http://buyorganiccoffee.org/963/naturally-organic-coffee-from-colombia/ Naturally Organic Coffee from Colombia

2. In our continuing search for healthy organic
coffee I was visiting Colombia.

3. In the heart of the Colombia coffee district, the
Cafetero, is the mountain town of Manizales.

4. A million people live in and around this city at
elevations of 7000 feet more or less.

5. Elevations in the city vary by 500 feet above
and below the average! An active
volcano, Nevada Ruiz, looms over the city at a
height of 15,000 feet.

6. The high altitude, plentiful rainfall, nearly
continual cloud cover during the rainy
season, volcanic soil and moderate
temperatures make the area idea for growing
coffee.

7. There are lots of Colombian coffee brands and
most are not labeled organic despite the fact
that the vast majority of growers abide by
organic standards.

8. When I first asked around for where I could buy
organic coffee people seemed confused.

9. Then they became upset. Here I was in the
premier coffee growing region of the entire
world and I was asking for something different
than basic, good, Colombia Arabica coffee!

10. The story about naturally organic coffee from
Colombia continues.

11. Organic Coffee,
Certified or Not

12. Some time back we wrote about the Arabica
coffee brand.

13. This coffee comes from Finca Eliza west of
Medellin.

14. It is UTZ certified and the grower abides by
organic standards.

15. He simply has not bothered to deal with any of
the agencies that certify coffee on behalf of the
United States Department of Agriculture, such
as Bio Latina.

16. It is often the case that small coffee growers
cannot afford the $500 a year fee to retain their
certification.

17. After all they produce naturally organic coffee
from Colombia and have buyers locally and
internationally without being certified.

18. If one drives from Manizales, down the
mountain, to the city of Pereira one sees coffee
being grown on gentle slopes and virtual
mountainsides.

19. One sees coffee growing in back yards, tucked
in under shade trees.

20. This is naturally organic coffee from Colombia
but the small growers simply do not have the
wherewithal to cough up $500 to get USDA
certification.

21. Finding Organic
Coffee

22. Juan Valdez is a trademark of the Colombian
Coffee Growers Association.

23. It is also a brand name for organic coffee.

24. In my first attempts to find organic labeling on
coffee I found that I was irritating the good
people of Manizales by suggesting that
somehow their coffee was not as good as it is.

25. Then I went to the movies at the new
Fundadores mall. And there it was, a Juan
Valdez coffee kiosk adjacent to the theater
boasting several varieties of naturally organic
coffee from Colombia and in this case coffee
labeled with the USDA seal.

26. Nevertheless, I also found virtually unlimited
brands of naturally organic Colombian coffee at
the Exito supermarket in the same mall.

27. That is where I first ran across the Arabica
brand, Aguila roja from Cali, sello rojo which is
my brother-in-law’s favorite, Café Quindia from
the Corazon of Colombia and many others.

28. Bringing Coffee
Home from Colombia

29. And, of course, there is the issue of bringing
bags of coffee out of Colombia.

30. Fly out of Pereira or Bogotá and they will pin
prick your coffee so that both the dog and the
mechanical sniffer can check it out.

31. Leave from Manizales with your wife’s family
all around and the checkers are less likely to
insult the local folks by being overly intrusive
with your luggage or that of your wife.

32. For now, my supply of naturally organic
Colombian coffee is almost out so I will have to
do with Panama Mountain Grown Organic
coffee available here in Panama City, Panama
at the El Rey supermarket, naturally organic
coffee from Panama.

33. I am looking forward to next year and our trip to
see family in the Cafetero of Colombia.