| Colombian Coffee is grown at high altitudes | | | | million bags. Today, Colombian coffee exports |
| and tended with painstaking care in the shade | | | | are around 10 million bags per year. |
| of banana and rubber trees. This coffee is | | | | |
| among the best in the world, rich, | | | | For many decades Colombia was the world's |
| full-bodied, and perfectly balanced. Coffea | | | | second leading producer of coffee behind |
| Arabica L., more commonly known as the | | | | Brazil. Recently, Vietnam surpassed Colombia |
| Arabica bean, prefers higher altitudes and | | | | in coffee exports to take the number two seat |
| drier climates than its cousin, the lower | | | | and move Colombia into a close third. |
| quality Robusta bean (C. Robusta). Therefore, | | | | However, the old adage of quality over |
| the arid mountains and the well-drained, rich | | | | quantity certainly applies here. |
| volcanic soil of Colombia provide ideal | | | | |
| conditions for growing high quality coffee. | | | | The Arabica bean does not grow well in |
| | | | Vietnam. Only the hearty, yet inferior, |
| Colombian coffee is grown in two main | | | | Robusta is suited for the low, wet climate of |
| regions, the central region around Medellin, | | | | Vietnam. Colombian coffee is far superior and |
| Armenia and Manizales, known as MAM to | | | | is considered by many coffee experts to be |
| aficionados, and the eastern, more | | | | the finest in the world. |
| mountainous region near Bogotá and | | | | |
| Bucaramanga. MAM varietals are known for | | | | Any discussion on Colombian coffee would not |
| their heavy body, rich flavor and fine, | | | | be complete without mentioning the wildly |
| balanced acidity while the mountain grown | | | | successful marketing campaign created by the |
| eastern beans produce an even richer, | | | | National Federation of Colombian Coffee |
| heavier, less acidic coffee. The finest | | | | Growers in 1959 which introduced the world to |
| Colombian coffee comes from this region. | | | | the friendly and affable Juan Valdez. Though |
| | | | a fictitious character, the poncho clad, |
| It is not known for sure when coffee first | | | | sombrero wearing Juan Valdez gave a face to |
| reached Colombia but many historians believe | | | | the humble coffee picker and created a |
| it to be around the same time Jesuit priests | | | | mystique and aura of romance that still |
| first began arriving from Europe in the mid | | | | survives today. |
| 16th century. The first exports of coffee | | | | |
| from Colombia began in 1835 when around 2500 | | | | A recent survey reported that 85% of |
| bags were exported to the U.S. | | | | Americans still associate the name Juan |
| | | | Valdez with Colombian coffee. Quite an |
| By 1875 170,000 bags were leaving the country | | | | accomplishment, especially considering that |
| bound for the U.S. and Europe. The exports | | | | only 75% acknowledged recognizing the name |
| grew exponentially over the next hundred | | | | Dan Quayle. |
| years or so and peaked in 1992 at around 17 | | | | |