Food Tours · Tour

Fiambre Paisa, a Borrowed Poncho, and the Coffee Harvest

Four hours on a coffee farm outside Medellin, and the whole thing is done the artisanal way: you pick the cherries, you take part in the processing, and you help prepare the cup at the other end. Not a demonstration. Two details give it its character. The first is the outfit. Traditional paisa working dress is loaned to everyone for the day, which is either the most touristic thing on the itinerary or the most enjoyable, depending on how you take it. Everyone takes photographs; nobody regrets it. The second is lunch. Fiambre paisa is what coffee pickers eat in the field: the whole meal wrapped in a banana leaf and carried out to the plantation. Eating it where it belongs is different from eating it in a restaurant. The coffee tastings run through the day, with views over the valley that are the other thing people remember. Up to fifteen people, in English or Spanish, with round-trip hotel transfers, the guide, the plantation visit, the tastings, lunch and a coffee souvenir. Horseback riding is available for 40,000 Colombian pesos extra. Moderate fitness needed, and not recommended if you have knee trouble, walking difficulties, a spinal injury or a heart condition: farm terrain is steep and uneven.