Caffeine Wonderlands: Top 5 Coffee Tours

Brazil has been the biggest producer of coffee beans for more than 150 years. Brazil is home to twenty-five different coffee regions so you can find plenty of opportunities to learn more about coffee and its production.

Our favorite tour for this South American coffee powerhouse is definitely the Campinas Coffee Plantation Tour. This tour gives you a great historical perspective of coffee in Brazil, insight into the entire process from field to export, and of course a fuller appreciation for that cup of brew.

Behind rice, coffee is the largest export from Vietnam. Coffee started being grown there by the French in the early 1900s and is Vietnam is now the second-largest producer in the world.

K’Ho Coffee Farm and Roastery is our favorite spot for a tour in Vietnam. Located just north of Dalat, this family-run farm offers hands-on tours that allow you to see the traditional process of processing and grading. The beautiful garden setting for enjoying the cupping experience doesn’t hurt either.

For decades, when people thought coffee they thought of Colombia. That is thanks to the fertile area known as the coffee triangle is located only one hour from Bogota. This area has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site as ‘The Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia’. There are certainly no shortage of coffee based tours in the area.

Our favorite is the full day WakeCup Experience which takes you to several plantations and fields and actually introduces you to the people that make your cup of coffee happen. Hearing directly from the people that touch the coffee at each stage gives you a better understanding of what makes Colombian coffee so special.

Panama isn’t a large producer of coffee, but Boquete, Panama is the growing grounds for one of the rarest coffees in the world. Geisha arabica coffee is rare variety that is among the most expensive brews – it sells for $18 a cup in New York City and even more in other places – and Panama is one of the few places that has been successfully growing it. The region is still a bit of a hidden gem in coffee tourism.

The tours at Finca Casanga are one of our favorites. This tiny plantation offers a hands-on tour that even kids will enjoy. Learn about what coffee really is, the process from tree to cup, and of course get a taste. And another cool thing they offer (even if you never make it there) is leasing a coffee tree for a whole season. You can watch it grow via webcam and get updates on its harvest and after they do all the picking they send you the roasted product and you get to sit back and sip.

If you worship coffee consider Ethiopia your mecca. Ethiopia is known as the birthplace of coffee and it still holds a special place in the culture. The coffee ceremony is integral to social life and if you get invited to one do not pass it up.

Coffee tours in Ethiopia are best done as multi-day experiences, but one place to visit is definitely Bonga which is considered the birthplace of coffee.