COFFEE
FOLLOW THE TASTE OF
A COFFE TOUR WITH DON EDUARDO
Embark on a guided coffee tour with Don Eduardo and unlock the secrets of Colombia's rich coffee heritage. Experience firsthand the art of coffee cultivation, from bean to cup, while savoring exquisite flavors and immersing yourself in the culture of coffee.
Salento is a very sweet and calm town between the small cities of Armenia and Pereira. It's the oldest coffee plantation area in Colombia.
After our arrival we could already go to our BnB and store the luggage there. At the next corner there was the cutest little cafe where we decided to have breakfast.
We ordered two coffees and I had an Açai bowl :)
The Coffee menu was really great, with so many options on how to prepare the coffee.
ENTERING DON EDUARDOS FINCA
We booked a coffee tour at 9:30, the only tour that starts from within the town, meaning you don’t have to take a willy to drive you to one of the fincas around.
The tour started in a cozy garden in the shade, they said in advance that you should put on sunscreen and mosquito repellent and the woman who gave the tour mentioned that again when we were there. But I didn’t think it would be that bad :D
Our tour was guided by Sabrina, the daughter of Timothy, who the farm belongs to. Somehow he named it Don Eduardo so it sounds more local ;)
The coffee farm has like 7ha but 4ha are original native forest, so they leave it be and only use the rest of the 3ha. Farms between 1 and 10 ha are considered small coffee farms. She explained a lot about the two different coffee types, Arabica having less caffeine and being more sweet and Robusta which has more caffeine and being more sour and bitter. Nowadays most of the plants that are used for coffee are mixed plants, at this farm they use plants that have the genetics of 80% arabica and 20% robusta.
While we sat there and listened to all the interesting stories, the mosquitos had a feast.
The farm from Don Eduardo is an ecological and natural farm, meaning they grow all different kinds of trees and bushes that are natural there as well. starting with grass on the ground, then medium trees as Mandarins, Oranges, Bananas and Blackberries, only to name a few. Lastly, there are Big trees such as Avocado trees. When the leaves fall down or when they cut the gras, they leave it right as it is to compost and nurture the soil.
In-between they have wild tobacco plants because insects love to eat them, so they won’t eat the other plants.
The garden has so many different kinds of flowers that if you like botany this tour will be perfect for you. Sabrina is a lively and dynamic guide, it was so much fun to listen to her stories and explanations, and she clearly loves the farm and telling tourists about how to make coffee.
Here are the Coffeebeans from left to right:
On the coffeplant
An open coffebean the skin is slippery
Once the skin is removed they look dry
Last the roasted coffe beans - finally it smells like you know it
Once we saw everything at the farm we walked back up to the garden. She showed us how the machine gets rid of the skin of the coffee bean, and then we could roast it. The roasting process in the pan takes about 10 - 15 min and you need to constantly stir the beans.
From the top left down to the right:
First the beans have a gray-green color and they smell green (I don’t know how to describe it different :D )
Second, they will get a bright green color.
Third, the first beans will get a few brown parts and the first coffee smell is in the air.
The last stage is the blonde roast, where the beans have a light brown color and are ready for a nice cup of coffee.
After the roast beans are best to be left alone for 2-7 days and then make coffee out of it.
I really enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to anyone who wants to do a tour that is in a small ecological farm instead of a big one :)
