The democratic black coffee of Colombia: small, strong, slightly sweet, carried through every city street by the tinero
Origin: Bogotá, Colombia
From the journey of Coffee.
Colombia is one of the great paradoxes of coffee: a country whose name is synonymous worldwide with premium Arabica coffee, whose brand (Juan Valdez, the fictional campesino and his mule Conchita, created in 1959 by advertising agency DDB for the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros) became one of the most successful agricultural marketing campaigns in history, and yet the everyday coffee of Colombian streets is as simple and unpretentious as it gets. Tinto, literally 'red' or 'tinted', the same word used for red wine, is the basic Colombian black coffee: served in a small glass or disposable plastic cup, poured from a thermos carried by a tinero (street vendor), slightly sweet, strongly brewed, available on every street corner and in every office building from Bogotá to Medellín. Colombia's coffee is cultivated at altitude in the Eje Cafetero (Coffee Axis or Coffee Triangle), the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda, and Quindío, where altitudes between 1,200 and 2,000 metres, mild temperatures, and rich volcanic soil produce beans with the balanced, mild, naturally sweet acidity that made Colombian coffee the international benchmark for quality Arabica. Colombia is the third-largest coffee producer globally, after Brazil and Vietnam. In 2011, the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list recognised the Colombian coffee cultural landscape. A related preparation worth noting is agua de panela con café: panela (raw cane sugar pressed into solid blocks) is dissolved in hot water to make agua de panela, a traditional rural drink in its own right, and then a small measure of strong brewed coffee is stirred in, creating something between tinto and a lightly caffeinated sweet drink, consumed widely in the Andean countryside.
The best coffee for tinto is a washed (wet-processed) Colombian Arabica from the Huila, Nariño, or Antioquia departments; these are light to medium roast, bright, and clean. For a more traditional approach, use a medium-dark roast, which is closer to what the tineros actually serve. Store ground coffee in an airtight container away from heat and light. Tinto should not be confused with tintico, which in some Colombian regions means an even smaller, even stronger version; effectively a micro-dose of concentrated coffee. The Juan Valdez brand operates its own café chain in Colombia; the cafés serve specialty preparations, but the tinto sold from a street thermos remains the true everyday expression.
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