There are three primary coffee growing regions--the Pacific, the Americas, and Africa and Arabia--each with its own unique techniques and history. This diversity makes tasting coffee a uniquely rewarding experience in that often the coffee beans seem to adopt the very character of the place that created them.

Colombia

Colombia produces more washed arabica coffee than any other country. Unfortunately, they've gone the route of higher-yield varieties, so the overall quality is not nearly as high as it once was. Still, if one is willing to work at finding some special lots, it's possible to get very decent Colombian coffee. The good examples are full-bodied and have a well-balanced flavor. You won't find the sparkling acidity that many other coffees display or some of the unusual (and exquisite) flavors, but Colombian coffee is a good, all-around coffee--with full body; good, balanced acidity; and a sweet, rounded flavor that leaves a very nice aftertaste.

Lately expert buyers have been buying a very flavorful Colombian coffee from the southern province of Huila. This is one region of the country which still grows the old, traditional coffee variety called typica in favor of the newer hybrids. For real coffee lovers it's very encouraging that enough growers there still believe in quality to enable quality-conscious buyers to find acceptable lots. It's hoped that supporting these efforts will provide incentive for other producers to return to the old varieties that established Colombian coffee's reputation in the first place.

Ethiopia

Ethiopian coffee can be described as medium-bodied and full of flavor. From good lots, you get a tangy, pungent brew with a lingering floral, almost perfumy aroma. The floral aromatic characteristics are easily noted in the freshly ground coffee as well.

Ethiopia is still recovering from years of internal strife, which had a profound, negative effect on its ability to produce quality coffee. However, each of the last three years have seen improvements in quality, and there is hope for a full return to the time not too many years ago when Ethiopia produced some of the finest coffee in the world. This is always very subjective, but there were many in the coffee trade who considered Ethiopian coffee their favorite. And in the finest lots it's still possible to discern those flavor qualities which rated high praise. Indonesia

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