Historia – English - Expériences colombiennes

A 300-Year History

AM OR Café, a journey of passion.

The Legacy: From Sacrifice to Consecration

It all began in 1723, when French naval officer Gabriel de Clieu carried the first coffee seedling to the Americas. On a heroic voyage, De Clieu shared his own water ration to keep the young plant alive. By 1730, those seeds had reached the slopes of the Colombian Andes, where volcanic soil and ever-present clouds created the smoothest, most aromatic coffee on the planet.

The Return: The Dream of
María Paula Ardila Pinto

Three centuries later, the cycle comes full circle. Anyone who thinks the social sciences are far removed from the land and the hearth forgets that humanity transforms itself in the pursuit of new rituals and flavors. That is why the great masters of flavor are, above all, storytellers, scholars of the social sciences, and travelers.

La Maison: A Treasure in Fontainebleau

In the heart of the royal town, at 56 Rue Aristide Briand, you'll find our Maison de Dégustation. An intimate space designed so that Bellifontains, visitors to the Château, climbers from the forest, walkers, artists, INSEAD students, and guests from across the Fontainebleau region can enjoy a full immersion in coffee culture, savoring the finest French coffee, roasted by María Paula with the best Colombian beans.

Education

That is where AM OR Café was born. María Paula understood that her true calling was tied to the magic of selecting and roasting this bean; that through her work, every cup enjoyed helps a family defeat poverty and violence. After training as a barista and roaster, she now selects exceptional beans from coffee farms to roast them in Paris and give them a place in the world, in Fontainebleau.

Under her expert hand, 100% Colombian coffee rises to new heights with French mastery, roasted in artisanal micro-batches of just 20 kilos. This is how our three signature blends are born: Colibrí, Tapir and Tatou.

Education

Trained in Political Science, she came to France to pursue her master’s degree in Development of Vulnerable Populations, driven by the social sensitivity of someone seeking paths for communities to thrive. Alongside her father, her father’s wife, and the Transformemos Foundation —bringing education to populations ravaged by war and violence— María Paula discovered the magic of the 560,000 families who produce the world’s finest coffee across Colombia’s three mountain ranges. The architects of a beautiful, peaceful revolution that has defeated poverty.