Departamento de Caldas

We hopped on a short flight up into the mountains to stay at a coffee plantation outside of Manizales. At 1500 it is the perfect place to grow one of Colombias most famous exports... Coffee 😊

We are staying in a converted coffee lodge which used to house workers who would migrate to the area during coffee picking season, now it is a boutique hotel complete with swimming pool which caters to those looking to relax, enjoy some of the local birds and learn a bit more about coffee. As our avid followers will remember we had already done a coffee tour in Costa Rica so we opted to take their Cocao Workshop and learn a little more about chocolate.

Colombia is not famed for its chocolate production and although the plant is native to South America it actually grows better in the dryer lower climates found in Central Africa. The lodge are experimenting to see how the plant fairs at altitude and trying to future proof their farms against possible climate changes which might impact their coffee plantations. They only have 1 hectare of Cacao plants and don't sell or export the product, it is primarily used for the guests and staff consumption as well as the workshop we are partaking in.

After learning a brief history of the plant we found a few fruits that were ripe and plucked then off the tree ready for processing. Back to the kitchen we cut open the fruit to extract the seeds, the pods can contain up to 50 seeds each depending on size and variation. They are encased in a kind of jelly which is quite sweet, similar to Lychee but with a citrus taste as well. With the seeds extracted you now need ferment and dry them in their jelly, allowing the extra sugars to soak into them and add to the rich flavour. After about 2 weeks you are ready to start the roasting process which help remove the husk, leaving you with the tasty nib, quite bitter but very much tasting like chocloate. The final step is to grind the nibs to get Chocolate Liquor, the grinders use friction from stone which generates heat that melts the fat within the nib. At this point sugar and Cocoa butter can be added to create a specific type of chocolate ready to be moulded. Once cooked the chocloate is good to eat, although it will need to be tempered to stop it melting (we didn't need to do this as we are it straight from the fridge).

Was fun to see the whip process and taste the fruits of our labour (although we had to use some seeds that had been already dried) and the lodge is a perfect place to relax, eat some good homemade food, in a big family table where we met some friends for the time we were there. We also enjoyed the scenary while we walked around the farm. Feeling very relaxed and ready for our next adventure.

Fun fact, this hacienda was used to film a Colombian Soap Opera called "Cafe con aroma de mujer" that made a big hit not only in Colombia but also in California and Spain. Some where here mainly for that! It's on Netflix if you want to watch the 180+ episodes 😄Read more