coffee

June 11, 2008

Colombia, Day Three in Manizales and Chinchina, Caldas

In the morning we went to visit the Coffee Growers Committee of Caldas or Comite de Cafeteros de Caldas in Manizales. The Coffee Growers Committee of Caldas is the representation for Caldas of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia. This is also where they manage the tree renewal program in Caldas. They also manage the extension service or technical support services (yellow t-shirts people). One of the most important projects of the Caldas committee is education, especially in elementary and secondary schools. They have beautiful land there with animals, orchids and butterflies. I was a little scared of the ostriches when one tried to bite my bag. I was standing a little too close.

This bamboo structure is called Zeri Pavilion or Guadua Pavilion. Guadua is the type of bamboo it is made from. This is actually the prototype for the pavilion built in Hanover for the Expo 2000. The one in Hanover was destroyed before Expo 2001. They were both built by architect Simón Velez. They sometimes hold coffee congress meetings in this one.

It was really quite remarkable and mesmerizing. Here is a view of the ceiling from the inside.

We took a tram ride over to the other side where they housed the butterflies and had the orchid garden.

This particular orchid is called Dracula.

This pink orchid named Cattleya is the national flower of Colombia.

And this is a monkey orchid. See how there is a monkey face inside?

As we left, Pilar from the Committee of Caldas gave us wonderful hats that are like the one Juan Valdez wears. They are hand-made in a small town called Aguadas by women head of household.

Then we went to Chinchina where we visited Cenicafe, The National Coffee Research Institute.

This is where they have labs and go into the soil to find out what is there and what needs to be there to make the best coffee.

They also test how the insects work with the plants and how to create disease resistant varieties.

Ah, here are Nora and Mike enjoying a delicious cup of 100% Colombian Coffee.

After a short break, we went to visit Buencafé, the Freeze Dried Coffee Factory.

Here we had the expertise of Camilo Gómez (on far left), the marketing and sales coordinator at Buencafé.

Here is Donna putting on her sturdy socks and shoes for the tour.

We all had to wear special outfits.

The face masks came in handy when we went through the freezer at -50 degrees Celsius. The factory uses a very specific formula for coming up with delicious freeze dried coffee and they support many brands around the world. For more on their process, click here.

June 11, 2008

Colombia, Day Two in Pereira, Juan Valdez, National Coffee Park

After the coffee farm we went to the Extension Service farm where they do technical support for the cafeteros. These people in the yellow shirts are like the peace corps and work for the Federation. They were all very nice and slightly excited. We thought it was just because we were there but we were wrong.

There’s this man – perhaps you’ve heard of him – Juan Valdez? I don’t know anyone that hasn’t heard of him, but in Colombia, Juan Valdez is THE most famous person. And we got to meet him. He was very nice. Carlos Sanchez, who has been Juan Valdez since 1969, recently retired and a search for the new face of Juan Valdez commenced. The winner was Carlos Castañeda, a 39-year-old rural coffee grower from Andes in the Antioquia region of Colombia.

And here is Nora, the ‘Win a Trip with Juan’ contest winner and her husband Mike with Juan and Conchita, Juan’s mule.

And here I am with Carolina and Juan and Conchita.

After everyone in the entire place had a chance to get a photo (or three) with Juan, we packed up and went to the National Coffee Park or Parque Nacional del Cafe in Montenegro, Quindio. Think ‘small Disneyland’ but all about coffee. They even have an animatronic orchid show similar in style to the Tiki Room. There were plantains surrounding the park. Here you can see how they cover the fruit with bags to protect them from mosquitoes and other bugs.

Here is the group of us, from left to right:

Alex, our guide in Pereira, Reinel, Park Guide, Carolina, our translator and guide from the Coffee Federation, Donna Walter from Weber Shandwick, me, Nora, contest winner and husband Mike.

After our fun-filled afternoon of bumper cars and souvenir buying, we retired to the Hacienda San Jose where all our needs were taken care of and then some. It was a really wonderful place. In this picture is owner Isabel and Nelson, the person that catered to our every need.

June 11, 2008

Colombia, Day Two in Pereira, Coffee Farm

Day two found us taking a short flight to Pereira, located at the western part of the Andes.

From there we wound around and around up the Andes mountains until we reached a small coffee farm run by two women.

One of the women, Anita, showed us around and told us how they run the place. Carolina Castaneda of The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia translated for us.

This is the place where they wash the beans to remove the pulp. They do a triple-wash method that takes longer but helps the beans have a very good flavor.

This is a sun dryer where they scatter the cleaned beans on the floor to dry. The beans stay in there for a few days and lose a large percentage of their humidity. This drying method works so well that on hot days it is unbearable to go in there.

This is Cesar, the director of the Specialty Coffees in Pereira, showing us how one branch holds many different aged beans. There can be tiny new blossoms to mature and ready-to-pick beans along the same stem.

This coffee plant is about 6 weeks old. They must be about that old before they are planted in the fields.

And this baby might be the cutest in the entire world. She is the daughter of one of the cafeteros.

This is Nora and Mike standing in front of the coffee field. Nora is the winner of the ‘Win a Trip with Juan’ contest that was on Blogher and why we are all lucky enough to be there.

After the tour of the farm and getting a few ant bites around the ankles, we sat down to a delicious breakfast they prepared for us of plantains, rice, eggs and hot chocolate.

The Federation encourages the cafeteros to grow other food in their fields along with the coffee to sustain themselves like corn, tomatoes etc. On this particular farm they grow a variety of arabica coffee bean that is resistant to rust (roya in Spanish) which destroys the leaves and beans.