The department of Tolima is located in the Andean region of Colombia, to the south-west of the country capital Bogota. The word ‘Tolima’ comes from the local indigenous language and means a “river of snow or cloud”. Coffee is grown along the mountain range that runs from the top to the bottom of the department. Due to the great length of this range in the department, growing conditions change greatly in different areas of the department. That is why coffee production is broken up into North Tolima; where generally speaking the main harvest is Sep-Dec, and South Tolima where the main harvest is in Mar-June. 

Tolima has a colourful history, one that stretches back to a long history of indigenous civilisation, then to wars over Spanish colonization, and more recently the infiltration by the guerrilla army, the FARC. It was first the Panches that inhabited the territory, an indigenous tribe known for being fierce warriors who fought with other indigenous groups over emerald mining territories. Upon the arrival of the Spanish in the region in 1537 under the command of Sebastian de Belalcazar, the Panches fought and succumbed to the Spanish at the Battle of Tocarema. Spanish colonisation in what is known today as the city of Ibague, forming a link between the cities of Bogota and Cali.

In recent years the region has notoriously been a centre for the Colombian guerrilla army FARC, bringing violence to the
region and meaning somewhat of a no-go zone for foreigners. Thankfully this has improved greatly in previous years and
now is much safer to travel, allowing the great coffee of this region to be better explored and appreciated.
Coffee is the leading agricultural activity in the region, followed by the production of beans and the raising of cattle.