With Europeans’ penchant for coffee, you may wonder why coffee wasn’t grown locally. It turns out that coffee plants are quite fussy about where they grow, requiring quite warm temperatures (between about 15 – 29°C) and altitudes above 600 metres. They also prefer rich volcanic soil and distinct wet and dry seasons — but also steady rainfall during the wet season! This phenomenon is so strong that virtually all the coffee in the world is grown in the “Coffee Belt”: the band between the Tropic of Cancer (25°N) and the Tropic of Capricorn (30°S). In addition to providing optimum growing conditions, these environments are conducive to slow ripening of the coffee cherries (beans), allowing them to develop a richer flavour.
