Tolima is located in the Andean region of Colombia, to the south-west of the country capital Bogota. The word ‘Tolima’ comes from the local indigenous language and means a “river of snow or cloud”. Coffee is grown along the mountain range that runs from the top to the bottom of the region. Due to immense size of this region, growing conditions change greatly in different areas. Therefore, coffee production is broken up into North Tolima; where generally speaking the main harvest is Sep-Dec, and South Tolima where the main harvest is in Mar-June.

Tolima has a colourful history, one that stretches back to a long history of indigenous civilisation, then to wars over Spanish colonisation, and more recently the infiltration by the guerrilla army, the FARC. In recent years the region has notoriously been a centre for the Colombian guerrilla army FARC, bringing violence to the region and meaning somewhat of a no-go zone for foreigners. Thankfully this has improved greatly in previous years and now is much safer to travel, allowing the great coffee of this region to be better explored and appreciated.

In harvest time cherries are hand-picked and pulped the same day before being left to ferment for between 18-30 hours. The wet parchment is then thoroughly washed to remove any remaining mucilage and lay out to dry on patios or raised beds that are open or covered.

Coffee is the leading agricultural activity in the region, followed by the production of beans and the rearing of cattle. These activities provide the most employment by a large margin, followed by government and local banking jobs.