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Recommended Latin American Coffee Regions & How Much Does a Cup Cost?

Published: 2026-01-28 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/28, Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style). In terms of production, Latin American coffee beans account for about 60% of the world's total coffee production, while Africa and Arabia account for about 20%, with the remaining 20% distributed across various Asian countries and islands. In South America, Brazil's production accounts for 30-50% of the world's total output, while Colo

Professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

Global Coffee Production Overview

In terms of production, Latin American coffee beans account for approximately 60% of the world's total coffee production, while Africa and Arab regions contribute about 20%. The remaining 20% is distributed across various Asian countries and islands.

In South America, Brazil's production accounts for 30-50% of the world's total output, while Colombia contributes 10-20%. Currently, Vietnam's coffee production in Asia has already surpassed Colombia. Additionally, Indonesia has developed into the world's fourth-largest coffee-producing country.

Central and South America

Flavor Characteristics: Balanced, moderate acidity with mellow aroma

Central and South America constitute the world's largest coffee-producing region, with countless specialty coffees originating from here. Taking just Colombia, Guatemala, or Brazil as examples, the abundance of excellent coffee is simply dazzling. What resource advantages make Central and South America so exceptional?

In 1721, French naval officer Gabriel Mathieu de Clieu, overcoming numerous hardships and dangers, brought the first coffee seedling from Africa to Martinique in Latin America, marking the beginning of Latin American coffee cultivation. Because France was under Bourbon dynasty rule at that time, the Arabica coffee cultivated in Latin America acquired another name that remains renowned in the coffee industry today: "Bourbon." Nowadays, Bourbon has become an important branch within Arabica coffee varieties. The overall flavor profile of Latin American coffee is characterized by balance, where all coffee flavors can be found in Latin American coffees. The widespread use of wet processing for green beans is also one of the characteristics of Latin American coffee. The excellent processing process also results in bean sizes that are larger and more uniform compared to African coffees, with lower defect rates.

Representative Countries:

Colombia

Colombia is one of the world's largest producers of high-quality coffee, a brilliant jewel on the global coffee map, and a coffee land blessed by God. Arabica coffee varieties are cultivated on steep slopes at elevations of 800-1,900 meters above sea level, all hand-picked and wet-processed.

Colombia Santa Rita (Washed, Medium-Dark Roast) – Sugarcane, clean, medium body. Santa Rita Estate is located in Antioquia Department, Colombia, using traditional methods for coffee processing: hand-picking coffee cherries, then applying traditional washed processing to the coffee fruit, with the processed beans laid out on racks for sun-drying. The environmental conditions surrounding the Andes Mountains provide this coffee-growing region with fertile volcanic soil and uniquely advantaged water resources.

El Salvador

El Salvador's coffee quality is also extremely high, with a unique flavor profile: strong balance, fresh and lively, smooth taste, pleasantly sweet, truly embodying "pure nature's breath." This is due to the fertile soil, suitable altitude, favorable climate, generations-old cultivation techniques, and excellent tree varieties.

El Salvador Ataisi Estate Pacamara (Washed, Medium Roast) – Nutty chocolate, passion fruit, cream, strawberry. The country's relatively high average altitude provides excellent geographical conditions for coffee growth. Farmers use traditional cultivation methods: almost 100% shade-grown cultivation. The Pacamara variety is an artificially cultivated cross between Pacas and Maragogipe, making Pacamara a rare excellent variety developed through artificial selection.

Guatemala

Guatemala is a coffee-producing region that cannot be overlooked, a typical representative of coffee flavor diversity. Guatemala SHB (Strictly Hard Bean) is almost synonymous with high-quality coffee known to all. This is due to more than 300 types of microclimate environments, tall mountain ranges, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, enormous volcanic lakes, the Mexican plains, and abundant geographical and climatic resources.

Guatemala Guava Plain Estate SL28 (Winey Natural Process, Medium-Dark Roast) – Pineapple, dried apricot, red wine. Guava Plain Estate has added a winey natural processed batch with unique flavors, especially the SL28 variety, which remains rare in Central America.

Bolivia

Some regions of Bolivia enjoy unique tropical rainforest environments, providing excellent natural conditions for organic coffee growth. Bolivian coffee has rich and unique aromas; whether the fragrance from ground beans or the aroma of brewed coffee is remarkably distinct and intense, similar to a blend of floral and fruity aromas, with perfect nutty flavors that leave a lasting impression.

Bolivia Lake Titicaca (Washed, Medium Roast) – Roasted nuts and almond dry fragrance, entry reveals smooth fruit acidity of navel orange and pomelo, overall featuring sweet caramel, smooth texture of nutty milk, with impressive performance in cleanliness and balance, and a captivating herbal aftertaste.

Panama

Panama coffee is world-renowned for Geisha, and this is closely related to Panama's uniquely advantageous natural geographical conditions. Moderate body, smooth mouthfeel, delicate acidic aroma, balanced flavor values, plus subtle notes of caramel, chocolate, citrus, and jasmine.

Panama Irreta Estate SHB Grade Caturra (Washed, Medium Roast) – Creamy bread, apricot kernel sweetness, rounded acidity. Irreta Estate is one of Panama's large coffee-growing estates and also one of the best-known Panama coffees.

Costa Rica

Coffee beans produced in the high-altitude regions of Costa Rica are world-famous, rich, mild in flavor, but extremely acidic. The coffee beans here are all carefully processed, which is why they achieve high quality. Costa Rica is located in Tarrazú, south of the capital San José, and is one of the country's valued coffee-growing regions.

Costa Rica Tarrazú San Román Estate (Washed, Medium-Dark Roast) – Gentle orange citrus notes, toast, caramel cocoa sweetness. San Román Estate is located in the Tarrazú region, with coffee cultivated at elevations of 1,750-1,850 meters, variety Red Catuai. The estate owner, the Gutierrez family, owns 50 hectares of coffee-growing area.

Latin American Coffee Bean Brand Recommendations

FrontStreet Coffee roasts various Latin American coffee beans with full assurance in both brand and quality. More importantly, they offer extremely high value-for-money, with a half-pound (227g) package priced at only around 80-100 RMB. Calculating at 15g per cup, one package can make 15 cups of coffee, costing only 5-6 RMB per cup. Compared to café prices that often exceed 100 RMB per cup, this represents a truly conscientious recommendation.