History of Coffee - Venice 1616

By the year 1600 coffee had become the favorite drink of the Arab world, all the way from Constantinople to Cairo and from Damascus to Mecca.

Coffee was first introduced to Europe through Venice around the year 1616. It was natural that Venetians should first bring coffee to Europe due to their advanced commerce. Their fleets sailed every sea and visited all lands. From their great warehouses and supply yards, exports from the Levant, Africa and the Indies flowed into Europe.

Like the Arabians, the Italians first considered coffee a medicine, but not for long. Coffeehouses soon appeared, and by 1690, dozens of shops on the Piazza di San Marco of Venice served the coffee beverage.

The coffeehouse or caffé was the gathering place of the upper classes. Though the flourishing of the caffés could not compare with the luxurious coffeehouses of Constantinople or the Levant, throngs of merchants, lawyers, physicians, courtiers and nobles met to sip coffee and exchange tidbits of scandal and gossip.

“The most famous of the Venetian caffés was the Caffé Florian, which was opened in 1720 by Floriono Francesconi”, narrates Professor Andres Uribe, in his book "Brown Gold", the amazing story of coffee.

Yours truly,

Mariano Ospina

History of Coffee - Constantinople 1660

Coffee had reached Turkey by the year 1660 and 10 years later the “Kaveh Kanes” (coffeehouses) were flourishing all over Constantinople.

The preparation of coffee had improved dramatically. By now, the dried and roasted coffee beans were pounded to dust with mortar and steeped in boiling water. When the liquid was half boiled it was strained through silk and decanted into earth pots. Portions were reheated and served flavored with cinnamon sticks or cloves, jasmine flowers or lemon peels and saffron in thin china cups.

The coffeehouse business flourished and musicians and dancers were hired to amuse their customers. “The “Kaveh Kanes” hummed with social, political and religious debates, while tambourines and violins made music”, narrates Professor Andres Uribe, in his book "Brown Gold", the amazing story of coffee.

Yours truly,

Mariano Ospina

History of Coffee - Turkey 1600

Coffee had reached Turkey by the year 1660. Coffee had become the favorite drink in the Arab world, all the way from Constantinople to Cairo and from Damascus to Mecca. There, the “Kaveh Kanes” (coffeehouses) were highly appreciated and flourishing.

The Governor of Mecca, spurred by the monks whose temples were empty, had been persuaded to prohibit the drinking of coffee and closing the coffeehouses.

The Governor had charged that coffee caused people to behave in a manner forbidden by religion, and the safest course was to judge it illegal. And so, the first indictment against coffee was drawn. The people of Mecca were forbidden to drink coffee and the coffeehouses were closed and the coffee beans in the warehouses were ordered burned. But a prompt and severe edict from the Caliph of Cairo reversed these orders.

“Coffee was enjoyed throughout the Arab world, and undoubtedly sampled by travelers from Europe long before it was introduced to the Continent”, narrates Professor Andres Uribe, in his book "Brown Gold", the amazing story of coffee.

Yours truly,

Mariano Ospina

History of Coffee - Mecca 1550

By the year 1550, the Governor of Mecca had prohibited the drinking of coffee and closed down all coffeehouses. But the friends of coffee were numerous. They all flaunted their vehement opposition to the Governor’s order and coffee drinking took place in secret until word of the suppression reached Cairo.

The Caliph, a fervent coffee lover, disapproved the edict of the Governor of Mecca and ordered the laws against coffee revoked. The coffeehouses, once again, opened their doors to an increased patronage who drank the coveted beverage in luxurious, richly carpeted lounges. Singers, dancers and storytellers again performed while the guests relaxed amidst banks of pillows.

“Throughout the cities in the Arab world, in the homes of rich and poor, coffee was consumed at all hours and it became a gesture of hospitality to offer coffee to friends, associates and visitors”, narrates Professor Andres Uribe, in his book "Brown Gold", the amazing story of coffee.

Yours truly,

Mariano Ospina

History of Coffee – Arabian Peninsula 1500

The story of coffee growing and drinking starts in the Horn of Africa, in Ethiopia, where the coffee tree probably originated in the province of Kaffa. Merchants took the beans into Yemen and Arabia, through the great port of its day, Mocha.

Coffee was certainly being cultivated in Yemen by the 15th century. Authorities actively encouraged coffee drinking and the first coffeehouses, called "kaveh kanes", were opened in Mecca. They quickly spread throughout the Arab world and became successful places where chess was played, business was conducted and music was enjoyed.

Yours truly,

Mariano Ospina

History of Coffee - France 1670

By 1669 coffee had reached the Paris of King Louis XIV, brought by Suleiman Aga, the Turkish Ambassador to France.

Louis XIV, besieged by a clamoring court, three ex-mistresses, a bankrupt nation and advanced gout, needed stronger beverages than coffee. He paid little attention to the new Ambassador. But Suleiman Aga wasted little time trying to woo the King for he was very successful with the nobility.

By 1670, when the Ambassador learned from the nobles that France was not concerned about the forthcoming movement of a Turkish army into southern Europe, his mission was successfully accomplished, and he departed for Constantinople, “leaving the French nobles thirsty for coffee", narrates Professor Andres Uribe, in his book "Brown Gold", the amazing story of coffee.

Yours truly,

Mariano Ospina

Pueblos del Café - Salazar, Colombia

The town of Salazar de Las Palmas, founded in 1583, is home to a people known for its courageous Indian and Spanish ancestors.

Salazar claims to have been the first coffee-growing town in Colombia, a claim that is not put in doubt. According to historians, the person who almost single-handedly introduced coffee, the product which would become so closely identified with the country, was the Jesuit priest Francisco Romero.

His method was direct and simple: upon hearing confession he would tell his flock to plant coffee beans as penance. Thus it was that coffee planting sprang up in all the towns of Colombia's province of North Santander, on the border with Venezuela.

The Colombian Architect and painter Fernando Turk Rubiano has painted a beautiful watercolor of this town. You can see his entire art collection at www.colarte.arts.co.

Yours truly,

Mariano Ospina

History of Coffee - Colombia 1835

The story of Ospina Coffee began in 1835 when Don Mariano Ospina Rodríguez, one of Colombia’s coffee pioneers, initiated his search for the best lands in which to grow coffee.

His vision was to produce a coffee of unrivaled flavor and quality. His destiny was to make history. In due time he established his first plantation in the lush mountains of Antioquia, and in 1857 he was elected President of Colombia.

The Ospina tradition of excellence thrives today with the release of our signature Ospina DYNASTY Coffee, Premier Grand Cru, Grand Reserve.

Truly yours,

Mariano Ospina

Pueblos del Café - Atánquez, Colombia

The town of Atánquez, in northeastern Colombia, sits at the piedmont of the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which soars to over 17,000 feet. The Kuankuanos, an Indian group that has survived until the present, live near the area on the Candela River.

Isolated from the region's urban centers, they work in small farms, cultivating sorghum, plantain, sugar cane and coffee. Some of the houses along the cobbled streets of Atánquez evidence pre-Colombian Indian features.

The Colombian Architect and painter Fernando Turk Rubiano has painted a beautiful watercolor of this town. You can see his entire art collection at www.colarte.arts.co.

Yours truly,

Mariano Ospina

History of Coffee – Europe 1669

By 1669 coffee had reached the Paris of Louis XIV, brought by Suleiman Aga, the Turkish Ambassador. His elaborate coffee parties brought a new exotic touch to the social life of Paris.

Isaac D'Israeli describes them in his Curiosities of Literature: "On bended knee, the slaves of the Ambassador, arrayed in the most gorgeous costumes, served the choicest mocha coffee in tiny cups of eggshell porcelain, hot, strong and fragrant, poured out in saucers of gold and silver, placed on embroidered silk doilies, fringed with gold bullion, to the grand dames, who fluttered their fans with many grimaces, bending their piquant faces -berouged, bepowdered and bepatched- over the new steaming beverage", narrates Professor Andres Uribe, in his book "Brown Gold", the amazing story of coffee.

Yours truly,

Mariano Ospina

Pueblos del Café - Jardín, Colombia

The town of Jardín is nestled in a fertile valley in the northern province of Antioquia. Amid coffee plantations, banana groves and flowering trees, Jardín -the Spanish word for garden- lives up to its name. Nowhere is it more exuberantly true than in its beautiful women and in the gorgeous colorful flowers that adorn the balconies and verandas.

The town's main square is decorated with a romantic cooling fountain, which is surrounded by ancient Spanish cobblestone streets. Jardín lives by and for coffee and the region's coffee growers believe their beans to be among Colombia's finest. The inhabitants of Jardín cherish coffee as it is the essence of their economic development and the soul of their beloved paradise on earth.

The Colombian Architect and painter Fernando Turk Rubiano has painted a beautiful watercolor of this town. You can see his entire art collection at www.colarte.arts.co.

Yours most truly,

Mariano Ospina

The Ospina Presidents – Mariano Ospina Pérez

Don Mariano Ospina Pérez was one of the founders the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia in 1927. The Second National Congress of Coffee Growers convened in Medellín in 1927. Two sons of Tulio Ospina Vasquez, Rafael Ospina Perez and Mariano Ospina Perez, were among the representatives of the province of Antioquia. As a result of this Congress, the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia was created.

He was later elected as General Director of the Colombian Coffee Federation in 1930 and he served in this position until 1934. Under his outstanding aegis, the Coffee Federation successfully consolidated the nation's coffee industry and, Colombia became the largest producer of premium Arabica coffee beans in the world. To that end, he also created the largest financial institution in the country (La Caja Agraria) to help meet the credit needs of coffee growers, and other small farmers and peasants.

Don Mariano Ospina Pérez was elected and sworn in as the 43rd President of Colombia in 1946 and he governed until 1950. His mayor accomplishments were the creation of the Social Security System, the Department of Labor and the Housing Authority, and the agrarian, labor and social reforms.

Yours most truly,

Mariano Ospina

Pueblos del Café - El Líbano , Colombia

The town of El Líbano was founded in the second half of the Nineteenth Century by a group of Antioquian coffee pioneers who set out from Manizalez, crossed the snow-covered Andean volcano and settled in a rich valley in the State of Tolima.

The Cedar trees inspired these educated settlers to name their village after Lebanon. Their agriculture-based economy was driven by coffee and cacao growing, and their prized Arabica and Mocha beans were exported directly to Europe.

By the turn of the Century, El Líbano was enjoying a golden age of prosperity. Chocolate factories were established, books and magazines were published and the town was included in the circuit of every theatre, music and dance company that came to Colombia.

The Colombian Architect and painter Fernando Turk Rubiano has painted a beautiful watercolor of this town. You can see his entire art collection at www.colarte.arts.co.

Yours most truly,

Mariano Ospina

History of Coffee - The Caribbean 1720

The billions of coffee trees which now produce more than half of the world's coffee production on the slopes and hills of Latin America are almost all descendants of one lone tree. With reasonable certainty, we can trace their genealogy back to a vigorous, young coffee plant which the Burgomaster of Amsterdam sent to Louis XIV in Paris in 1714. The monarch sent the coffee tree to the Royal Botanist whom planted it in the royal medical Jardin des Plantes.

On the West Indian Island of Martinique, was a captain of infantry named Gabriel Mathiew Desclieux, serving France at this time. He learned about the new coffee plant and its wonderful beverage from Dutch sailors who boasted of how the beans flourished in Java. He sought and received a furlough and set out for Paris, determined not to return until he possessed seedlings to plant in Martinique's fertile earth.

In May of 1723, Desclieux took ship to return to Martinique with a coffee tree which he carried in a solid chest topped with glass so the plant could be warmed by the sun. He planted seedlings in his estate and they multiplied with extraordinary rapidity. By 1727, hundreds of pounds of coffee seeds had been distributed and cultivation began all over the Caribbean islands and the Andes Mountains of South America.

Within forty-five years coffee farms flourished in Martinique and all over the West Indies. Millions of pounds of beans were sent to the coffee houses in France. Thus, coffee came to the New World guided by a man of purpose and vision.

Yours most truly,

Mariano Ospina

The Ospina Presidents - Mariano Ospina Rodríguez

Don Mariano Ospina Rodríguez was one of Colombia's earliest and most profoundly influential coffee pioneers and mavericks, with an outstanding entrepreneurial spirit, scientific knowledge and tenacity. His vision was to produce a coffee of unrivaled flavor and quality. His destiny was to make history.

In 1835 he began his quest in 18, seeking the best lands for growing coffee within the lush mountains of the province of Antioquia. In due time he successfully established his first coffee plantation on the rich and volcanic slopes of the town of Fredonia, where he pursued coffee growing with a scientific and macroeconomic approach.

A political leader and statesman, Don Mariano was one of the founders of the Conservative Party of Colombia. He became a Senator in 1849 and was elected President of Colombia in 1857.

With his vast knowledge and experience in the cultivation of coffee and agronomy, he devoted himself to promoting and teaching the growing of coffee to the farmers and peasants of Colombia. In 1880 he published his first textbook about coffee growing techniques and agro-industrial practices. The nation profited richly from Don Mariano's efforts and passion. His hard labor, vision and commitment substantially contributed to the development of coffee growing into Colombia's main export crop, forever transforming the nation's economy.

Yours most truly,

Mariano Ospina

Pueblos del Café - Salamina, Colombia

The town of Salamina, founded in 1826, sits on a Colombian mountain top. Lining its steep streets are some of the most beautiful examples of the Spanish architecture that the Antioquian colonizers devised for their new land.

Salamina is now preserved as a National Monument, filled with trees and outstanding works of bronze and iron. This coffee town is adorned with Moorish-influenced balconies, decorated with delicate wood filigree and Romanesque columns.

The Colombian Architect and painter Fernando Turk Rubiano has painted a beautiful watercolor of this town. You can see his entire art collection at www.colarte.arts.co.

Yours most truly,

Mariano Ospina

The Ospina Presidents, Pedro Nel Ospina

General Pedro Nel Ospina was born in the "Palacio de Gobierno" in 1858 during the time that his father Don Mariano Ospina Rodriguez was President of Colombia. He grew up in Guatemala, where his father pioneered coffee growing in Central America.

In 1892 he was elected to Congress and in 1901 he was appointed as Minister of Defense. He was later designated as the Colombian Ambassador to the United States and Belgium. In 1922 he was elected as the 36th President of Colombia.

During his administration the cultivation of coffee was greatly promoted and the highway and railroad systems were expanded to their highest level ever, contributing to a robust economic expansion.

Yours most truly,

Mariano Ospina

History of Coffee – Europe 1620

By the year 1620, coffee had reached Europe from Turkey. Coffee houses had become very popular in Venice and "Caffé Florian" was the most famous of all. Florian became the confidant of Venice's wellborn and prominent citizens. To his clients he was part diplomat, part social arbiter, part gossipmonger and part postmaster.

"Travelers departing from Venice left forwarding directions with him while visitors to the city called at the Caffé for a briefing on the drift of political currents and social affairs. He was the matchmaker for the best families, and the traveler seeking female entertainment could be certain that Florian's recommendations insured a fine evening's recreation", narrates Professor Andres Uribe, in his book "Brown Gold", the amazing story of coffee.

With best regards,

Mariano Ospina

Pueblos del Café – Sasaima, Colombia

The town of Sasaima existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish Conquerors. The Sasaima Indians, a tribe of the Panache Nation, lived where the town of the same name lies today, where the Andés drops down towards the Magdalena River.

By 1840, after the conquest and Spanish colonial times, Sasaima's development had been associated with agriculture. Its prosperity really began when great coffee and cacao plantations were established. Now a day, over 50,000 acres are devoted to these crops.

The Colombian Architect and painter Fernando Turk Rubiano has painted a beautiful watercolor of this town. You can see his entire art collection at www.colarte.arts.co.

With best regards,

Mariano Ospina

History of Coffee - Europe 1660

The success of coffee in Europe's rapidly booming cities resulted from the growing resentment against the effects of wine and beer. In England, France, Italy and Holland the coffee houses became an immediate threat to the saloons and bars.

Without the fear of intoxication, a gentleman could slake his thirst and fulfill his need for social and intellectual discussion. The literati, politicians, priests, courtiers and nobles began to patronize one or another of the coffee houses, which soon became the meeting places for their particular groups.

"By 1660, the coffee house was an institution in London and the beverage was sold all over the city. Four-pence tax was levied by the crown on every gallon of coffee sold," narrates Colombian Professor Andres Uribe, in his book "Brown Gold", the amazing story of coffee.

With best regards,

Mariano Ospina

Pueblos del Café - Oiba, Colombia

The old coffee town of Oiba, in eastern Colombia, was inhabited before the Spanish conquest by the Guane Indian tribe. They practiced a highly developed agriculture and they had built a most efficient and very sophisticated system of irrigation to water their crops.

On January 20, 1540, the famous Spanish conquistador Martin Galeano came upon the Guane village of Oiba. Today, the town's coat of arms embodies what its inhabitants hold most dear, a stalk of sugar cane and a coffee tree.

The Colombian Architect and painter Fernando Turk Rubiano has painted a beautiful watercolor of this town. You can see his entire art collection at www.colarte.arts.co.

With best regards,

Mariano Ospina

Ospina Dynasty Coffee

Ospina Coffee Company is proud to announce the release of Ospina Dynasty Coffee, Premier Grand Cru, Grand Reserve, to commemorate the Company's 175 Anniversary. To mark this significant occasion, we have created and developed a very unique and marvelous coffee, our Flag Ship, the Insignia and the Pride of the Family!

We were inspired during our 170 Anniversary and we have spent the last five (5) years in the research, development, cultivation, preparation and process perfection of this extraordinary coffee, Ospina Dynasty Coffee, Grand Reserve, our Signature Coffee.

The coffee cherries of Ospina Dynasty Coffee are extremely rare and unique. They are grown at the highest elevation possible, between 7,000 and 7,500 feet above sea level, and they have been carefully handpicked at their peak of ripeness, washed, fermented, sun dried and meticulously stored in oak barrels for 6 months. It takes the production of five trees per year to produce one pound of this extraordinary coffee.

To see these rare cherries, please go to our website www.ospinacoffee.com, 'The Process' tab, 'Photo Gallery', image No. 15. You will notice the bright golden cherries, one of a kind.

The annual production of Ospina Dynasty Coffee will be very LIMITED and we are only going to release 500 pounds for the first time. Initially, they will be offered in bulk, 5 lbs., 2 lbs. and 1lb. bags. The price per pound is $150.00, making it the world’s finest and most expensive coffee. Worth the try! Voila!

With best regards,

Mariano Ospina