If you think of Colombia and picture green hills, morning mist, and coffee farms stretching to the horizon — you’re probably thinking of Quindío.
Right here, in the heart of the so-called Coffee Triangle, lies La Albania farm. Surrounded by banana trees and the shade of citrus groves, where the air smells of fermenting coffee pulp and the soil breathes in the moisture of the mountain climate. In a place like this, coffee isn’t a product — it’s daily life, a scent, and a ritual.
Quindío – Colombia’s green heart
The Quindío region, located in central-western Colombia, is one of the most recognizable places on the world coffee map. Since 2011, it has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site as part of the Coffee Cultural Landscape. Here, in the shadow of the Central Andes, coffee grows in volcanic soils, among tropical plants, in conditions ideal for slow, balanced ripening.
La Albania farm is located in the Calarcá province, at 1,380 m a.s.l., and belongs to Hernán Israel Oquendo Agudelo — a man who knows every stage of production. For two decades he has also run the Racafé station in Armenia, while his son Juan Pablo manages the farm day to day. Together they create a place where coffee has its space — but the people who grow it matter just as much.
On site there is a kitchen for workers, spaces to rest, and harvesting is done by hand, following the rhythm of the season. Alongside coffee, they grow plantains sold at local markets, and between the plots roam… turkeys. Yes, Israel has more than 30 of them — and each one has a name.
A flavor that tells a place
Colombia La Albania is a coffee that combines the clarity of washed processing with the richness of ripening in Colombia’s climate. In the aroma and cup you’ll find notes of:
- orange — sweet and juicy,
- pomegranate — lightly tart and fresh, with a hint of wine,
- blackberry — deep, forest-like, and intense,
- and brown sugar, tying everything together in a velvety finish.
This coffee is highly transparent, with fruity acidity and a silky body. It tastes best as filter coffee — V60, Kalita, Chemex — when you have a moment to slow down.
And if you still haven’t closed your eyes…
Imagine dawn on the farm in Calarcá… Moisture hangs in the air like a curtain. Somewhere in the background you hear workers laughing, pots clinking from the kitchen, and pickers’ footsteps moving through the plantains.
The hills carry the scent of fermenting coffee cherries, and the sun begins to light up the mist. This isn’t a place you can rush. Everything here has its own rhythm.
In that same rhythm, on the far side of Colombia, humpback whales return from July to February — to give birth, dive into the warm Pacific waters, and repeat the cycle. Maybe that’s why this coffee holds something of a return within it. Of a migration that leads to something familiar, yet always a little new.
Colombia La Albania — a coffee from Quindío that reminds us good things ripen in their own time. And that it’s always worth coming back.
