The king of coffee in exile Pet jaguars, prison escapes and a tragic kidnapping:

The king of coffee in exile Pet jaguars, prison escapes and a tragic kidnapping: How a world coffee baron came to Charlotte Jeff Elder

oday you're having coffee with Mariano Ospina.

Oh no, no, no. You will not be dashing into Starbucks for a cardboard cup. You will not slurp through a little hole in a plastic lid.

That's the American version of coffee.

The scion of Colombia's most famous coffee family does not dash. He does not slurp.

Ospina, 54, wears a mane of salt-and-pepper hair and the beard of a king. He invites you to sit in a booth of a restaurant in Charlotte's Elizabeth neighborhood. He gently eases pressure upon the plunger on a French press coffeepot, brewing his family's $70 a pound coffee.

And he begins to tell you stories. Stories as warm and colorful as his homeland. Stories that include lines like:

• "We had pet jaguars, and a 1,000-acre ranch filled with fruit trees and many varieties of orchids. It was paradise."

• "My great-great-grandfather, the former president of Colombia, was sentenced to death by his enemies and locked in a tower. My great-great-grandmother brought him a pot of coffee with little saws hidden in it."

• "I begged my little brother not to go back. The country was too dangerous. That was the Christmas of 1991. I never saw him again."

The coffee he pours tastes like no coffee you have ever had before. There is no acidity at all. That bite in the back of your mouth that you have always associated with coffee is simply not there. Instead, there is a sweet aftertaste of berries. It is like drinking wine.

"Here, you need a little more cream," he says. "Allow me."

He pours a splash more cream into your coffee. Who on earth would presume to do that? Perhaps only the leader of a great coffee family. And he's right: You did need more cream.

Today you will drink three cups of Ospina Coffee. Don't worry: It's not very caffeinated, just delicious. Three cups for the three stories he will tell you. Stories titled The Coffee, The Family, The Tragedy.

The Coffee

Ospina is the oldest coffee purveyor in the world. Ospina's great-great-great-grandfather, Mariano Ospina Rodriguez, started it in 1835. His face, laureled by a long white beard, is on the box of the company's finest coffee.Ospina's great-grandfather founded Colombia's National Federation of Coffee Growers, a global coffee powerhouse, the Starbucks of its day. He wrote a well-researched and documented book on the production, roasting and exporting of coffee. It would revolutionize the industry and pave the way to making coffee a worldwide drink.

"Coffee in Colombia was traditionally grown by very small farmers," says Harvard Professor June Erlick, author of the book "Una Gringa en Bogotá." She says the Ospinas helped to change the way the world viewed coffee. "The Ospina family was the first, or certainly one of the first, to see coffee as a larger crop and business."

Ospina's grandfather created the character Juan Valdez, the TV pitchman who, with his burro, came to symbolize gourmet coffee from Colombia.

Five years ago, Ospina realized that his family had not directly marketed the Ospina name, the legacy, the gourmet traditions of its brand. "Every product has its leader, a standard-setter. With watches, it is Rolex. I wanted people to know, if you are drinking our coffee, you are a connoisseur."

It's not cheap. A gift box of two 12-ounce bags of Ospina beans costs $100. The company's modest product, its Bambuco beans, costs $14 for a 12-ounce box.

The coffee is extraordinary. The Robb Report, the luxury catalog of the world's very best things, named Ospina's Presidential Coffee the best in the world.

The Family

In Colombia, where coffee is king, the Ospinas are presidents. Three of Ospina's ancestors led the nation. "They are the real deal," says Harvard's Erlick. "A household name. A conservative dynasty, like the Bushes."

"Maybe a little more," says Ospina, smiling gently. "We have three presidents."

You can tell his stories are about to get supernaturally wonderful -- and perhaps a bit exaggerated -- because Ospina smiles and pours you a second cup. Are there details in these stories that are a little ... more than true? Not the main facts, like the presidencies. But, perhaps, the orchids are a little extra colorful, the romantic heroics especially daring. Well, after all, whose family stories are bare facts?

Ospina's great-great-grandfather was elected president in 1857. Later, this president's liberal enemies sentenced him to death, and locked him in a tower of the nation's Alcatraz.

"But my great-great-grandmother brought him a pot of coffee with little saws inside. In Colombia, you could always bring a prisoner some coffee.

" `What is in that pot of coffee?' the prison guard demanded. And my great-great-grandmother fainted, to create a diversion."

The president sawed his way through the bars, knotted his sheets together and climbed down from the tower to freedom.

Later, his son Pedro Nel Ospina was elected as the nation's president in 1922. Ospina's grandfather, Mariano Ospina Perez, was elected president in 1946 -- a tumultuous time even for Colombia. Two years later communists revolted, throwing the nation into chaos. "The streets were in flames," Ospina says.

Rebels came to the door of the nation's White House. "My grandmother, Doña Bertha, strapped on two revolvers, like a cowboy, and met them at the door. `You will come in over my dead body.' From then on, she was known as La Heroina, The Heroine.' "

Doña Bertha, La Heroina, was the first lady of Colombian politics, a famous senator. Ospina expected to take over her seat in the Senate. But that plan changed when an idyllic childhood led to an adulthood irrevocably changed by a shocking death.

The Tragedy

It is time for our third cup, which begins so sweetly. "We children each had a dog, and a horse. I had two horses," Ospina says. "And every day after school, we would ride into the fruit trees and play. I was the oldest, and I would pull my baby brother, Lisandro, up onto my horse in front of me."The children at school told Ospina he was the richest boy in all of Colombia. It could well have been true. He grew up on a 1,000-acre hacienda. "We would eat fruit off the trees. We had 5,000 varieties of orchids. We had pet jaguars and monkeys and parrots and iguanas."

It is always dangerous for a wealthy family in Colombia. "Kidnappings, unfortunately, are very common," says Erlick of Harvard.

Ospina came to the United States to do his graduate studies. He planned to return and serve in the Senate. Is there a chance he could've been president today? He smiles in a sad way.

"It is possible."

While Ospina was studying in Florida, an assassination of a beloved leader and the Medellin cartel's rise made Colombia a very dangerous place. With small children, he decided to stay in the United States until his homeland became safer.

Lisandro had finished his graduate studies at MIT. His fiancée, his novia, was back in Colombia, and he was headed home to get married.

"I felt this was very unsafe. I asked him not to go. On December 16, 1992, he was kidnapped.

"On March 31 of the next year, he was killed."

The family negotiated with the kidnappers, breaking the law. The negotiations reached an agreement. Lisandro was due to be released.

A government SWAT team stormed the house, killing the kidnappers. Lisandro was found chained to a bed. His captors had executed him during the raid.

"It was very, very painful," Ospina says, looking at the picture of his brother that he carries in his wallet. "We were very close.

"I have never returned to our family home. I cannot."

You've finished your third cup of Ospina coffee. The only cup of this wonder-filled brew with any bitter aftertaste.

Ospina stands up to say goodbye. He holds out a package, offering you the $100 gift box of his coffee. No, thank you. You can't possibly accept it.

"Please," he says.

And you realize that he is offering to share more than his coffee. He is offering his richly colorful stories, his legacy and his family.

His is offering the memory of his little brother, safe and smiling, riding in front of him on his horse, through the warm sunshine and the flowering fruit trees of his youth.

Where to get Ospina Coffee

You can buy Ospina's least expensive product, Bambuco roast, at Harris Teeter stores. You can also buy Ospina coffees at Earth Fare stores, Chateau Elan Winery and Resort and online at www.ospinacoffee.com. T

By DodgerDogs on Mar 16, 2008, 03:40 in Friendly Talkzone.

DodgerDogs says on Mar 16, 2008, 03:49:

Bump
coffee

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

rocinante says on Mar 16, 2008, 06:38:

Juan Valdez is in exile?

Colombia Mike: I don't usually read cut and paste articles (and yours is no exception) where the author has nothing to contribute - no opinion. Can't you comment on the article you read citing specific quotes, ya know offer an opinion and then post a link to the article? I guess that is asking too much.

"World economic indicators point to a democrat winning 2008. It will surely be Obama. Peso 1400 by November" Feb 5, 2008

poco says on Mar 16, 2008, 09:45:

Quote: Colombia Mike: I don't usually read cut and paste articles (and yours is no exception) where the author has nothing to contribute - no opinion.

DodgerDogs posted the article.

BTW: I liked the gif image. Saved as coffee03.gif

"Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent" - Isaac Asimov

DodgerDogs says on Mar 16, 2008, 10:42:

Rocinate:
Juan Valdez is in exile? Juan Valdez is not the Coffee king.

Colombia Mike: I don't usually read cut and paste articles (and yours is no exception) where the author has nothing to contribute - no opinion. Can't you comment on the article you read citing specific quotes, ya know offer an opinion and then post a link to the article? I guess that is asking too much. ??????????

I have no idea who you are, and I pasted the articule as I found it a interesting as part of Colombian history. The person mentioned above " Ospina " comes from a long line of politcally famous Colombians.

As per colombia mike , I have no clue where what are how.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

Mr. Hollywood says on Mar 16, 2008, 10:50:

Rocinante, with all due respect, what's up with demanding that other folks share their opinions if they don't want to?

I really enjoy when articles like the one above are posted here and value having all the extra eyes of the PBH community looking for them.

poco says on Mar 16, 2008, 11:26:

Quote: I really enjoy when articles like the one above are posted here and value having all the extra eyes of the PBH community looking for them.

I've don't mind and it is probably necessay as a group reference point. Many times I keep the topic open along in one tab or browser windown while viewing related information.

I don't like large cut and pastes in the middle of a post.

Personally, I would make some minor comment like"
Another example of Juan Six Pack making inroads into colombias drinking habits.

"Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent" - Isaac Asimov

sloopskipper says on Mar 16, 2008, 13:38:

Juan Six-Pack? OMG!

The PBH police will descend upon you.

poco says on Mar 16, 2008, 14:53:

Good ole Juan is quite popular.

Where was that anyway ?

Oh,, La Victoria in Perira, I bet this is why coffee is sold by the Jug and beer comes in six packs.

"Violence is the first refuge of the incompetent" - Isaac Asimov

DodgerDogs says on Mar 16, 2008, 15:19:

Juan drinks too much coffee.
Juan Valdez

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.Martin Luther King:

sloopskipper says on Mar 16, 2008, 15:43:

Oh? No cerveza?