Colombia is synonymous with coffee. So much so, that to those of us who live in the United States, Juan Valdez is a household name. That the clean, white-clad coffee farmer and his mule are fictitious is of little consequence. And though many in the northern Americas still think otherwise, coffee did not actually originate in Colombia – even if that highly successful advertising campaign led us to believe it did.
A decade ago, we spent a considerable amount of time in Colombia learning everything we could about coffee. Last year, we returned for a different reason – to learn about Colombian cacao. What we saw and the people we met, were every bit as exciting.