My dear friend Cel recently came home from her American tour, and one of her stops was Colombia.

Three guesses as to what I asked her to bring back for me.

Yes, COFFEE.

According to Wikipedia:

Colombian Coffee is a protected designation of origin granted by the European Union (September 2007) that applies to the coffee produced in Colombia.^[1] The Colombian coffee has been recognized worldwide as having high quality and distinctive taste. The main importers of Colombian coffee are United States,Germany, France, Japan, and Italy.^[2] Almost all coffee is grown in Colombia in a region called Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis.

So yeah, Colombia’s big on their coffee.

Cel got me a pack of Juan Valdez mild Arabica coffee. Apparently, it’s one of the biggest chains in the country, and lucky for me, I get to have a taste of it!

The coffee was pre-ground and, though the grind looked a bit too fine for the drip brew method, I still opted for that since our espresso machine’s currently out of commission.

My brother taught me how to prepare coffee using a single-serve pour-over plastic cone with paper filters. It’s as easy as boiling the right amount of water, grinding the beans, placing the ground coffee in the cone with the filter, and pouring the hot water over it. The liquid will drip into the cup in just a minute or so, giving you coffee without the sediments and, supposedly, more caffeine than a shot of espresso.

Of course, there are all kinds of specific measurements and temperatures involved, but I won’t get into that since I’m no expert. If you want to learn more about this method, click here.

Let’s talk about my man Juan.

The brew’s nice and clear, golden brown in color. As advertised, the flavor is mild, and I found it pleasantly fruity on my tongue–not too bitter for my taste. It’s a nice change from my usual cup, and it’s the kind of coffee that I can just add a spoonful of sugar to, skip the creamer, and call it good. That’s pretty awesome, considering that I do love my milk and cream.

Next time, I’d like to try making this using an espresso machine. But overall, I enjoyed my special after-lunch cuppa.

Thanks again, Cel! 🙂