Join 24 baristas as they take part in a crash course on coffee production at the beautiful Café Tío Conejo in Caldas, Colombia.
COMPILED BY SARAH ALLEN
BARISTA MAGAZINE
Videos courtesy of Café Tío Conejo
Located in Caldas, Colombia, the specialty-coffee farm Café Tío Conejo hosted 24 coffee professionals—each of whom had won a Barista League competition in 2023 or 2024—for a week this past September for the Mystery Coffee Vacation 2024. (See page 34 of the December 2024 + January 2025 issue of Barista Magazine to see a photo essay about the trip.) This all-expenses-paid trip to Colombia was the baristas’ prize for winning their regional Barista League competition.
Participants traveled from Canada, Norway, Mexico, Australia, Spain, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, the United States, and from Bogotá, Colombia, to join the adventure that would see them harvesting and milling coffee, swapping brewing techniques, taking part in fun challenges, bonding in the back of Jeeps, and meeting the locals in Manizales. They were hosted by the warm, welcoming, and gregarious family that owns Café Tío Conejo: Ivanov Castellanos; his wife Ángela Suarez; their daughter, Emilia Castellanos; Ivanov’s mother, Esperanza Cardenas; and their extended family.
As Café Tío Conejo’s communications manager, Emilia decided to create a video series about the week, and it’s so cool, we wanted to share it with you here. Check out episodes number one and two about the Mystery Coffee Vacation 2024 below, and stay tuned over the next few days for the rest of them, which will be posted right here at Barista Magazine Online.
EPISODE ONE
EPISODE TWO
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