CARIBBEAN AND CENTRAL AMERICA
All Arabica plants in the Caribbean and the Americas descend from a plant taken secretly by De Clieu to Martinique from the gardens of King Louis XIV.

COSTA RICA
Costa Rican coffees have the strongest flavour of all Latin American varieties, full-bodied and acidic. The best varieties are grown on the mountains along the Pacific coast.

JAMAICA
The most prized Jamaican coffee beans are cultivated at high altitudes. The rarest variety is the Blue Mountain, grown in State-controlled plantations. Roasted beans yield a sweet, aromatic, slightly acidic and full-bodied beverage.
Other varieties include the Prime Washed, Jamaican Mountain Choice and High Mountain.

GUATEMALA
The coffee grown in this country is distinguished by its almost smoked flavour and high acidity, while the beans themselves have a slightly imperfect appearance. The varieties normally take on the name of the mountain region in which they are cultivated, with the exception of the gigantic Maragogipe bean, grown on the plains.

HAITI
The varieties cultivated in Haiti are roasted till dark; most of the production is exported to France and Italy. Haitian coffees are known for their full, slightly sweet flavour, with little acid. The Port au Prince variety has sometimes a pungent aroma and spicy aftertaste.

MEXICO
Mexican coffees are rich, full-bodied and slightly acidic, with a fragrant aroma. The most prized varieties are those cultivated at high altitudes.

SOUTH AMERICA
Coffee was first introduced to South America in the 18th century by the Dutch and French colonies. Coffee beans were later smuggled into Brazil. Thanks to the favourable climatic conditions, coffee is today cultivated in many countries in South America.

BRAZIL
Brazil is the world's largest producer of Arabica coffee. Of note, the Bourbon Santos variety that yields a delicately-flavoured beverage, as well as being excellent for making blends. Other varieties, particularly those belonging to the Rio class, are sour, sometimes even acrid. One of the more important varieties is the Maragogipe, famous for its giant beans, grown on trees that are the result of a botanic mutation of the Arabica bean.

COLOMBIA
Thanks to the characteristics of the terrain and the stable climatic conditions, Colombia is the world's second largest producer of coffee and the first in terms of quality. The most prized bean is the Medellin variety, full-bodied, rich and slightly acidic. The Vintage Colombian is on the other hand a rarity, produced from beans aged for eight years before roasting, giving a full-flavoured, almost syrupy coffee.

VENEZUELA
The best quality Venezuelan varieties grow along the Colombian border, and are amongst the finest (though lesser-known) in the world.
Merida and Caracas, with their low acidity and light-body, are particularly popular in Europe.

AFRICA
Africa is becoming an increasingly important producer of coffee on the international market. Though Arabica originated in Ethiopia, 75% of African coffee beans are of the Robusta species, which is in fact more resistant to disease and assures a more abundant harvest than Arabica.
Angola, the Ivory Coast and Uganda are the biggest producers of Robusta. Ethiopia and Kenya are the only African countries to produce Arabica alone.

ANGOLA
Predominantly a producer of Robusta, Angola also exports a small quantity of Arabica - Andulo or Gando - with a neutral flavour that makes it ideal for blending.

ETHIOPIA
Coffee still grows spontaneously in Ethiopia, where it is harvested by the local community and dried in the sun. This variety, called Djimmah, has a spicy, slightly piquant flavour. Harrar or Ethiopian Moka is one of the rarer varieties.
Similar to real Moka, this coffee yields a dark red beverage with a full, strong and winy taste.

KENYA
Kenyan coffees are known for being full-bodied and slightly acidic; Kenya AA is the best variety.

TANZANIA
Tanzanian coffee is drunk pure and black, never blended. Winy, acidulous and sweet, the most prized Arabica are the Kilimanjaro and Plantation Buboka. An exceptional rarity are the round coffee beans.

YEMEN
Moka, a classic coffee, comes exclusively from Yemen. Though the bean is irregular and unattractive, it yields a remarkable juice that is spicy, bitter/sweet and full-bodied.

ASIA AND HAWAII
The largest producer of coffee in Asia is India, which grows both Arabica and Robusta. Java, Sumatra and the Hawaiian islands were amongst the first international producers.

JAVA
Java is considered one of the most delicate and refined Arabica beans in the world. The finest is full-bodied, with low acidity and a spicy aroma.

HAWAII
All coffee types grown are excellent, with a full- bodied sweet flavour, never syrupy. The Kona coffee plants are cultivated on the slopes of the Manua Loa volcano.

INDIA
The English are the biggest customers of Indian coffee, the most common variety of which is Mysore, dark, full-bodied and acidulous.

SUMATRA
Rich, sweet and moderately acidic, Mandheling is the most prized of Sumatran coffee beans.