Trip was fantastic and well organized. We manage to experience various aspects of coffee culture. Trip is a combination of farm trip, coffee tasting, coffee laboratory trip and it's incredible educational. And what's best it's also perfect opportunity to buy best organic coffee in a fair price!
I highly recommend this coffee tour. It combined everything from growing and processing it to tasting it.
We started with a cupping to taste different varieties of coffee and brewing methods. It included experts from El Laboratorio de Café to explain the science behind how we taste coffee. We also got to see how the coffee beans are processed and roasted.
After that we headed to a family-owned, organic coffee plantation where we were able to follow the coffee from planting to harvest to drying. The entire process was fascinating and interesting.
There are SO MANY things to highlight about this tour. First, unlike many coffee tours, the Finca Lijuana is located very near to Medellin, so you won’t need to take a super long bus ride to get there. But wait there is more, this means the view from the finca of Medellin is amazing! Additionally, from Pablo, the tour guide, to the wonderful Doña Maria Luisa, owner of the finca, everyone is super welcoming, knowledgeable, and so passionate about coffee it’s hard not to be entertained throughout the tour. Additionally it’s an organic farm which make it all the more rich in fauna and flora.
Pablo and nana are the nicest people. They picked us up at our hotel in el poblado and took us to a lovely farm not far from the city. There they showed us the whole process from planting the seed to producing the final cup of coffee. They gave us snacks and drinks and we had the opportunity to taste the farms own organic coffee, which was delicious by the way. Then we headed to el laboratorio de cafe were we put on gowns and hair nets to sample different varieties of coffee and have an in depth discussion of what makes each coffee unique. Make time for this tour while in medellin!
I learned so much about the entire process of how coffee gets into our cup. Visiting the gorgeous organic coffee farm only a short 30 minute drive outside of the city of Medellin was so amazing. The fact that the farm is so close to the city is a definite perk, so you don’t have to drive hours just to get to the farm. There we learned about different coffee plants, the growing process, harvesting and then got to try the most delicious coffee from the beans that the farm grew. After the farm we went to the coffee lab which was also so interesting. There we learned how they rate coffee quality, tried to rate it ourselves, learned about roasting and sorting the beans. I never knew how difficult and involved the whole process is!
Our tour guide Pablo was amazing and so knowledgeable! They also provide a translator for non-Spanish speakers. Santi was an amazing translator! They also provide transportation and picked us up right on time.
