Coffee is such a big part of our daily life in the United States and it’ts pretty interesting that the majority of the coffee we consume comes from outside of the US. Seeing that all coffee is imported it made me wonder- can you grow coffee in the US? Is it even possible?
Where does most of the coffee come from?
The top coffee suppliers are Brazil (Grows 5.7 billion pounds), Vietnam (Grows 3.6 billion pounds), Columbia (Grows 1.7 billion pounds), Indonesia (Grows 1.4 billion pounds) and Ethiopia (Grows 846 million pounds) in that order.
We spend over 74 billion dollars on Coffee each year (based on 2105 numbers). In the US we drink over 102 billion cups of coffee each year. Or 280 Million cups per day. I'd say that coffee is big business in the US.
It seems like if it was possible to grow coffee in the united states we would have more coffee farms throughout the United States.
I did some research on coffee growing climate and found that the ideal growing condition for the coffee plant are subtropical regions and high altitude regions.
The rainy season and dry season must be consistent from year to year along with the altitude has to be from 1800-3600 feet.
Based on the what is required above for good coffee plant growth there are not many places in the US that fall in that category.
The coffee plant is grown in Puerto Rico although while not technically the United States it is US territory. I would say this doesn’t count as US grown.
So to answer the questionDoes Coffee Grow in the US?
The answer is yes. And the two states are one Hawaill – not part of the North America content but a US State. Hawaii is very famous for their Kona coffee.
Coffee Grown In Hawaii
Kona coffee is of the Arabica coffee and is grown on the slopes of Mauan Loa and Hualalai in the South and North Kona districts on the Big Island of Hawaii. Coffee can only be called Kona coffee if it is grown in these areas.
I’m not sure if you have had Kona coffee or purchased Kona coffee beans but they are some of the most expensive beans on the market.
So knowing that Hawaii not in North America has coffee bean the next question I imagine is – Does coffee grow in any North American states?
The answer to this one is also a YES. It is grown in different areas of California.
Californian Coffee
Coffee growing is California is a newer / experimental project and is taking place between Santa Barabara (central California) and San Diego (southern California). Started by Mark Gaskell and Jay Ruskey
With California being a large producer of Avocados. Some small Californian coffee farmers came up with the idea to grow the coffee plant under the canopy of the avocado trees.
Although the climate in California is not ideal with the water supply the coffee farmers have come up with a unique coffee growing system to make it work.
With this small batch coffee crops that are producing around 240 pounds of coffee beans the popularity is growing because coffee connoisseurs are very interested in finding out what it tastes like and compare it to the beans we import from other countries.
In fact Blue Bottle Coffee purchased the full crop in 2018 and offered as part of their $18 and up cups of coffee.
If the experiment is a success and it's a profitable endeavour for the farmers California could be a large producer of coffee sometime down the road.
So now you know that Coffee is in fact grown in the united states. However compared to the countries that grow the majority of coffee it's not even close to the amount that is grown there.
And all though it's hard to grow coffee it is however possible to grow a coffee bean plant in the comfort of your own home with some coffee kits on the market.
Coffee Plant Growing Kit
Growing at home is kind of a novelty but is a fun project and a can be a conversation starter and it is possible you could grow enough beans to roast. And when someone comes over and sees this different plant that isn’t normally found, just tell them you are starting a new coffee farm one plant at a time.
And brew them a cup – but maybe not if you only have a handful of beans.
Recap of Can You Grow Coffee in the United States
The short answer is yes.
Coffee is the world's second biggest commodity and mainly grown outside of the US – Brazil being the largest supplier.
Climate, Altitude and consistent predictable weather is a major factor it is not grown more in the US.
Then the other question: Where does coffee grow in the us – Mainly Hawaii and more recently California.
Can you grow it at home? Yes you can with a coffee plant growing kit.
Will it produce and thrive at home – its possible but it might be hard to grow enough to make coffee but it can be a super fun project and a good centerpiece.
