The Complete Guide To: The coffee trail

WHERE DOES THE TRAIL START?

One thousand years ago, in Caffa, Ethiopia, a goatherd was tending his flock when he noticed his goats starting to dance after scoffing berries from a particular bush. He gathered up some of the fruit and gave it to a local priest, who chewed on one of the berries and, not finding the taste to his liking, threw the rest into the fire. The smell of the scorched berries was good, however, so he decided to give them another try, this time grinding the roasted beans and steeping them in boiling water.

Whether you believe the story or not, it is likely that one of the world's most popular pick-me-ups originated in Ethiopia. If you want to start your caffeinated travels here, Wild Frontiers' 15-day Timkat Tours (020-7736 3968; www.wildfrontiers.co.uk) take place each January, and feature many of the country's best attractions - including the Blue Nile Falls, the Simien Mountains and the 13 rock-hewn churches at Lalibela - as well as offering visitors the chance to meet a local family and experience a coffee ceremony. The Ethiopian answer to the Japanese tea ceremony, this is an integral part of life in the region. The coffee is carefully roasted, ground, strained and either sweetened or salted. Then it is poured from quite a height into delicate cups. Custom has it that you should drink at least three cups so as not to offend your host. Prices for Timkat Tours start at £1,850 per person, including transport, accommodation, all meals and guides but not international flights, which start at around £400 return to Addis Ababa.

WHERE NEXT?

From Ethiopia, Arab traders introduced coffee to Yemen and beyond. If you're a purist, the Arabian mocha grown in the central mountains of Yemen is said to be the world's most traditional coffee, still grown on the same steep terraces as it was over 500 years ago. It takes its name from the fact that it was originally shipped through the ancient port of Mocha. Travellers in search of a buzz should give Yemen a miss at present, however, as the Foreign Office advises that there is a high threat from terrorism in the country, "and evidence that terrorists may target [British] interests".

Instead, stay on the coffee trail and head to Indonesia, now off the FO blacklist. In the late 17th century, the Dutch smuggled a coffee plant out of Mocha. They became the first to transport and cultivate coffee commercially in what is now Sri Lanka and Java, the island at the hub of Indonesia.

Audley Travel arranges trips to Losari Coffee Plantation Resort and Spa in Java. This small plantation is now owned by Gabriella Teggia, the former owner of the glamorous Amandari hotel in Bali and author of a book on the history of coffee in the region. The resort's 26 stylish villas have panoramic views of eight volcanoes. Caffeine-minded guests can join daily plantation tours. If you can haul yourself away from the resort, it's also a good base for exploring Java's spectacular temples, including Borobodur and Prambanan. Two-week packages that include a four-night stay at Losari start from £1,500 per person, including flights, transfers and accommodation through Audley Travel (01993 838110; www.audleytravel.com).

SOMETHING CLOSER?

How about East Africa, half the flying time? One good way to get a flavour of the region's coffee heritage is on the 10-day "Lovebird Safari" in Tanzania, offered by Expert Africa (020-8232 9777; www.expertafrica.com). If you leave in the next month or two, you can take in the annual wildebeest migration while you're there. Accommodation is split between Arusha Coffee Lodge, a coffee estate in the foothills of Mount Meru; Gibb's Farm, a coffee plantation that borders the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Ndutu Lodge in the Serengeti, where guests can watch flamboyant Fischer's lovebirds come to drink. The trip costs from £2,367 per person, including international flights, seven nights' accommodation, transfers, all meals and park fees.

Also in Tanzania, why not celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight, (26 February-11 March) by booking a trip to the Kahawa Shamba ("Coffee Farm") project? The idea is that tourism can generate extra income for small-scale coffee farmers in the foothills of Kilimanjaro. It was set up by the travel company Tribes (01728 685971; www.tribes.co.uk) in partnership with Cafédirect, the charity Twin and the Department for International Development. Coffee-farming families host guests while they enjoy everything from guided walks and cultural tours to horse-riding and trout-fishing - not to mention learning about local coffee production. Five-night trips to the area, including two nights at Kahawa Shambda and three nights on safari in Tarangire National Park, staying at Maramboi tented camp, cost from £790 per person, including accommodation, some meals, entry fees, transport and guides, but not international flights.

COFFEE WITH EXTRA SPICE?

Cardamom, cloves and pepper are cultivated along with coffee in Kerala, South India. The region has several small-scale plantations offering accommodation for bean-counting tourists. Paradisa, in the Idukki district of Kerala (00 91 469 270 1311; www.paradisaretreat.com), is a stylish retreat set on an organic plantation where guests can book in for Ayurvedic treatments and yoga classes as well as tour the coffee and spice crops. Doubles from €165 (£110) per night, including breakfast.

Tranquil Resort, also in Kerala, has a dramatic treehouse suite as well as eight rooms and a swimming pool - and * * is set on a working coffee, vanilla, cardamom and pepper plantation. It can be visited as part of a two-week Hilltops and Hideaways tour organised by Colours of India (020-8343 3446; www.partnershiptravel.co.uk). The trip starts in Mumbai before taking you up to the resort, and then on to the historic city of Cochin, the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, Lake Vembanad and the Backwaters. The trip costs from £2,443 per person, including flights, private transfers, accommodation with breakfast, some other meals, and a guide.

FURTHER WEST?

Until 1727, the sole nation to cultivate coffee in the New World was France, which had closely guarded plantations in its South American colony of Guiana (now Guyane). In that year, a Portuguese colonel named Francisco de Melo Palheta was sent north from Brazil to arbitrate over a border dispute between the French and the Dutch over their colonies in Guiana. While there, he began an affair with the wife of French Guiana's governor. On bidding him farewell, she presented him with a bouquet in which she had hidden coffee seeds and cuttings. Thus the Brazilian coffee industry got the shot in the arm that turned it into the world's largest coffee-exporting nation (despite a recent bombardment of beans from Vietnam).

Much of what is produced in Brazil, however, is grown on vast coffee farms. For a more intimate Latin American coffee-plantation experience, try Colombia. Here, in the foothills of the Cordillera Central, many of the small-scale local producers have started running coffee finca (farm) tours and stays. Similar to the Italian agriturismo concept, travellers can pay to visit farms in three regions - Quindio, Caldas and Risaralda. Some of the best are listed (in Spanish) on the Quindio tourism website (www.turismoquindio.com). If you prefer someone else to organise your travel, Trips Worldwide (0117 311 4403; www.tripsworldwide.co.uk) runs 11-night "Colombia Highlights" holidays, which include three nights in the country's coffee-growing region and a trip to the National Park of Coffee in Montenegro. These cost from £2,495 per person, including flights, transfers, accommodation, some meals, tours and entrance fees.

CAN I GET OFF THE BEATEN TRACK?

Yes, in Moreeba, in thinly populated North Queensland. This is Australia's coffee capital, where four-fifths of the nation's coffee is grown. The oldest of more than a dozen coffee plantations is Skybury (00 61 7 4093 2194; www.skybury.com.au), where coffee was introduced to Australia just 20 years ago. The Australian Coffee Centre opened here last year, allowing visitors the chance to tour, taste and buy local arabica coffee, fresh from the farm. It opens 9am-5pm daily, admission free.

If this inspires you to explore more of the surrounding region, there's a good range of local self-drive routes on www.greattropicaldrive.com.au. For more information, contact Tourism Australia (0906 863 3235, calls cost 60p per minute; www.australia.com).

A HOTEL THAT'S FULL OF BEANS?

It's not just plantations that have realised the value of a regular crop of coffee-minded tourists. Many hotels in coffee-growing areas now market this attraction specifically. One of the first to do so was the glamorous Strawberry Hill, in Jamaica's Blue Mountains (00 800 688 76781; www.islandoutpost.com). Connoisseurs believe that the best coffee in the world comes from this region, and to find out why it's so special, you can visit the Craighton plantation, which is five minutes' walk from Strawberry Hill. It was bought by Japan's largest coffee company, Ueshima, in 1981 and can easily be visited from the hotel.

Guests can also explore the eccentric, family-owned Old Tavern Estate, a mile high in the mountains. You can walk through stunning valleys filled with coffee bushes; watch the beans being dried, roasted and ground; taste the owner's delicious honey-laced take on the brew; and buy freshly roasted beans to take home. Four-and-a-half hour tours to and around the Old Tavern Coffee Estate cost $90 (£50).

Typical packages at Strawberry Hill - which is owned by the Island Records founder Chris Blackwell - start at £1,780 through Seasons in Style (01244 202000; www.seasonsinstyle.co.uk). The price includes flights from London, transfers and a week's half-board accommodation.

WHERE ELSE CAN I DRINK THE STUFF?

Head to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. Here, the village of Chamarel is known for two things: its unique russet-coloured dunes and its coffee plantation. Guests of the five-star Beau Rivage hotel can tour the plantation and then head back to the hotel to try its special coffee-tasting menu. This takes in adventurous flavours such as chilled coconut- and-coffee soup; grilled fillet of "bourgeois" (a local fish) served with seaweed linguini, sautéed baby vegetables, and a warm coffee-and-lemongrass dressing. If that sounds like your cup of tea, one-week packages at the Beau Rivage start from £1,467 per person with Carrier (0161 491 7630; www.carrier.co.uk), including flights from Heathrow, private transfers and half-board accommodation. The coffee-tasting menu costs £35 per person.

ANY OTHER ROUTES TO A CAFFEINE HIT?

Perhaps the world's most exclusive coffee is grown in the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena. The crop was first planted on this far-flung British territory in 1733. St Helena's coffee became popular in Paris after Napoleon praised it during his exile on the island. Production was later abandoned, but in 1994, the Island of St Helena Coffee Company was founded using seeds directly descended from the original plants. There are no official coffee tours to the island but tailor-made trips, including sightseeing and accommodation, can be arranged through the local tourist office (00 290 2158; www.sthelenatourism.com).

The RMS St Helena (020-7575 6480; www.rms-st-helena.com) is currently the only means of reaching the island. She makes around six UK-Cape Town return voyages a year, calling at St Helena about a fortnight after leaving Britain. Round-trip fares start at around £1,154 per person.

Easier to reach but a more difficult concept to swallow is Kopi Luwak. This is coffee made from coffee cherries that have been eaten by - and thus passed through the digestive tract of - the Asian palm civet. The precious beans sell for up to $600 per pound in the US and Japan. To give it a shot, Kopi Luwak is currently on the menu (for HK$298, or £20, per cup) at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental (00800 2828 3838; www.mandarinoriental.com) in Hong Kong. Rooms from HK$2,799 (£184) per night.

AREN'T YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING?

Writing a travel guide to coffee without mentioning Starbucks would be like missing the cream off the top of an iced decaf skinny triple grande vanilla latte. The men behind the most ubiquitous coffee chain in the world - English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegel and writer Gordon Bowker - opened their first store in Seattle's Pike Place market in 1971. Five years later, they moved just up the road to number 1912 Pike Place. As the market is a designated historic monument, the chain's oldest store retains its original look (00 1 206 448 8762; www.starbucks.com).

For more information on the city, contact the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau at One Convention Place, 701 Pike Street, Seattle (00 1 206 461 5840; www.visitseattle.org).

SCRUB UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE

You don't have to imbibe coffee to get a buzz. Broken-down beans are increasingly being used in body scrubs and massage oils at hotel spas. This isn't as strange as it sounds: coffee contains both moisturising oils and antioxidant properties. Next month, the Wellness Zone in Rocco Forte's Hotel de Russie in Rome (00 39 06 32 88 81; www.roccofortehotels.com) launches a new range of treatments using Bodycoffee products. The company is Californian (Julia Roberts is said to be a fan), but takes its inspiration from Russia's traditional bathhouses, where resourceful bathers used to massage coffee grounds on to their skin before hopping into the sauna to speed up the detoxifying process.

Treatments will be a little more luxurious at the Hotel de Russie, of course, ranging from anti-cellulite detoxifying body wraps and pedicures to a four-part "Pure Bliss" treatment. Or you could go the whole hog and book a spa package. These start at £716 per person, including two nights' accommodation with breakfast, a Bodycoffee "Pure Bliss" spa treatment and a post-treatment Pure Coffee Bliss cocktail at the Stravinskij Bar.

ANYTHING AT HOME?

The first coffee house opened in England in 1652. Sixteen years later, Edward Lloyd's coffee house opened and became such a regular haunt for merchants and maritime insurance agents that it eventually developed into the insurance company, Lloyd's of London. By the 18th century, especially in London, coffee houses had become fashionable and vibrant meeting places. To discover more about the fascinating social and commercial history of coffee, head to the Bramah Museum of Tea and Coffee at 40 Southwark Street in London (020-7403 5650; www.teaandcoffeemuseum.co.uk). It opens 10am-6pm daily, admission £4.

CAFE CULTURE

The world's first coffee shop is believed to have been Kiva Han, which opened in Constantinople in 1471. A taste for the concept soon spread and, before long, Roman Catholics were asking the Pope to ban the "devil's drink". They didn't have much luck. A hundred years later, coffee houses had become an integral part of the intellectual social scene across Europe. Some of the most celebrated survive to this day:

Café de Flore (172 boulevard St-Germain, Paris; 00 33 1 45 485 526)

Jean-Paul Sartre often discussed being and nothingness with Simone de Beauvoir here. Now, you're more likely to see Johnny Depp and Sofia Coppola propping up the counter.

Caffè Florian (Piazza San Marco, Venice; 00 39 41 520 5641)

Set right on St Mark's Square, this Venetian gem was the haunt of Casanova, Byron, Goethe and Proust, among others.

Café Gerbeaud (7 Vorosmarty ter, Budapest; 00 36 1 429 9000)

The best-known coffee house in a city that's bursting with them; not much has changed here since the days when Liszt was a regular.

Café Central (corner of Herrengasse and Strauchgasse, Vienna; 00 43 1 533 376 424)

The grande dame among the city's surviving 19th-century cafés. Trotsky is said to have planned his part in the Russian Revolution here.

Café Opera (Karl XII torg, Stockholm; 00 46 8 676 5807)

By day a café, by night a club (Madonna heads the guest list), this is the most opulent place in the city to knock back an espresso.

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