The Colombian Coffee Region, or Zona Cafetera, is one of the country’s most beautiful, accessible, and welcoming corners. This was my first real introduction to this lush part of Colombia, and it didn’t take long to see why so many visitors fall for it. Anchored by the Western Andes “trifecta” of Pereira, Manizales, and Armenia, the region is a landscape of green mountains, small farms, winding rivers, and a pace that feels noticeably gentler than Cartagena, Bogotá, or Medellín.
More precisely, Pereira sits in the Central Cordillera, in the Otún and Cauca river valleys, forming the classic coffee triangle that is easy to explore over an eight-day trip. It is a region that invites you to settle in, taste slowly, and let the landscape do some of the work, whether you’re hiking, riding horses, soaking in thermal baths, or focusing on culinary activities – it is food tourism at its best.
The easiest way into the region is a short flight from Bogotá, Medellín or Cartagena into Pereira, and the approach alone is worth it. As you cross the Andes, the mountains open into patchworks of coffee farms and emerald valleys, and the region unravels beneath you. My own stay was shorter, too short, I might add, but it was intensely flavour-driven: three days focused on the rich tastes of fruit, coffee, and cacao. You could build an entire trip around those three flavours alone, and if you want to lean further into the experience, Colombia’s rum makes a very fine addition to the story.
Fruit Tasting at Hacienda San José
Our short flight from Cartagena landed us in the Andean cool of the Zona Cafetera, and we were ready to dive into the flavours of the region. From the airport, we went straight to Hotel Hacienda San José, a colonial estate just outside Pereira that immediately felt like the right kind of introduction to this agrarian area deeply historic, unhurried, and rooted in the lush countryside.
The hotel hacienda itself, built in 1888, blends traditional coffee-region architecture with lush green surroundings, old trees, shady courtyards, and quiet pathways that make it easy to forget the rest of the world. Walking the grounds, enjoying the sitting room and admiring the tranquil blue pool, it was easy to imagine staying longer than just a day. This is after all a hotel and event space.
Our fruit‑tasting workshop was led by Adriana Jaramillo from I.am.Colombiano, whose warmth and curiosity turned what could have been a simple snack sampling into a full‑sensory orientation to the fruits of Colombia. The tasting was the heart of the experience: more than 30 seasonal fruits, each one brightly coloured and bursting with juice, were grouped together to help us understand the varieties within the same families.
We tasted the much loved passiflore group, collectively known as passion fruits (including gulupa, maracuya, granadilla and curruba ). They are often consumed as fresh juices made with water or milk, or cooked into an array of jams, sweets, and chutneys. The sweetened guava paste is paired with savoury cheese in a bocaillo & queso. I was pleased to see a variety of Colombian products using more than one fruit to create delicious jams!
In her excellent English, Adriana encouraged us to: smell the fruit, savour the texture in our mouths, compare the sweetness, and let the tastes of the region sink in. One of the most interesting experiments was to try the slices of fruit with salt. What may have been sour or bitter, changed dramatically. This was often suggested throughout my stops when tasting fruits (and even rum) in Colombia. By the time we left Hacienda San José, the sun was setting in a spectacular pink glow, a day of tasting, and learning. This was a perfect ending and a promising start to our journey in the Zona Cafetera.
Coffee Tasting: A Three‑Hour Lesson in Craft
Our coffee experience began with a visit to a traditional coffee plantation just outside Pereira, where the rolling hills of the Zona Cafetera gave way to rows of coffee plants and the farm life. The three‑hour guided tour at the Finca Don Manolo, led by coffee expert Santiago López, took us deep into the world of Colombian coffee, from planting and harvesting to drying and roasting.
The workshop felt more like a focused, detailed conversation than a rushed overview. Don Manolo walked us through everything: the different varieties of coffee, how the plants are spaced in the hills, the careful hand-picking of the beans, and the slow, air‑drying process that can take days. He explained the labour‑intensive nature of the work, the way each step matters, and why the region’s reputation for quality is earned rather than assumed. The whole process felt deliberate and respectful of the land, and the scale of the work was clear: coffee may seem simple in a cup, but it is anything but simple to produce.
After the walkthrough, we sat down for a tasting session that put theory into practice. We tried several different roasts, and our guide showed us how each one demands a very specific brewing method – whether drip, pour‑over, or espresso – to reveal its best flavours. The range of tastes surprised me: bright citrus notes, deep chocolatey tones, and everything in between. The three‑hour timing meant the workshop was immersive rather than rushed, and by the end, the coffee on my hotel table at home would feel like a quiet nod back to that afternoon in the hills.
Cacao and Cooking at Hacienda Maracay
The Cacao Sanint Nature Experience at Hacienda Maracay felt like the sensory and emotional heart of the trip, the place where everything we’d tasted so far – fruit, coffee, and rum – came together. The finca is owned and run by Alejandra Sanint, whose warm, grounded presence made the whole experience feel personal rather than staged.
She began the day with a short cooking class focused on traditional Colombian baked goods made from corn, cassava, and other local ingredients – recipes with indigenous roots that have been passed down through generations. The “Amasijos experience” meant starting completely from scratch: grinding the corn, kneading the dough, and shaping our own arepas and empanadas, each one a little more textured and human‑made than the last.
As the kitchen warmed up, we gathered around a table for a traditional breakfast that turned our own work into celebration. The spread included arepas served with guacamole, fresh cheese, and hogao (Colombian creole sauce), plus the empanadas we had just shaped, and savouring chorizo for those who wanted a bit more bite.
There were also seasonal fruits and hot chocolate to round out the meal. Alejandra and her assistants set out a buffet of condiments – guacamole, ají, and small bowls garnishes – that let us customise each bite and watch how the textures and heat played with the corn and crisp pastry. Eating food we had helped make, surrounded by the quiet green of the finca, felt like a quiet nod to the region’s culinary roots.
After breakfast, the cacao-making portion of the day began in earnest. One of Alejandra’s assistants walked us through the process of turning cacao into silky chocolate, explaining how each step needed to be done by hand: the beans must be dried, cracked, and ground with care, and the whole operation is slow and physically demanding.
Our guide started showing us the colourful cacao pods – soft, milky-skinned, with the beans nestled in the middle – and got to taste them, which revealed a surprising sweetness and creaminess before the beans even became chocolate paste. The assistant then showed us how the beans are dried and sliced to reach the nibs, the stage where the chocolate starts to become a powder, and emphasized again just how labour‑intensive this work is.
Finally, we moved to the chocolate-making station. The assistant melted the cacao, poured it into moulds, and invited us to customize our chocolate bars by adding pistachios, dried corozo berries, raisins, peanuts, a pinch of salt, and other garnishes of our choice. Each one of us got to take home a large, personalized chocolate bar, a tangible reminder of the farm and the hands that had turned the pods into something sweet and solid.
The whole experience – the dough under our fingers, the warmth of the kitchen, the milky taste of the cacao, and the click of the moulds closing – felt like a quiet, tactile map of the region, one bite at a time. By the time we left Hacienda Maracay, the cacao, the coffee, the arepas, and the empanadas had become less like souvenirs and more like a culinary story of the place.
Rum Tasting at Hotel Boutique Sazagua
The rum tasting at Hotel Boutique Sazagua was one of the most enjoyable experiences of the trip. The hotel offers several workshops – fruit, coffee, Colombian cooking class, and rum – but we opted for the Colombian Rum Tasting Experience, drawn by the idea of ending the day with something distinctly local.
Set on the hotel’s outdoor patio and surrounded by nature, the tasting felt intimate and relaxed. Our guide, Juan Pablo Vásquez – chef and general manager – brought both expertise and energy, walking us through the origins, production, and traditions behind each rum before leading the tasting.
Each variety had a distinct character, from bright and spicy to rich and caramel-toned. My favourite was La Hechicera, matured in white oak casks infused with bourbon. Produced on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, it was exceptionally smooth.
What elevated the experience was the thoughtful food pairings. We sampled rums alongside blue cheese, chocolate, bocadillo with mini bananas, chicharrón, and fresh mango. Each combination revealed something new – the cheese softened sharper notes, chocolate deepened the richness, and fruit added brightness, while the chicharrón brought a satisfying salty contrast.
Juan Pablo kept the energy high and the mood light, turning what could have felt like a formal class into something playful and relaxed. He encouraged us to slow down, savour each sip, and notice how the flavours evolved. The result was a tasting that felt both educational and indulgent, without ever becoming formal. His detailed explanations and easy humour meant we were all leaning in, asking questions, and genuinely enjoying the process. By the end of the evening, the atmosphere was warm and convivial. Staying on property made it even better – no need to travel, just a quiet walk through the gardens back to our room, a perfect close to the day.
My Overall Recommendation
Go. Visit Colombia but go beyond Bogota and Cartagena. After three days in and around Pereira, organized by BnB Colombia Tours, what stayed with me most wasn’t the views, the hikes, or even the ease of travelling the region. It was the way fruit, coffee, cacao, and rum wove itself into the story of Colombia, turning each day into something more like a shared culinary experience than a checklist.
If you’re going to visit the Colombian Coffee Region, make space for more than pretty photos and quick stops. Build in time for these kinds of slow, hands-on experiences – tasting, cooking, learning, and sharing – because that’s where the real character of the place lives. For me, this short trip didn’t just feel like a taste of Colombia; it felt like a reminder that the best way to understand a place is often the same way you understand a good meal: by living it, rather than just watching it go by.
Disclosure: Margarita was a guest of ProColombia and BnB Colombia Tours. Part of a post conference trip, she visited the region with numerous other travel writers and journalists. All opinions are her own.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Do you ever plan a travel experience around something other than famous cities and sights? What about food, local tastes and fruits – would that excite you?
