We discover certainly one of Medellín’s first distinctiveness stores, which brings espresso immediately from farms all over Colombia.
BY MICHAELA TOMCHEK
SPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE
Pictures via Michaela Tomchek
Huge mountain landscapes, wealthy jungles, bustling towns, and a powerful presence within the espresso business—Colombia is an impressive gem, with its microclimates and noteworthy towns. Bogotá is sublime, sprawling, and sumptuous with numerous meals, towering mountains, and historical past.
Mission to Medellín to look a singular and inventive Colombian town, which hosts famend artists, rappers, and now a scorching clubbing scene. There also are some actually very good cafés serving espresso when the solar is out and the golf equipment are closed.
Pergamino and the Echavarria Circle of relatives
One café could be the first of its type, converting the way in which espresso was once served on this touristy town. Pergamino has a selection of specialty-coffee stores all over Medellín, together with two small cafés on the airport. They know espresso, and it displays whilst you seek advice from any in their stores.
The Echavarria circle of relatives started rising espresso just about 40 years in the past within the Antioquia area of Colombia. They started with one farm and shortly grew to run 4 farms and each rainy and dry generators. Their paintings additionally unfold to improve smallholder manufacturers in Colombia, helping them with processing, agronomic recommendation, and get right of entry to to world markets. Their group, Café de Santa Bárbara, works with those manufacturers, and is helping marketplace the espresso to roasters international. You might have even sipped on certainly one of their coffees within the U.S.; Onyx Espresso Lab is certainly one of their primary shoppers.
Pedro Echavarria runs the farms and the entire endeavor this is Pergamino now that his father, additionally Pedro, has retired. His brother Nicolas works with him full-time. Camilo, his different brother, is an artist and likewise assists with the corporate. Pedro no longer most effective manages the circle of relatives farms, but in addition helps over 600 smallholder manufacturers all over Antioquia, Cauca, and Nariño, and runs the milling operations simply outdoor of central Medellín. He doesn’t do it on my own, although; he has a devoted crew that has helped make Pergamino the corporate it’s these days.
The Pergamino Cafés
In 2012, Pedro determined to open his personal distinctiveness café within the hip group of El Poblado. This store is full of other people from in every single place the arena, desperate to sip espresso or have brunch at the cool and breezy patio.
Lately, his imaginative and prescient has expanded to 5 Pergamino stores, each and every full of scrumptious espresso hailing from the Echavarria circle of relatives farm, and the numerous manufacturers they paintings with. Every week, Pedro and his crew are busy visiting the cafés, spending time on the mill, cupping coffees, or touring to look manufacturers.
Along with its espresso, Pergamino’s cafés be offering a flavorful meals menu starting from Aussie favorites like avocado toast and smoothie bowls to tasty sandwiches and pastries. My favourite was once the café in Laureles, probably the most more moderen spots. It feels as although you’ve walked into an previous lodge within the Nineteen Fifties. The sublime décor, picket partitions, and mild lighting fixtures all make for a beautiful spot to drink espresso. The graphics are delicately displayed all over the café, which is in part outdoor, full of timber, cushy mint inexperienced chairs, and complicated tilework. An upstairs space the place you’ll sit down, learn, paintings, and watch automobiles go via rounds out the distance.
Proceeding the Paintings
Pergamino has put a lot care and willpower no longer most effective into their espresso and their cafés, but in addition into the improve they supply to manufacturers all over Colombia. They keep growing, innovate, and seek for new shoppers all over the arena. And, you’ll revel in a last cup or purchase yet one more bag of tasty beans on the José María Córdova World Airport earlier than departing for house.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michaela Tomchek reveals espresso the most important a part of existence and the arena. She is an appreciator of the crop, the manufacturer, and the numerous cafés all over the arena serving gorgeous drinks. Lately, she writes about espresso, hoping to unfold her pleasure around the globe.
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