Crop to cup: coffee, tea and cacao farms you can visit

Finca El Ocaso

Salento, Quindío

A family coffee finca outside Salento with hands-on tours from picking to tasting, in the heart of the Coffee Triangle.

Best months: Apr, May, Oct, Nov, Dec

Hacienda Venecia

Manizales, Caldas

A historic coffee hacienda near Manizales offering tours, cupping and a farmhouse stay.

Best months: Apr, May, Oct, Nov, Dec

Doka Estate

Alajuela, Central Valley

A family estate on the slopes of Poás volcano with a water-powered mill, popular with families on Central Valley trips.

Best months: Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb

Monteverde coffee & cacao tours

Monteverde

Small cloud-forest farms around Monteverde running combined coffee, cacao and sugar cane tours.

Best months: Year-round

Antigua volcano coffee fincas

Antigua

Coffee fincas on the slopes of Agua, Fuego and Acatenango around Antigua, with tours from the rows to the roaster.

Best months: Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar

Coorg coffee estates

Kodagu, Karnataka

Shade-grown arabica and robusta under pepper vines, with plantation bungalow stays across the Kodagu hills.

Best months: Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb

Chikmagalur coffee estates

Chikmagalur, Karnataka

Where coffee first arrived in India, in the Baba Budangiri hills. Estate stays let you walk the rows at harvest.

Best months: Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb

Kintamani coffee highlands

Kintamani, Bali

Arabica grown under citrus trees on the volcanic rim around Mount Batur, managed by traditional subak abian farming groups.

Best months: May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep

Finca Lérida

Boquete, Chiriquí

A century-old Boquete coffee estate and lodge growing prized Geisha, with tours and cloud-forest birding.

Best months: Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar

Hacienda La Esmeralda

Boquete, Chiriquí

The farm that made Panama Geisha famous at auction. Visits are by arrangement for serious coffee lovers.

Best months: Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar

Doi Chang coffee village

Doi Chang, Chiang Rai

An Akha hill village that turned from opium to arabica and now ships its beans worldwide. Farm visits cover picking, washing and roasting.

Best months: Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb

Doi Tung Development Project

Doi Tung, Chiang Rai

The royal reforestation project on Doi Tung where coffee and macadamia replaced opium. Visit the plantations, roastery and Mae Fah Luang gardens.

Best months: Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb

K'Ho Coffee

Lang Biang, Da Lat

Arabica grown on the slopes of Lang Biang mountain by an Indigenous K'Ho family, who roast and brew it on the farm. One of the best coffee stories in Southeast Asia.

Best months: Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb

Cau Dat coffee highlands

Cau Dat, Da Lat

The cool highland plateau south-east of Da Lat where French planters first grew arabica. Several farms here welcome visitors to the rows and roasteries.

Best months: Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb

Munnar tea estates

Munnar, Kerala

Endless green tea slopes in the Western Ghats, with a tea museum and factory visits explaining orthodox processing.

Best months: Year-round

Glenburn Tea Estate

Darjeeling, West Bengal

A working Darjeeling estate above the Rungeet river with a heritage bungalow stay. Spring first flush is the prized pick.

Best months: Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct

Uji tea fields

Uji, Kyoto

The home of matcha and gyokuro. Shaded fields, tea houses and grinding workshops around Byodoin.

Best months: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct

BOH Sungei Palas Tea Garden

Cameron Highlands

Malaysia's best-known tea estate, with rolling terraces, a working factory and a tea house over the valley. Strawberry farms are close by.

Best months: Year-round

Daehan Dawon tea plantation

Boseong

Korea's most famous green tea terraces, carved into the hills of Boseong and open to walkers.

Best months: Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct

Nuwara Eliya tea estates

Nuwara Eliya

The highest of Ceylon's tea districts, where cool nights give a light, bright cup. Several estates run factory tours and tastings.

Best months: Year-round

Ella tea country

Ella

Tea slopes around Ella with walks between estates, factory visits and the famous hill-country railway.

Best months: Year-round

Alishan oolong tea gardens

Alishan, Chiayi

High mountain oolong grown in cloud forest above 1,000m, with tea farm stays and tastings in Shizhuo and nearby villages.

Best months: Apr, May, Oct, Nov

Monteverde coffee & cacao tours

Monteverde

Small cloud-forest farms around Monteverde running combined coffee, cacao and sugar cane tours.

Best months: Year-round

El Quetzal de Mindo

Mindo

A cloud-forest chocolate maker in Mindo whose tour follows Ecuadorian fine-aroma cacao from pod to bar.

Best months: Year-round

Tabanan cacao farms

Tabanan, Bali

Cacao grown among the rice terraces of west Bali, with farm walks that follow the pod from tree to fermentation box to chocolate.

Best months: Year-round

Hacienda La Luz

Comalcalco, Tabasco

A cacao hacienda in Tabasco, birthplace of chocolate, with garden walks and traditional chocolate making.

Best months: Year-round

Fu Wan Chocolate

Pingtung

An award-winning bean-to-bar maker using cacao grown in Pingtung, where the island's chocolate story began.

Best months: Year-round