Traditional Coffee Farm Experience at Hacienda Coloma from Bogotá

We were offered the chance to go to another farm closer to the city to maximise our time at the farm, for which we were very glad. The farm was beautiful we were hosted by the owner and family as well as the farm manager and our guide. We were shown all stages of the farming process from sprouting seedlings, to planting, maintaining, to harvesting, washing, sorting, drying, all done on the farm, the roasting process was also explained though not done at the farm. We were able to experience parts of the process ourselves by picking and sorting the beans. It was a beautiful walk through the farm our guide Gigio and Manuel the manager were very knowledgeable and passionate, they answered all our questions and more. We got to taste the coffee produced on the farm and we were able to purchase some to take home. Our guide then took us to a local restaurant for lunch where we discussed the experience further. Truly a wonderful breathtaking experience.

I had a day to do something different in Bogota before my friends arrived, so I arranged a solo trip to the coffee plantations. I was prepared for the 2 hour drive each way and bad traffic as described, the time went by very quickly because the wonderful guide Gigio gave a very extensive and detailed lecture on the history of Columbia, he has an encyclopedic brain and explains things very well in clear English. Viewing the city and countryside over the mountains was socially interesting and beautiful in the urban paths and green hills. The guide at Haciena Coloma was kind and took time to explain everything well, they are a smaller "boutique" company that cares for the coffee production themselves at every stage, so you can see clearly how coffee is grown and processed, I learned a lot! They have convinced me to go back to grinding beans and avoiding additives, so it is a life changing tour :). They have a nice shop with a chance to get and try coffee liquor and some craft gifts. I learned so much and had a nice typical "high calorie" common meal on the way back, learning about the traditional meals at a typical restaurant. The driver Andreas was very good and kept us safe, I can recommend this tour to anyone!

Overall, the tour was wonderful! We were picked on on time at our hotel by our driver. However, our driver did not speak English (and unfortunately, we don' speak too much Spanish). The drive was friendly, respectful and seemed very nice, but it was a 2.5 hour drive out (with traffic) so a total of 5 hours in a car without any additional information about Bogota, Colombia or the areas we were driving through or entertainment, which was a bit disappointing. We were the only ones on the bus so we were comfortable and felt like the driver drove safely. Also, we stopped for lunch after the tour which was delicious, but it wasn't until almost 6 hours after being picked up, so we were pretty hungry- recommend either bringing snacks or asking the driver to stop before the coffee farm tour for a snack! As far as the Hacienda Coloma- The Hacienda Coloma tour guide was great- pleasant and knowledgeable (and spoke English very well!) and took us around the garden and showed us the entire process of coffee from bean to cup. It was beautiful and great! However, we thought that we would be able to taste a few different coffee varieties during the tour itself and/or be offered additional opportunities to taste the liquor (they brought us to the barrels and had us smell them but did not let us taste them so it felt a bit teasing). At the end of the tour you are offered a cup of black coffee and a small taste of a liquor (but no option of milk or espresso). When we arrived they started our tour right away, but due to the long drive, we wish also there was an option of having a coffee and or a snack (even for purchase) prior to the tour. (FYI- There is no food served there at all, even for purchase so bring snacks). If we had had kids with us, the tour would have been ok for kids as well but def bring snacks/food/water for kids with you! So all in all a good tour, we would recommend! But it would have been better if the driver could have given us information or if the tour could have paired us up with someone else in the car that speaks English, it would have been great!