Five Days in Colombia doesn’t sound like a long time and then when you look at a topographic map it sounds like even less time. Thankfully I was traveling with some highly organized people. Though highly organized people also wake up much earlier then my natural alarm clock.
 
In the beginning of December I flew down to Bogotá to visit with our exporter, Virmax. We have been working with Virmax since the first days our roasting adventure! I met Alejandro and Giancarlo almost two years ago at an event Gimme hosted. I realized then that they were running their business in a very responsible, organized way with a lot of the same goals in common. I was impressed with their long term thinking as well as their knowledge of the Colombian coffee market. They seemed to be truly dedicated to making connections between farmers and small roasters. They have been great teachers for me ever since our first meeting.
 
It was a pretty natural decision for me to want to visit with them and they were kind enough to give us so much of their time. On the first day of my visit we cupped coffees in their Bogotá lab and talked about the structure and organization of Virmax’s operations. They were impressively open and excited to share with us exactly how things are run. Cupping coffees with them was a great way to create a common language and talk about our aspirations for our coffees.
 
The second day we got on a plane early in the morning and flew to Neiva where we took in a van to Gigante. This was a really exciting town for me to visit. One of the coffees that has been major part of our espresso comes from the growers surrounding this town. After a meeting of the co-op members we toured Jose Lisardo Rojas’ farm. The care and quality he shows to his farm and coffees struck a cord with me. His family takes incredible care of their land and a lot of pride in showcasing their coffees. I feel very lucky to be buying selected lots from his farm.
 
That evening we drove to Pitalito. In the morning we cupped coffees with their buyers in Pitalito and saw the actual machine, we had spend Monday talking about, in action. We left that evening and flew back to Bogotá for the night and flew out the next morning to Manizales. It was in the plans to visit the decaffeination plant there but unfortunately the plant closed early and gave their workers extra time off for the holiday. So we continued to Armenia, the town where Virmax’s dry mill is located. Spending the day there and seeing the mill run was like playing connect the dots in my head. Seeing the sorting standards and processing happening really put in perspective for me the final stages of coffee before I even get to see it.
 
Friday we left early in the morning to visit Cerro Azul a farm going into their first production year of geisha. I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful farm to grow such a beautiful coffee. We had the chance to cup a sample of the coffee the first morning we were together in Bogotá it was amazing. It was complex, subtle and unlike any other Colombian coffee I have ever tasted. We arrived just as some of the pickers were bringing coffees in. The selection and quality was remarkable. The farm is set up to pay their pickers throughout the year and not just during harvest insuring great veteran pickers for each harvest.
 
I went to Colombia with the goals of understanding our coffees better and getting to know each person who makes Virmax work so well. I achieved and surpassed these goals, which I never would have been able to without the support of our amazing hosts at Virmax. I could never match the hard work they do everyday in running their company.