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Bogotá · Colombia

Amor Perfecto

Since 1997 · Luis Fernando Vélez

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Overview

Luis Fernando Vélez was a dried-flower exporter when a 1992 trip to a London flower fair taught him to make coffee in a French press; back in Bogotá he renamed his gift shop Amor Perfecto, bought a roaster in 1997, and began quietly serving export-grade Colombian beans at a time when Colombian law restricted domestic sales to pasilla — coffee deemed too low quality to ship abroad. Vélez's lobbying contributed to the 2003 legal change that opened the Colombian domestic market to specialty coffee, and Amor Perfecto subsequently helped train Diego Campos, who in December 2021 became the first Colombian to win the World Barista Championship.

Known for

  • Recognized as Colombia's first specialty coffee brand and a key force behind the 2003 law opening the domestic market
  • First Loring SmartRoast in Colombia (35 kg, installed 2013); now operates two Lorings with combined ~1.27 million kg annual capacity
  • Trained 2021 World Barista Champion Diego Campos, the first Colombian to hold the title
  • Vélez proposed the World Barista Championship be held in a producing country, leading to WBC Bogotá 2011
  • 800+ points of sale across Colombia including major hotels, restaurants and grocery channels

Why it matters

Amor Perfecto is the most-cited modern origin story in Colombian specialty coffee: a single roaster's lobbying changed the legal framework that now allows roughly 1,200 Colombian roasters to operate domestically, where previously there were around 50. Vélez's roast-at-origin argument — that green coffee loses sugars and amino acids during long ocean transit — has become a recurring case study in coffee economics and sustainability discussions.

Production

destoning
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head roaster
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color sorting
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roaster machine
Two Loring SmartRoasts (first one a 35 kg machine installed 2013, the first in Colombia)
filter equipment
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cupping frequency
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roastery location
Bogotá, Colombia
espresso equipment
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annual volume tonnes
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Café

Carrera 4 #66-46, Chapinero (flagship); plus Carrera 11 #93a-43, Calle 72 #10-34, and Calle 134 #10 in Bogotá

Recognitions

  • Roastery of barista Diego Campos, World Barista Champion 2021
  • Repeatedly listed among the top 100 coffee roasters worldwide
  • Host roaster for the 2011 World Barista Championship (Bogotá), the first WBC held in a coffee-producing country

Sources

More roasters