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.