Where is coffee grown around the world?
In the coffee belt between the 23rd parallel north and the 25th parallel south around the equator. The largest producing countries are Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia, and Ethiopia.
Why that matters
The coffee plant needs a tropical to subtropical climate: year-round temperatures between 18 and 25 °C, 1,500–2,000 mm of annual rainfall, and no frost risk. These conditions are found in a belt around the equator — the so-called coffee belt. Over 70 countries grow coffee there.
The distribution is anything but even. Brazil alone produces roughly a third of the world’s coffee — mainly Arabica from the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Vietnam follows as the second-largest producer, dominated by Robusta. Colombia is known for high-quality washed Arabica. Ethiopia, as the birthplace of coffee, offers the greatest genetic diversity. Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi) produces both Arabica and Robusta.
In Central America, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica are important growing countries with a strong specialty coffee tradition. In East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda deliver coffees with distinctive fruit acids. In Asia, India and Myanmar are gaining significance alongside Vietnam.
Each origin country has its own flavour profile — shaped by soil, altitude, climate, varieties, and processing methods. A Brazilian coffee tastes fundamentally different from a Kenyan one, even though both are Arabica. That diversity is precisely what makes specialty coffee so versatile.
At Green Wall Coffee
At our café on Sophienstraße 27 in Berlin-Lichtenberg, the origin countries rotate regularly. Sometimes an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is on the menu, sometimes a Colombian from a cooperative in the Huila valley. At the counter, I enjoy explaining to guests where the coffee in their cup comes from — and why a coffee from Kenya tastes different from one from Guatemala. The coffee belt is far away, but it determines what ends up in the cup here in Lichtenberg.
More depth on this topic in the article How to Make Perfect Espresso. Or stop by at Sophienstraße 27 — Mon–Fri 8am–5pm, Sat 10am–5pm.