Colombia has a

mixed reputation

internationally, but

nearly everyone agrees

that its coffee

is world class.

For millions of Colombians

from the capital of Bogota

to the rural Eje Cafetero.

Coffee is a way of life.

Funding for In the

Americas with David

Yetman , was provided

by Agnese Haury.

music

If you're one of the more

than four billion people

in the world

who love coffee,

you know that Colombia

is a very special place.

To get to the coffee

producing area you have to

stop first in

Bogota, the capital.

It's a city of seven

million people.

I brought along with me

my friend Bill Beezley,

an expert on

Colombian history.

We're planning to meet

up with Colombian,

cultural anthropologist and

coffee expert, Marcela Vasquez.

Bogota is a proud and

beautiful city built on

the model of Spanish

cities like Madrid and

we're in the Candelaria

neighborhood,

the oldest part

of the city,

with beautiful buildings,

a history of Bohemian

people, musicians,

artists, poets.

About a block away

from the Plaza Bolívar.

Yeah, I can see

it down there.

Yes, that's the political

and religious center of

Bogota and the

nation of Colombia.

Right now we are in

the plaza Bolívar,

which is at the

heart of the city.

We are surrounded

by buildings that

date back to colonial times.

In the back, is the

capital building.

On that side, we have the Palace

of Justice and on my right

is the Iglesia, which is the

largest cathedral in Colombia.

It was built in 1807 and it took

about twenty years to finish it.

It is in this site

that the first mass was

celebrated in

Bogota in 1538.

Bogota is a great

example or a great

case study of urban renewal.

Today Bogota is considered

the Athens of South

America because of

the number of museums,

libraries, universities

that it has.

It has also been named the

city of music by UNESCO in 2012.

Colombians are proud of

their musicians of all

type, classical and

popular, Shakira, Juanes,

are two of the most

popular musicians in the

world, not just the

Spanish speaking world.

That's true and here

is the parade up here.

It's chilly in

Bogota at 8,000 feet.

I'm here to find

out about coffee.

Let me tell you, the aroma of

coffee in here is enchanting.

(Spanish)

To Colombian coffee.

Lao.

Gracias Lao.

The captains of the coffee

industry in Colombia were

very smart to

create this symbol.

Juan Valdez is a brilliant

image of the Paisa culture

and the Paisa culture

is represented by those

frontiersmen, who in the middle

of the 19th century moved into

Central West Colombia and

started planting coffee.

They were wildly

successful at it and in

the end they created a

culture, a food, a coffee,

music and a symbol

for all Colombians.

Paisas are people from

northwestern Colombia.

The heart of Paisa country

is also coffee country.

It's a mountainous

and hilly land,

a few valleys

west of Bogota.

We're heading out into the

general region, which is

known as Quindio and it's the

coffee center of Colombia.

I haven't seen a single

coffee tree in town.

They'll be a few million

out in the boonies and

we'll find out a lot

more about coffee.

Colombia is a very

mountainous country.

Thanks to the great

Codillera of the Andes.

The Andes have brought

both joy and sorrow to

Colombia, numerous

earthquakes,

many volcanic eruptions

that have killed thousands

of people, but they have

also brought volcanic soil

to the coffee region and that

is a producer of great joy.

In the coffee

growing region,

there is one Pueblo, one

small town that's well

known throughout

Colombia for its beauty,

its location, its

streams nearby.

It's called Salento.

It has a peculiar

history and its kept its

compact nature for 100

years or so.

(Spanish)

Travelers

founded this town.

Originally it was an

ancient pathway

used by indigenous people.

Then it became a royal

road used by the Spaniards

as a part of the colonization

process throughout the Americas.

Later on it was used

by merchants

who settled throughout

the region.

This town grew as travelers died

and their survivors stayed on.

Salento is different from

other towns and for many

years the inhabitants

retained the magic of the

past as they hold on to

the old traditions and customs.

There is a strong sense

of belonging to this land,

where many have lived

for numerous generations.

(Spanish)

Traditional

dress has given away to a

modern lifestyle, but up

until about twenty years

ago it was common

to see the Paisa,

a kind of mountain man walk

around with his checkered poncho

and leathered satchel in the

traditional Paisa style.

To get out of the rain,

I've worked my way into a

hat shop and I recognize

these hats as being indigenous.

They're from the coast

and I know they're made of

palm but I've never seen

anything like them before.

I have to try one on.

I think it will

probably last me well.

It's woven by hand, sewn

together and in a wet climate.

It's perfect.

Okay you follow the guide,

and then you just fold it

and this hat is from a place

called Tochin from the coast.

That's right

on the Pacific.

Then you just

turn it around,

turn it like this and you

can put it in your pocket.

So when I'm riding on my

horse or my burro and the

sun comes out, I can pull

it out and put it on. I see.

You can see why Salento

has become a major tourist

attraction here in

central Colombia.

It's not just the

native materials,

oh well they're great, but

the addition of European

elements, the balconies

and the overhangs and all

the colors and the

narrow streets.

Put those together and you

have this combination of

effects, that really

is irresistible.

So tell me about the Eje

Cafetero Okay the

Eje Cafetero is the heartland of

coffee production in Colombia.

It has very specific

characteristics that

make coffee specially good.

So it's produced between

4,000 and 6,000 feet,

so the high altitude

makes it really good.

If you go higher

than that it changes.

It's too cold up there.

It also has, there's a lot

of rain here and volcanic soil.

So the soil is very

good for coffee.

Just a very special

combination in here

and we get really good coffee.

Well, there is a machine.

This looks like a bomb,

it looks like a Rube Goldberg.

(Spanish)

So this is from 1905.

(Spanish)

These are real Italian.

I feel like I'm in the

Giro d'Italia bike race.

And we can make

some coffee.

Do you know how

to operate this?

Yeah!

Alright, I'm going

to stand back.

So now we conserve and have a

really good cup of coffee.

Oh that's how you

clean the dishes.

(Spanish)

It's very good

coffee, huh?

That is very good coffee!

Yeah!

The Quindío coffee producing

region is dotted with

small coffee producing

farms, family owned farms over

500 of them. Small producers

mean small towns, traditional

towns some of them with very

distinct local architecture.

(Spanish)

The architecture

here is unique,

much the way a world

heritage site is unique.

We are in the landscape of

coffee plantations and the

buildings fit in well

with the environment.

Their walls are

made from bamboo,

insulated with horse manure and

then stuccoed with plaster.

The design is called ? ?

Colombiano.

Finlandia is also

known as the

heartland of coffee

basket making.

The sign here says this is

the handy craft route of

Quindío and the first example we

have are these baskets.

These are utilitarian,

no question.

Probably, for gathering

the cherries is what they

call the fruits

of the coffee,

the cherries of

the coffee beans.

This would be about the right

size for the average harvester.

You could put 20 or 30 lbs

of coffee in there pulling

them off the trees as

fast as they could.

Coffee harvesters

seem to have given

up on the old time baskets.

Everyone uses

plastic ones instead.

In the country

of Colombia,

the coffee farms vary

from about ten acres,

which is the average.

To this one it's

about 100 acres,

so there's a

huge variation.

This is a rather

large one,

but the area is just

a mosaic of farms.

Each with its own

personality and probably

each with its own distinct

variety because of the changes

in topography, the changes, the

tiny changes in rainfall.

The amount of exposure

to sun and the soil,

so everyone's distinct.

(Spanish)

We are on the Potosi La Vereda

coffee plantation.

We have several different

varieties of coffee beans.

We have Colombia la

Suprema and the Caturra variety.

Japanese buyers want

only Caturra beans.

While, others want

the Colombia beans.

They are completely

different without one

being better

than the other,

just like there are

tastes for everything.

These plants are just a year old

and already they are producing.

These little coffee

trees are now two

years old and they are

full of cherries.

After only two years,

thousands and thousands of

them and look at that

potential cup of coffee there.

You can almost

smell the aroma.

(Spanish)

My grandparents were coffee

growers as well as my father.

This plantation

is my inheritance

from both my parents.

Over the last few years,

more and more women have

entered the gremio or the

fraternity of growers.

We manage our own lands, we

understand the entire process.

In the beginning,

it was not easy.

We must know how to

manage all aspects of

the coffee production process.

How, where and when

to plant, fertilize,

harvest and restore the fields.

In the Quindío region they plant

on very steep hillsides.

Their plants only grow to one

meter, 80 centimeters tall.

In other countries, they

plant trees that will grow

much taller and they harvest

them all by machine.

Here, it's hand harvested.

We're now among the adult

trees that are in the

height of their production

and although we're not on

the full harvest season, there's

still plenty of the cherries.

(Spanish)

So you can

squeeze the cherry and the

coffee bean drops out and

this is actually sweet tasting.

We're going to take these

right now to where they

call the beneficio, the

processing plant that will

remove this outer pulp and

we will then have the next

stage of the coffee

beans ready to go.

(Spanish)

Well, it's

passed through the initial

processing plant and come

out here and the only way

that they can guarantee

that it contains,

that the coffee contains

the best possible

Colombian flavor is to dry

it here and they can lift

it up and they can listen

to the sound the coffee

makes when it is falling.

And that way they can tell

if it's really ready to be

made into coffee,

very traditional,

very individually

sensitive.

It's not commercialized.

(Spanish)

We are in the

center of Colombia's

coffee heartland.

A region whose tradition

are longstanding.

Traditions passed onto

us by our forefathers.

A half hour drive takes us

to another small producer

with a very

different philosophy.

(Spanish)

Our coffee

groves are lush gardens.

We are very proud of what

we have created here.

We have faced many

difficulties with pests

and we have successfully

resisted without ever

using a single

gram of pesticides.

We've all heard of shade

grown coffee and this is

shade grown coffee and

this is shade grown coffee.

This is shade from these

great old trees and these

particular coffee

trees are very old.

They are traced back to

the founding of the town

of Córdoba, a

hundred years ago.

(Spanish)

Arboleda could

have ended up as just

another coffee producing

farm and nothing else.

A cup of Arboleda coffee

is one of perfection

because this

coffee is grown,

while protecting the

environment and caring and

loving the land

and the soil.

These old trees are

pure Arabica coffee,

which generally is conceded to

be the best there is.

That's what they started

with here and then they've

branched into other

varieties but this is the

old scion the old original

coffee tree from right here.

(Spanish)

Our coffee is

produced with zero agro

chemicals so that the

natural micro organisms

that live in this

ecosystem are not harmed.

One of the philosophies

here at La Arboleda Coffee

farm is to keep

the old varieties.

They've been

here for so long,

things have worked their

way out and so they can

work organically or

without chemicals because it's

all part of a well-established

coffee ecosystem.

(Spanish)

We could use

this here as a teaching

tool so that other coffee

producers would follow

this example and perhaps

see these kind of eco

friendly, organic farming

as a source of national pride.

We've formed an

association of women coffee

growers called the Córdoba

Women's Coffee Association.

We have recently created

our own brand or women coffee.

Just because you're using

a sustainable form of

coffee raising doesn't

mean you can't use

technology to

your advantage.

With this plastic

canopy here,

they don't have to worry

about the rain and they

still get the advantage

of whatever sun there is.

So in ten days they move

all this coffee around and

they have dry beans.

They don't have to worry

about them getting wet

from the often very

heavy rain they get here.

It's a real good idea.

(Spanish)

When coffee

is ground, the natural,

exquisite aroma is

liberated and then we can

brew it into a

wondrous liquid cup of

coffee. Coffee cultivation

is my destiny, my happiness.

This is what

I do everyday,

I produce coffee.

I love coffee.

Coffee production

isn't all work.

Fiestas are an important

part of Paisa life.

We're in the town Calarca,

not far from Armenia in

the center of

coffee country.

Every year they

have a parade,

a celebration and the

parade ends with the

crowning of the

coffee queen.

Each department brings

their beauty queen and

their dances and music

and theatre to show.

So the judges decide

on a combination or is

it just the queen herself?

No, they do decide

on a combination,

but most important

is the queen,

but the beauty of

the queen is not

just the physical appearance.

It comes with the beauty

of whatever she brings

behind her, which is

the comparsas and the

happiness about it and

the colors and what each

represents from

where they come from.

That's the La Chapolera, it's a

type of CamposinaColombiana.

Her name comes

from a butterfly,

known as Chapora, which

migrates to the coffee

farms during

times of harvest.

They come from all

over the country,

they're trying to show off

their queen and make as

much noise as possible

and my guess is

a little bribery

involved as well.

They all come

together here,

there's a lot of prestige in the

making and their queen has to

show that she has the stuff to

be queen of the coffee festival.

Tolima is coming up

here, now this woman,

I watched her

from down below.

She's very light skinned,

Yeah.

She's very active, but she can

play the drums extremely well.

Does that help?

I think it helps, of course.

We have a representation of real

folk arts here, folk dances.

These are people coming

from the countryside.

There used to be people who did

nothing but carry other people.

We see them here and

then we see the folk,

the dresses of women

from the country side,

who are really

working in the fields.

There's got to be an

excuse for a parade,

but this kind is a little bit

different one, in it's

sort of has an international

aspect to a very local product.

As far as I know, every

coffee producing country

has a celebration to

celebrate the product and

it's so much fun because

they're talking about

coffee, but they're also

celebrating their regional

community and

their folklore.

The natural history of the place

that they're involved in.

Oh my gosh, here

comes the devil.

Oh my gosh.

That's got to be very hot

to carry that costume.

It seems to me, that these

people are from Chocó,

which is the Pacific.

There's a lot of former slaves

that have settled in that

area so there's got to be a big

African influence in there.

Right, the Chocó

region is where the slaves

fled to in the 1800's.

There's a lot of themes of

death in here of fantastic

conceptions that

are otherworldly.

Right and conceptions

about nature and the spirit.

That's very important.

They have a lot of talented

acrobatic, stilt walkers.

Yes.

We know we are

in Colombia.

It couldn't be any other

Spanish speaking country.

There's an exhilaration that is

only possible in this country.

The National Coffee

festival has been

celebrated in Calarca,

every year since 1960.

The floats, in which the

candidates are standing,

are designed specifically

for the event by local

artists. Each candidate

represents Colombia's

cultural diversity, mainly

in terms of dance and music.

The winner of the pageant

represents Colombia

in the international

coffee pageant.

Coffee is native

to Ethiopia,

but because of its special

growing conditions, Colombia

has become the best-known

international exporter.

Here, coffee has

produced a beverage,

a culture, and a way of life.

It has been our nation's

greatest physical barrier.

Its looming presence

struck fear into the

hearts of men and women.

It caused our most famous

case of cannibalism.

It produced the world's

richest gold mines.

It was the cause of

civil war battles.

It's the Sierra Nevada.

Join us next time In the

Americas , with me, David

Yetman.

My friend Nicholas is what

we might call a coffee

missionary from Armenia.

He is unusual.

(Spanish)

So he has the

traveling coffee box,

we've got 500 of these

boxes going around the

world to tell the world

how great coffee is.

Every process of the

coffee from the grinding

it, to the heating

of the water,

to the making

of the coffee,

to the drinking it is

contained in this little box.