The history of coffee in Venezuela dates back to around 1730, when Capuchin missionaries brought the seeds from Brazil. From that moment on, coffee spread throughout the country, from east to west.
In Caracas, it was first planted in 1783-84 and the first cup was drunk in 1786 at the Blandin estate, which is now the Castellana and Country Club. Bartolomé Blandin's estate, which dates back to 1929, is today the home of the Country Club.
Coffee cultivation then expanded to the Aragua valleys, where it eventually displaced cocoa crops. It then spread to the Andes through Trujillo, Mérida and Táchira, and finally entered Colombia through Cúcuta.
Coffee cultivation became a major driver of the economy and contributed to the establishment of urban centers, roads and ports, such as the port of Maracaibo.
One of the most important settlements was Santa Cruz de Mora, in Mérida, where Calogero Paparoni established the Hacienda La Victoria as a large processing center. From there, coffee and cocoa were sent to the port of Maracaibo.
The peak of coffee exports occurred in 1919, when Venezuela was already among the top 3 coffee producers worldwide, with Germany/Europe being one of the main importers.
Despite the decline in exports, Venezuelan roasters continued to use the most prized varieties in blends such as Typica, Caturra and Bourbon, thanks also to a growing purchasing power that created a culture of good coffee in Venezuela.
After the 1950s, the oil industry began to gain importance, shifting labor to that sector and to the big cities. Although exports were reduced, certain individual initiatives were successful in what would be the beginning of quality coffees.
Caracas Blue, Cooperativa Quebrada Azul, Cooperativa Grano de Oro, Hacienda Carabobo, among others, are a few examples of initiatives that began the path towards quality.
Between 2005 and 2009, with price regulations, export regulations and expropriations, Venezuelan coffee disappeared definitively from the international scene. The little quality coffee that remained crossed the border into Colombia through unconventional means.
Today, there is no defined profile of the Venezuelan coffee cup, but a growing group of new entrepreneurs, with individual and institutional initiatives, have stoically persisted in the face of circumstances that today favor a rediscovery of Venezuelan coffee.
The need to open up the economy, a prolonged period of high prices, institutional initiatives such as the Specialty Coffee Association that promoted the change of the covenin standard and new groups with the capacity to export have allowed this new renaissance of Venezuelan coffee. In short, the history of Venezuelan coffee is long and complex, but its aroma and flavor remain incomparable.