One of the main conditions to produce naturally sweet coffees is that the coffee cherries are picked from coffee trees at their peak ripeness. Satisfying this condition, however, is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process because not all coffee cherries ripen at the same time – even if they grow in the same farm, the same tree and even within the same cluster!
Sugar levels increase as fruits ripen, and in the case of coffee, cherries turn from green to bright red, with some varieties turning yellow. As you can see in the pictures above, coffee clusters have a mix of green and red (or yellow) cherries during the harvest season – always! Hence, naturally sweet coffees are hand selected, or literally, cherry picked!
Additionally, farmers need to make multiple rounds over the same coffee trees during the harvest season to pick cherries as they ripen.
Think of an orange juice produced from mixing sweet, ripe oranges with tart and immature oranges. The resulting beverage will be sour, hence, adding sugar becomes almost necessary to make the beverage enjoyable. Thus, one bad, rotten orange can completely impact, or ruin, the taste of an entire batch.
We have become accustomed to adding cream and sugar to mask the effects of coffees coming from unripe or overripened cherries. Volume-driven businesses purposefully over-roast their coffees to deliver a consistent flavor, but the resulting coffee beverage tends to be bitter and expresses the roast profile instead of the natural beans’ profile.
Good coffee does not need sugar, and bad coffee does not deserve it. When it comes to coffee, there is no right nor wrong answer – just different preferences. Despite the naturally sweet notes, some people would still prefer to drink their coffee with milk, cream and/or sugar, and that is fine!
At Colibri Mountain Coffee, we pride ourselves for offering naturally sweet coffees, handpicked with love in Colombia. Next time you are sipping coffee, we hope you keep in mind that your bold, black beverage was once part of a glowing red or yellow cherry.
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Next time you are brewing coffee, close our eyes and open up your senses!
]]>Coffee is a complex fruit which has over 800 chemical compounds that give it its unique attributes that allow us to describe their flavors with diverse tasting notes such as jasmine, floral rose, orange, peach, and lavender.
Similar to wine, your coffee’s attributes and tasting notes change drastically depending on the tree species/variety that produced the cherry; the terroir in which the tree developed; the fertilizer, minerals and other nutrients the tree had access to; the altitude, amount of sun, shade, water and weather conditions; the fermentation process it was subject to before and during the drying process; the roast curve, the brewing formula, and brewing method, among other factors.
At Colibri Mountain Coffee we choose your coffee based on clear and distinctive taste profiles rather than a specific origin. Well, sort of. We are committed to sourcing all our coffees from sustainable farms in Colombia, but once this criterion is met, we blind taste hundreds of coffees and select our favorites that match the flavors that we are looking for.
We developed the Colibri Flavor Wheel as a starting point to help us describe each coffee’s unique fragrance, aroma, taste and body. And these four terms are important:
One coffee can express many different attributes within the flavor wheel. More than likely, we will be able to identify attributes that are not described in the flavor wheel – and that is perfect! The wheel is just a tool to help us have present the concepts of certain attributes, but the options are limitless. Thus, it is surprising how little experience a person needs to have to be able to feel and identify these various attributes. We have been inadvertently training our nose and tongue our entire life!
Our initial coffee offering is made of three, very distinctive coffees selected to highlight the following taste profiles:
Salpicon |
Cattleya |
El Dorado |
Fruity, with tasting notes of fruit punch, melon, passion fruit and strawberry. |
Floral, with tasting notes of jasmine, floral rose, orange, peach, and lavender. |
Nutty, with notes of dark chocolate, caramel, sour cherry and apple pie. |
Next time you are brewing coffee,
close our eyes and open up your senses!
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Maria Mejia is a passionate, energetic, and results-oriented entrepreneur who founded Colibri Mountain Coffee to develop a deeper connection between caffeine lovers and their coffee. Maria grew up in Colombia and moved to Texas more than 10 years ago to work in the Oil & Gas industry. Through Colibri Mountain Coffee, Maria is able to express her love for her country and share its natural beauty while making a sustainable impact in both Colombia and America.
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Jimmy Martin Head Roaster and Operations Manager, Co-Founder & Plant Lover
Jimmy Martin moved from Albany, NY to San Antonio, TX to co-found Colibri Mountain Coffee, become the head roaster and manage all aspects of the company's day-to-day operations. Jimmy has been submerged in plant sciences and landscaping since high school and he brings more than six years of experience as a culinary experimental chef. His positive energy, love for cooking and respect for plants are a great complement to his journey in coffeepreneruship.
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Jimmy met Maria at his best friend’s wedding, and in a matter of weeks, he decided to sell his car and most of his belongings in Albany, NY to help Colibri Mountain Coffee break ground in San Antonio, TX. Maria and Jimmy are now roommates and run the company out of the Colibri Headquarters 24/7.
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