Salento - Coffee Country

After the fizzer in Cali, Salento was the perfect retreat. A village up in the hills, away from the bustle of the cities and the heart of one of Colombia's largest coffee regions.

Finca Momota, a little slice of caffeinated heaven

Our first day involved getting up close and personal with the local industry by taking a coffee tour at Finca Momota just outside town. After stumbling down a very muddy donkey track in the rain, we were greeted very exuberantly by a Catalonian bloke who had bought his farm there a couple of years ago. He took us through the processes of creating truly great coffee - the different species, the importance of the sugars in the bean pod, the impact of the roast, the creation of aromas and subtle flavours, and much more. Basically, we learned how bloody finnicky it can be to make the beans into consumable coffee.
Dark Roast vs Medium Roast - it smelled amazing!
After that, we got a tour of the farm. I mean, this place was a paradise. The farm spread across steep hillsides which were lush with trees and vegetation (the owner believed in allowing nature to spread among the coffee trees to enhance the flavour), with a small river cutting through the middle. Besides coffee, he also grew corn and herbs and had avocado, citrus and berry trees in abundance. The coffee trees were just coming into flower, and the whole hillside was dotted with white buds and a few fresh red bean pods.

They're beans, but they're a long way from being coffee

After the deep immersion into the creation of the beans, we were finally ready to test the finished product. And of course, it was delicious. It wasn't the coffee we were used to - no espressos or dark roasts here, and a more acidic, fruity flavour due to the soil quality. We tried an Arabica and a Robusta, both of which were delicious. It was interesting watching everyone drink - our tour group suddenly got much more chatty after a sip of caffeine!

On our last day, we had a bit of time before leaving so we hunted down some local delicacies, and ended up having this:



 Chocolate con Queso, hot chocolate with cheese. The way you're meant to eat it in by putting chunks of cheese in the chocolate and eating them, then drinking the chocolate. The cheese was granjero style, light and soft, so the flavour wasn't too strong. I have since learned that Colombians often mix cheese with sweet things, but I can't say I'm a huge fan.

All in all I can't recommend Salento enough for a visit if you're in the area. If you go, be sure to check out Finca Momota. For us, after getting away from one city it's time to dive back into another one - Medellin!

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