What two countries produce the most coffee in the world? The answer is: Brazil and Vietnam. You may be surprised about one of these countries, but we all know that Brazil is a major coffee powerhouse! Vietnam - that's the surprise. With these countries being the largest exporters of coffee how much would that be you may be asking! 2 million metric tons. Now that is a lot of coffee beans. That also translates to millions of individual cups of coffee and coffee related drinks.

South America - Brazil

Brazil is the world's leading coffee producer, as we who perform espresso machine reviews are aware of, as Brazil exports a very large percentage of all coffee the entire world consumes. None of the coffee in Brazil is natural, though - it was all planted from seeds that were imported into the country.

Coffee has been planted in Brazil since the 18th century, and brings a great deal of industry to the area. The city of São Paulo became the most populated city in Brazil due to a large number of immigrant workers employed by the coffee plantations. Sao Paulo currently has over 19 million people living within its city borders this very day. All due to the coffee plantation industry that has grown over the past several hundred years.

Brazil's dedication to coffee production is demonstrated by the 10,000 square miles of Brazil land mass used for the growth of coffee. This equates to over 6 billion coffee plants/trees. It has been common knowledge that Brazil has been the leading producer of coffee beans to the entire world for the last two centuries as this country at one point exported roughly 90% of the worlds coffee supply. It would be safe to say that Brazil is the world's leading coffee producer, at least for the past 150 years. In 2007, Brazil produced over two million metric tons of coffee. Most of the coffee industry in Brazil is owned by foreign companies - the top two companies are American.

Number two in coffee production - Vietnam.

Vietnam has been producing coffee on a large scale since the 1900s. Like Brazil, coffee is not naturally occurring in Vietnam. French explorers introduced the coffee bean in the 1850s and Vietnamese plantations have been growing it ever since, except for during a short disruption during the Vietnam War. The first country to establish a manufacturing plant that made instant coffee was Vietnam. That is truly amazing considering Vietnam is a third world country!

Surprisingly coffee is not Vietnam's top agricultural export; that title belongs solely to - Rice. While not at the same level of export as Brazil Vietnam still manages to sell over 1 million metric tons of coffee every single year worldwide. Most, if not all of the coffee plantations in Vietnam, are either owned by the government or are owned by local investors.

Most coffees grown in Vietnam are not readily available outside of Asia. Vietnamese coffee is considered some of the best coffee grown in the world due to its natural climate and seasonal weather patterns. Buôn Ma Thuột is a name that describes several types of coffee, named for the region in which they grow. brewing this coffee is done differently than in most parts of the world as the coffee is brewed in single serving cups, as opposed to the brewing process in America with its drip coffee makers. Once brewed the coffee is sweetened with condensed milk.

There are certainly other countries that grow and export coffee, but these two countries are the preeminent leaders in export of coffee beans today. If you are truly a coffee aficionado you will more than likely seek out coffee beans that are grown and imported from these two countries if you have not already. Without a doubt Brazilian and Vietnamese coffee is finding its way into American mainstream coffee brands sold on American grocery store shelves today. The next time you pour yourself a hot couple coffee or enjoy that delicate cup of espresso think of where the coffee beans used to make these drinks originated from - Brazil or Vietnam perhaps?