Colombia - Planadas Lot 0101

Tolima in Planadas is one of the most isolated coffee producing regions of Colombia located in the Central Colombia Andes mountain range, nestling between the vast national parks of 'Nevada' and ‘Cordillera De Los Pichachos’.  With limited access other than through the town of Coyaima and always subject to conditions, the journey to Tolima is mainly on dirt roads and is a 12-hour road trip from Ibague, the province capital.

The area until recently fell in the middle of a conflict zone which was for many years controlled by the FARC. It was considered a forgotten region left to the discretion of the people to fend for themselves, and having to comply with the rules or laws set by the FARC, they were restricted to selling their crops to either the FNC (Colombian National Federation of Coffee Growers) or local ‘trilladoras’ and receiving at best only commercial prices.

At these high altitudes, with rich volcanic soils and many mountain streams populating the area, the highest quality specialty varietals are found.  The broader Planadas area represents 48 coffee producing hamlets representing 6821 small farms ranging from .5 to 6 hectares. They are renowned for producing some of Colombia's finest specialty micro-lot coffees, and are now gaining a reputation for their higher quality commercial community coffees. Coffees are selected from within the community, ensuring quality and consistency and traceability. The farms that contributed to this coffee are: Finca El Corazón, Finca La Villa, Finca Vista Hermosa, Finca El Tambo, Finca La Orquídea Finca Montalvo.