One of the first thing that people think of when talking about Colombia is coffee. With more than 3500 coffee plantations, Colombia is the fourth exporter in the world, Brazil being number one. Colombian´s farms produce only the arabica bean, while other countries export a mix of both arabicas and robusta beans.
In this article you will learn how to prepare the perfect Colombian coffee.

7 steps of preparation to your perfect coffee

Step 1: Buy fresh organic coffee beans, picked and dried in the coffee area of Colombia.

Picked and dried in the coffee area of Salento

Step 2: Peel your beans. Use a Colombian coffee peeler machine or if you have time peel the beans by hand.

Colombian coffee peeler machine

Peeled coffee beans

Step 3: Roast your beans in a big cast iron pan. Keep the beans roasting until they get a nicely brownish coffee colour.

Roasting coffee

Roasted coffee beans

Step 4: Grind your freshly roasted beans. Use a Colombian coffee grinder or alternative a big hammer.

Colombian coffee bean grinder

Step 5: Enjoy the smell! Lovely!

Grinded coffee

Step 6: Boil water and pour it through your freshly grinded coffee, use any coffee filter.

Coffee being filtred

Step 7: Your own fresh Colombian coffee!

Serve and enjoy!

Make it happen – learning more about Colombian coffee in Salento

The “Zona Cafetera” of Colombia is one of the best areas in the world to develop your coffee knowledge. Choose the small and charming village of Salento as your base. Here you will find many small coffee plantations, most of them offering daily tour in English and/or Spanish.

There are numerous lodging options in town to choose between, including several budget hostels. Consider booking in advance if you come during the week-end.

How to get to Salento: From Medellin, take the bus to Armenia and ask the driver to drop you off at the crossing at the entrance of Salento (5-6h). From the crossing, wave at the first bus heading towards Salento or a friendly Colombian might ask to give you a ride. From Armenia, it´s a 1h bus journey.