coffee.

Colombian Coffees are grown in two main regions, the central region around Medellin, Armenia and Manizales, known as MAM to aficionados, and the eastern, more mountainous region near Bogotá and Bucaramanga. MAM varieties are known for their heavy body, rich flavor and fine, balanced acidity while the mountain grown eastern beans produce an even richer, heavier, less acidic coffee. The finest coffee comes from this region.

For many decades Colombia was the world’s second leading producer of coffee behind Brazil. Recently, Vietnam surpassed Colombia in coffee exports to take the number two seat and move Colombia into a close third. However, the old adage of quality over quantity certainly applies here.

The Arabica bean does not grow well in Vietnam. Only the hearty, yet inferior, Robusta is suited for the low, wet climate of Vietnam. Colombian Coffees are far superior and is considered by many coffee experts to be the finest in the world.

Any discussion on Colombian Coffee would not be complete without mentioning the wildly successful marketing campaign created by the National Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers in 1959. They introduced the world to the friendly and affable Juan Valdez. Though a fictitious character, the poncho clad, sombrero wearing Juan Valdez gave a face to the humble coffee picker and created a mystique and aura of romance that still survives today.

A recent survey reported that 85% of Americans still associate the name Juan Valdez with Colombian Coffee. Quite an accomplishment, especially considering that only 75% acknowledged recognizing the name Dan Quayle. [source : Colombian Coffee]