Located in the north of South America is Venezuela , is a blessed earth for the sowing of the noble seed of coffee. In the plantations, big trees serve as homes to hundreds of migratory birds and provide the shade required for the bush of the coffee.
At one time, Venezuela ranked close to Colombia in coffee production, but in the 1960s and 70s, as petroleum turned Venezuela into the richest country in South America , coffee was relegated to the economic back burner. Today Venezuela produces less than one percent of the world's coffee, and most of it is drunk by the Venezuelans themselves. Now that petroleum has failed to bring lasting prosperity, the Venezuelan government is attempting to promote coffee growing and exporting again as a means of diversifying and stabilizing its economy.
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The best Venezuelan coffee comes from the far western corner of the country, the part that borders Colombia . Coffees from this area are called Maracaibos, after the port through which they are shipped, and include one coffee, Cucuta , that is actually grown in Colombia , but is shipped through Maracaibo . Coffees from the coastal mountains farther east are generally marked Caracas, after the capital city, and are shipped through La Guaira, the port of Caracas. |
Maracaibo Bridge |
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The best-known Maracaibo coffees, in addition to Cucuta , are Merida , Trujillo , and Tachira. Merida is the most distinctively Venezuelan and most likely to be found in specialty stores in the United States . Trujillo is rather lifeless, only a step above the cheap Brazilian coffees. Tachira and Cucuta are a group in themselves, since their rich acidity makes them resemble Colombian coffees. Regardless of market name, the best grade is Lavado Fino.
The most characteristic Venezuelan coffees, in surprising contrast to the neighbor coffees from Colombia , are strikingly low in acidity. At worst they are spiritless, at best
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| sweet and delicate.The finest, such as the Meridas, have |
Maracaibo oil well |
fair to good body and an unemphatic but pleasant flavor with hints of richness. Venezuelan, if you can find it, is a good coffee to balance sharply acid coffees in blends and a comfortable coffee drunk straight. |
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Bolivar Peak, Merida Venezuela |
The combination of the grain harvested in the Andean mountains, the central valleys and the coasts of the Caribbean sea , are in a rich unique mixture in aroma, flavour and body characteristic of the best coffee.
Surface, production and coffee regions of Venezuela
In the world two fundamental varieties of coffee exist, for the production and the consumption, which are: robust and Arabic. This last one is the one that takes place in Venezuela.
At the moment Venezuela counts as 220.000 h. in production of coffee, in which are seated 40.000 families around, for an average of 5,5 h.. per family. The physical productivity for surface unit is in the order of the 5,8 quintals for hectare.
The work of the coffee properties is carried out in an essentially handmade way, from the preparation of the land and sowing until the gathering of the grain. In the small parcels the manpower is mostly family and journeymen are only hired for the crop.
Harvests
Between the months of October and March, 94% of the crop is reached in Venezuela . The biggest production levels in general between the months of December and January. Regions like the oriental exist, where the crop pick extends until January and February.
