Colombian Coffee Done Right: Where to go in Bogota

By  Harry

The first night Bruce and I were in Colombia, our cab driver stole our iPhone. The Colombians would call this “ Giving papaya.” If you leave papaya out, someone will take it (song inspiration for the video). In this case Bruce and I let our cab driver look at our iPhone for directions and he drove off with it. We looked and felt stupid. Despite this negative and violating experience, Chapinero, a neighborhood in Bogota, became one of our favorite places.

I stumbled upon Salvo Patria that night. Although it wasn’t the restaurant we were looking for at the time, I distinctly remembered liking the ambiance. The following Monday, we found Salvo Patria on “ Your Bogota,” not realizing that this was the restaurant I walked into the night of our thievery. This strange coincidence made Salvo Patria even more special. Sadly, they were closed on Mondays, but the owner, Juan-Manuel was kind enough to chat with us for a bit. Enchanted, we both decided we had to return the next day to eat and drink their coffee.

Juan trained as a barista in Melbourne, Australia. When he told me this, I knew the standards of this coffee would be even higher. Coffee in Colombia was simply a house drip. After every meal, coffee drinkers would have a small size coffee known as a “ Tinto.” Hopefully Juan’s example will spark a gourmet coffee culture that would truly showcase the complexity and nuances of the Colombian bean.

Starting with a Chemex-style pour-over-drip, we were able to really taste the fruit in the coffee. Most people don’t realize why people use the Chemex instead of a machine. The goal of a pour-over is to get people to really taste all the subtle notes of the bean. Drip machines often do a poor job of evenly distributing the water to the coffee. I didn’t know this myself until I tasted the difference between a pour-over and machine drip.

Hand picked beans, a menu of the day that is super local and high quality, and an affogato for dessert… what’s not to love? It even fit the hobo budget!

Salvo PatriaCra 4A # 57-28Chapinero, Bogota, Colombia