Colombian city claims world record as 13,800 meet for coffee

BOGOTA - A Colombian city claimed to set a world record on Friday after 13,800 people gathered in a town square for a cup of coffee, a feat designed to promote the beverage in a nation that grows the beans but consumes little.

The event was organised by local authorities in the eastern province of Boyaca and the farmer-funded National Federation of Coffee Producers in the world's biggest producer of smooth-tasting 'washed' arabicas. The organizers said they have submitted evidence of the event held in Boyaca's capital, Tunja, to Guinness World Records.

The Guinness website says the largest ever "coffee party" was in Jugendpark, Cologne, Germany, in August 2009, at which 8,162 participants were served an iced coffee drink.

Though Colombia produces some of the world's finest coffees, helped by cooler temperatures high in the Andes, per capita consumption is less than half than that in the United States and about a quarter of that of Scandinavia.