As you know, Colombian coffee is highly marketed and widely available in the US. They have been largely successful at equating the name Colombian Coffee with "Good" Coffee. This is half-true. Colombian can be very balanced, with good body, brightness (acidity) and flavor. But much of it is a bit boring, and most of it that you find in Supermarket bins etc. is simply a decent clean cup with almost no aftertaste (if its fresh from the roaster, which is not likely).

So, is there good Colombian coffee? Absolutely yes. It just takes work to find it. Good Colombian is rarely sold simply as Supremo or Excelso. Colombian that has more "cup character" is usually pooled from particular regions and will have the regional name identifying it. Sometimes a generic Colombian just happens to cup really nice, but that's rare, and it requires cupping each lot to find the special one. Last year was poor in general but the current Colombians are really outstanding. I wouldn't normally offer so many types but that's what happens when you "follow your nose..."

A word on grading of Colombians. I am one of a growing number who finds the Colombian grading system outdated. Other Central American and South American coffees grade mostly on altitude, not bean size. Supremo and Excelso are screen sizes only, and that doesn't make sense because a larger bean does not mean better cup quality. In fact, the presence of diverse bean sizes can (but not necessarily) result in better cup quality. Since we rate everything by the cup quality and all coffees are judged "blind", bean size is largely irrelevant, and doesn't enter into how I chose the following Colombians from the 30 to 40 samples I cupped this year.