Chad and I had the wonderful opportunity to grab a weekend away from Bogota and the hassles of the big city. We awoke at 4 a.m, got on a plane and flew over the mountains to the town of Armenia, one of three cities in the coffee region.
For those of you who know Chad, coffee is a passion of his. We had been looking forward to this trip for months and now we were embarking on a weekend to immerse ourselves in the culture of coffee.
As we typically do, we through the normal tourist attractions out the window and came up with our own plan. Combined with the ideas of our friends, we had a wonderful weekend of adventure.
Chad had a patient with a contact who owned a coffee plantation. So we began our first day with Frank, the owner of a coffee school for restauranteurs teaching us the fine points of shelling, sorting, grading and then roasting coffee beans. We learned that coffee is very similar to wine. We were focusing more on the “boutique” side of things with coffee beans from one section of a specific plantation. No mixing the beans here! After roasting the beans we sat down for a lesson in preparing a truly good cup of coffee.
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| Sorting the beans |
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| Grading the beans during the roasting process |
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| Roasting the beans |
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| Chemix |
The water is to be heated to about 180 F. A filter is moistened before putting the grounds in. The grounds are put in a coffee filter on the top of a “chemix”. The grounds are pushed up the sides of the filter making a sort of ditch. The reason for this process rather than just dumping the ground in and pouring the water on top, is to give the grounds an even soak thus pulling the flavor from the beans in an even amount. If you have done this to perfection you will have a nice bit of froth at the top of your water as it settles through the filter producing an amazingly delectable cup of coffee. The flavors in my cup were amazing. Each part of my tongue picked up a different taste. A truly fine restaurant should be preparing your coffee at the table with your dessert.
From the school we traveled to the coffee finca (farm) with Gustavo, the owner.
Perched at a perfect altitude of about 1600 meters this finca had incredible views of the area. The view alone was worth the windy drive up the mountain. Gustavo takes pleasure in growing high quality coffee beans. He is passionate about teaching the poorer farmers around him about how to farm using few chemicals, pruning bushes every 5 years and replanting.
The government of Colombia has stated that a farmer can make a reasonable living for himself and his family on 4 hectors of land. Gustavo has 8 hectors, the average farmer has 2. You can see how this quickly leads to difficulties for these farmers because they are barely making enough to survive and certainly not enough to invest in producing a higher quality farm.
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| beans drying |
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| sorting beans |
We walked through the farm going higher and higher. Rows of coffee plants were burdened with berries. The red berries ready to be picked.
Gustavo then showed us the harvesting, sorting and drying process. The amount of care into each bean gives me a new appreciation for this drink we take for granted.
A bit weary we all climbed into the taxi to head for the hotel. After 1 1/2 hrs. of winding through different towns we came to a dirt road. It was now dark. The driver continually asked people along the way if our hotel was ahead. We continued ahead uncertain. Crossing a river flooding the road, In disbelief our hotel appeared before us. Warm lights welcomed us. Our dinner prepared and waiting. The perfect end to a day in the Coffee Garden of Eden.
- Kris
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