Coffee

We follow the instructions and take three buses from Manizales in the search of coffee. We make our way to Chinchina and ask to be dropped off at the church, where we hope to find another bus.

The church, the bus 

Chinchina

Then, onwards to Guayabal where "La Hacienda Guayabal" is situated. It is quite amusing to be dropped off in the middle of seemingly 'nowhere', without any signposts. There is only one path so we follow it.

The path

The church, which I initially think is a cattle corral

A local man & his birds

We following the path through a small community of houses and birds, climbing a hill and eventually arriving at the main building of the plantation site. All buildings are made from guadua, Colombian bamboo.

Perhaps it's that building up there?

Coffee fields 

Steep hills

We have a delicious meal, chat to the other people visiting and Diana, our guide, begins the tour. The location is beautiful, so green and hilly. Lots of fresh air, trees and pretty flowers.

Diana, our guide who speaks perfect English

We learn that Chinchina generally provides excellent weather conditions for growing coffee due to the micro-climate in the valley. The average temperature here is 21 degrees, which is ideal for coffee-growing. However in the past couple of years there has been heavier rainfall meaning less coffee production (in fact the last few weeks have been the worst for a decade and there is much evidence of damage from storms). Many farms have had to diversify their offerings in order to stay in business. At Guayabal, they have opted to open their plantation for tourists. On the day we visit, there are four other guests. The hacienda is well kitted out - with excellent lunch and tours in English or Spanish. So I imagine as tourism grows in Columbia, so too will the number of visitors to the plantation.

Here the farm employ workers to engage in manual-selective picking, rather than use machinery (as in Brazil). They say Colombian coffee is the smoothest in the world - with Germany, USA and Japan purchasing the bulk of the exported coffee. 

Fruits: guava, soursop, orange, lemon, tangerine, pineapple, macadamia, chontaduro, raspberry, mango & banana. 

Flowers: tropical flowers mainly heliconia like bird of paradise, ginger orchids, roses.

Bird of Paradise grow all over the farm

Red bananas, have hallucinogenic properties when eaten apparently

Stages in the Process of Coffee Production

1. Seedbed and seedling

2. Pruning and pest management (mainly the Coffee Berry Borer "drill"), wasp, fungus and re-re

Juan Jose, who has worked at the plantation all his life

Where the workers stay and eat

3. Coffee in production: 2 years for its first harvest (5 years in production, 3 cycles of 7 years)

The hills are so steep, this is difficult labour

'Cherries'

Path through the coffee fields

Helene, listening intently to Diana

4. Washing process (benedicio): coffee is gathered together, weighed and send to the de-pulper machine and then the mucilage is removed. 

It is washed and classified in the water. Pasilla (low quality coffee) floats - this is what is used to make instant coffee. Coffee is sent to the dried process in the silo.

Pasila (used for instant coffee)

Where all the beans are put to begin the washing process
The beans are put through these tubes
and these tubes

The bad ones float

5. Drying proces: coffee is dried, first in a pre-drying process and then the drying process itself. Maximum temperature 60 degrees. Final humidity between 9% and 12%. Coffee is sold out of the farm by kg.

These bags are made from natural fibres found in a local plant (like hemp)

6. Threshing: husk is removed from the coffee bean. To export coffee is classified by size with meshes. Big beans belong to higher meshes or supreme coffee. Colour and weightof beans are also selected. Then coffee is exported.

7. In every country coffee is blended and roasted. Roasting average temperature is 19-200 degrees during 15-20 minutes.

8. Finally, we can grind and brew our coffee to taste a very fresh cup of coffee, the best from Columbia! The coffee is delicious, very strong but the smell is amazing! The tour is informative, and Diana teaches us about selecting good coffee at home which is useful.

The main building at the plantation, with bounding dog & elbow

Clucks

Roasting the dried beans

Freshly roasted coffee beans

At last it's time to taste

The family pet, Polly

Certified!

The owner of the plantation gives us a lift to Chinchina, and we bus back to the city. In the morning, we take the bus to Medellin. The trip is well worth the three buses worth of travel.