Colombian coffees are well balanced, medium bodied, and bright. They are also the most highly marketed coffees in the world. Everyone knows Juan Valdez. The Coffee Federation of Colombian has done an excellent job of connoting in the American public's mind that Colombian coffees are the "richest coffees in the world."

Does Colombian coffee deserve this praise? The answer is both yes and no.

Colombia has done a very nice job at bumping up the quality of its average beans and produces an above average grocery store or restaurant coffee. A lot of Colombian coffee, however, is not that truly special. On the other hand, a lot is praise-worthy. The task is to search out the exceptional among the merely decent cups.

Colombian is just starting to market and sell its coffee by region and finca, as opposed to just the "Colombian Mountain Grown" label. To be honest, I think that since Colombia was so successful at marketing the country as a whole, it was a latecomer to the micro-region vintage model of coffee marketing.

Overall, no reason to tell you to try Colombian coffees, since, if you drink coffee, you already have. But make sure not to discount Colombian coffee as the smiley face of the coffee world. Top-notch vintage coffees are there, just have to request them, instead of just saying, "Colombian coffee please" when you order coffee at your local coffee house.

A final note: Supreme and Excelso are bean size descriptions, not cupping profiles, growing altitudes, or anything else. Supremos are bigger than Excelos, but these names do not mean anything on cup, per se. Basically they are the names that the Coffee Federation came up with. Just something to keep in mind!