A new coffee producer in the Colombian coffee town is in harvest season.

Angel Maria Orozco, a coffee grower with key cards, uses a pestle to peel off the hard shells of sun-dried coffee beans. Photograph: Francisco Lastrucci (Francesco Lastrucci)

However, coffee is not native to Colombia, but it has been grown here for hundreds of years, and the steep mountains are shaded by trees, combined with the right precipitation, height and temperature. it is an ideal place to grow round, medium-sized Arabica beans. Colombia has been exporting coffee beans since the early 19th century, with sales reaching 840000 tons in 2015 alone. Caf é de Colombia, a well-known brand of Columbia Coffee (Caf é de Colombia) with his capable donkey Conchita, and the image of Juan Valdez and Donkey in its advertisements have long been famous in southwestern Colombia's famous "Coffee Triangle" (coffee triangle), driving a popular tourist route as an alternative to luxury resorts and planned plantation tours. And the Sierra Nevada route is a journey through the past and the present, allowing visitors to get a glimpse of the past and taste the upcoming Colombian coffee. In remote upland areas, indigenous tribes Koji and Alvako are leading the way in the cultivation of organic coffee, with a sustainable system that combines traditional spiritual beliefs with modern knowledge of cultivation. These estates have skills and tools handed down from generation to generation, and the organic coffee beans are highly sought after, with triple certification of organic food, fair trade and rainforest friendliness.

There is a bumper harvest of organic coffee beans in northern Colombia. Photograph: Francisco. Lastrucci.

Menka's plantations may be reminiscent of decades ago, but the local Kogi Farm (or the more remote Alvako farm) is hidden deep in the mountains, a journey to hundreds of years ago. The tribe lived in primitive brick houses with no electricity, and the roof was covered with thatch. They often carry their mochila (a hand-woven backpack) and wear hand-woven white cotton-padded clothes (white symbolizes the purity of nature). Their traditional conical hats represent the sacred snow-capped mountains. Their mamos (their spiritual guide) performs cleansing rituals, prayers and songs before sowing and harvesting.