Colombians in Love with Premium Coffee. Finally.

Not long ago, you couldn’t get a decent cup of coffee in the world’s most famous specialty coffee-producing country. As tourists, ex-pats, and the media have noted repeatedly, the best coffee is exported making the stuff available to the locals abysmal.

One gringo, Thad Brown wrote on Quora that he would actually bring good Colombian coffee with him from the US. “I like my coffee the way I like my women,” he explained, cold and bitter! No milk, no sugar. Iced coffee barely exists [at least in Medellin] and getting hot coffee without sugar was almost impossible.

Colombia is reclaiming its coffee riches, particularly since 2012 when the beginnings of the peace process saw the Andean nation start to function as a normal country.

Colombia’s economy is now the third largest in South America. The CIA Factbook notes that Colombia is a strong economic force in the region with a robust free market economy: “Investor confidence and commercial ties with major world economies are on the rise. The World Bank adds that growth is expected to accelerate moderately over 2019-2020, supported by increasing private consumption. An ambitious infrastructure program is transforming the capital Bogotá and run-down second city Medellin. Most importantly, the economy is safeguarded against “outside shocks” (such as rising oil prices and financial bubbles) and supported by sound macroeconomic policies and structural reforms undertaken in recent years.”

All this means foreign businesses, tourists, and ex-pats are arriving in large numbers and these guys want good coffee. A total 425,000 visitors arrived from the US, and almost 400,000 Europeans came to Colombia in 2017.

A number of foreigners have stayed to provide just that, piquing Colombians’ interest in the subtleties of their flagship national product. Information technology has done the rest, making the enhanced coffee experience an integral part of leisure culture here. This has fueled the rapid development of the premium segment, where consumers now find a great variety of single-origin coffees from various regions and even specific farms.

A new generation of enthusiastic Colombian baristas has sprung up, dedicated to educating customers on the subtleties of preparation and developing their palates. Cafés increasingly roast in-house and source locally, often favoring organic and sustainable farms. Light roasts, the preferred style of specialty coffee drinkers, are dominant.

A new flavor experience

In Bogotá, there are about a hundred premium specialty cafés vying for top places on competitive lists. Varietale is consistently ranked one of the top three. Its two locations draw a young, vibrant crowd from nearby universities, dispensing coffee brewed with the latest methods, including an enormous Japanese (Koyoto) cold-brew tower.

Varietale’s Chapinero shop houses the company’s own roastery, where light roasts are preferred. Both locations in renovated houses with lush gardens and plenty of comfortable corners to retire to for meetings or solo work sessions using the free wi-fi. Arte y Pasión Café offers dozens of Colombian coffee brands and brews them using practically any method, from Aeropress to the traditional Colombian café colado, which uses a fabric filter hung on a wire frame.

Medellin, whose “eternal spring” climate aces the London-esque chill of Bogotá is a magnet for hipsters of all nationalities. German ex-pat Nikolaï Fürst opened his coffee shop and lab, Desarolladores de Café (Coffee Developers), in the upscale Poblado nabe in May. It is situated near premium cafés Pergamino and Café Velvet. 

A self-admitted coffee geek, owner-barista Fürst strives to perfect his product with processes and instruments he has invented or adapted to measure, for example, the simple and complex sugars of the brew. Another is designed to reduce turbulence when the boiling water hits the ground coffee. “We’re looking for the sweet spot,” he says. “It’s not just about selling coffee, it’s about a new flavor experience.” He sources his coffee from seven farms in Antioquia, Huila, Risaraldes, Quindio, Cauca, and Tolima, offering bespoke varieties for retail clients. “Tell us what you want, we work with the grower to develop it,” he said. Those eager to learn attend courses on every aspect of coffee preparation, filling the shop on a regular basis.

Café Revolución arguably started the indie café movement in Medellin was followed by Swiss-owned Swiss Bakery, French-owned Café Cliché and New Zealander-owned Hija Mia. All are independent, much appreciated hangouts for the waves of digital nomads who flock to the city. Café Oasis, located in the newly desirable though still grungy Centro area, is tucked inside the happening Göra Makerspace and run by German national Enrico Ricigliano. With Colombian partner Ana Seguro, Ricigliano orders single origin coffees from a local roaster and hand-sorts the beans before grinding. In the month since Oasis opened, it’s been serving cappuccinos, nitro cold brews, and home-made croissants to the musicians, clothing designers, analog photographers, and lithographers who rent space in the converted hacienda. Last week, the broken pavement outside was replaced by clean new tiled sidewalks and a bicycle lane.

Growing domestic market

“Coffee consumption is evolving rapidly due to the influence of information technologies, and socio-economic changes like rising purchasing power of the population and urban renewal. Concern for health and sustainability also make for consumers who choose more sophisticated products, and brands with a higher purpose,” affirms the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC).

In 2014, Colombians consumed 1.6 million bags of coffee, up from 1.2 million in 2009. Predictions are that consumption will increase to 2 million bags by 2020.

“Toma Café” (Drink Coffee), an initiative powered by local roasting companies and FNC was created in 2010 to stimulate domestic demand and boost the entire chain from seed to cup. The initiative has managed to revive domestic consumption after two decades of contraction and consolidate its growth, with consumption up from 1.2 million bags in December 2009 to 1.6 million at the end of 2014 (last available figures), a 33.3% increase.

Of course, the big chains are feeding into the out-of-home craze mightily. As of late 2018, Starbucks has 20 shops in Colombia – 15 in Bogotá and 5 in Medellín – and recently announced plans to grow to 50 outlets in 2019. FNC’s own chain of Juan Valdez shops added 26 cafés inside Colombia in 2016 for a total of 262 local stores, having switched strategy away from international expansion toward internal growth.

But the real game-changer bringing café culture to Colombians across the socio-economic divide is undoubtedly Tostao’ Café y Pan. Since opening its first store in Bogotá in December 2015, the Colombian subsidiary of the Panamanian, Bakery Business International, has democratized good coffee, offering very decent espressos, macchiatos, and lattes at prices so low that ordinary Colombians are not afraid to walk in. With 300+ outlets, Tostao’ is the largest chain in Colombia, giving Starbucks and Juan Valdez a run for their money. The roaster sources through Café Kumandaya, a high-quality Colombian supplier that works with growers’ coöperatives and roasts in Manizales. Tostao’ c.e.o. Pedro Gasca says the secret is keeping operating costs low with moderate-rent venues and simple, natural wood décors

 The chain also eschews advertising and maintains a bare-bones administrative staff of 5%, calling its 1,000 employees “self-managed”. The chain imports “ultra-frozen” bakery products from Spain, allowing it to offer far superior snack options to local fare at roughly the same price.

As two ladies enjoying Americanos and flan tartlets at a Tostao’ in a suburb of Medellin said delightedly, “A rubbishy tinto costs 800 pesos ($0.25). This delicious coffee costs 1100 ($0.35) Where’s the big decision?”