When we speak of the first coffee in Caracas, we aren’t referring to a modern café or a 19th-century coffee house. We are talking about the very first steaming cup, whose aroma enchanted a privileged group of locals who watched, for the first time, the dark drops of freshly brewed coffee fall into fine porcelain.

Inspired by the famous essay by Arístides Rojas, “The First Cup of Coffee in the Caracas Valley,” let’s take a journey through our rich coffee history.

COFFEE ARRIVES IN VENEZUELA

Originally from the Ethiopian Empire, the coffee bean had a long journey before reaching Venezuela. Its first stops included Paris, the island of Guadeloupe, and French Guiana. Finally, in 1730, it crossed into Venezuela to thrive for the first time along the banks of the Orinoco River.

While Spanish missionaries are credited with bringing the plant through Brazil, some versions suggest the journey happened in reverse. Regardless, by 1760, regions like Aragua, Valencia, Coro, and Cumaná already had significant plantations.

The First Cup of Coffee in Caracas: AGRICULTURE AND THE GUIPUZCOANA COMPANY

In 1728, the Real Compañía Guipuzcoana was established in Caracas to control trade between Spain and Venezuela. While their main goal was to monopolize the cacao trade, they also exported cotton, tobacco, hides, and eventually, coffee.

At the time, Venezuelan agriculture was struggling. Wheat was plagued by pests, and cacao production was declining. However, coffee began to stand out due to its high price. In 1755, the first recorded export of Venezuelan coffee—156 pounds—left the port of La Guaira for Cádiz. At 4 reales per pound, it was valued at three times the price of cacao.

THE BLANDÍN FAMILY AND THE CHACAO ESTATES

In 1783, the same year Simón Bolívar was born, coffee trees arrived in the village of San José de Chacao, changing the region’s history forever. The most famous plantations belonged to:

• The Blandín Family: French immigrants (originally Blandain) who became fully integrated into Caracas society.

• Father Sojo: Bolívar’s great-uncle and a prominent musician.

• Father Mohedano: A beloved local religious figure.

Bartolomé Blandín, a lover of music and agriculture, turned the slopes of the Ávila Mountain into a lush coffee forest.

THE FIRST HARVEST

Initially, the coffee shrubs were treated as exotic decorative plants. It took two years for the owners to witness the miraculous blooming of white flowers that covered the branches. To these Europeans living in the tropics, the white blossoms looked like an unexpected snowfall.

While the trees grew, Father Sojo and Bartolomé Blandín hosted musical gatherings, introducing Caracas society to the quartets of Mozart and Beethoven. These friends decided that the first successful harvest would be celebrated with a grand event at Hacienda Blandín.

THE HISTORIC FIRST SIP

On a morning in late 1786, the Blandín family welcomed the elite of Caracas. The atmosphere was festive, decorated with the shields of France and Spain.

In the afternoon, guests were invited into a grand hall. In the center stood a large table decorated with porcelain vases containing small coffee shrubs and a stunning set of fine porcelain cups.

1. Don Blandín, Father Sojo, and Father Mohedano were the first to lift their cups.

2. As the notes of classical music filled the air, they took the first sip of Caracas-grown coffee.

3. The applause of the guests marked the beginning of a coffee culture that would define the city for centuries.

Today, coffee remains more than a drink; it is a legacy of history, music, and the aromatic spirit of Caracas.