Five countries, five very different cups.

Coffee only grows in a narrow band around the equator known as the "bean belt". Climate, altitude and processing method there all shape flavour just as much as the bean species does. Here are five of the origins we buy from most — each link goes to a fuller write-up of that country's coffee industry.

• Brazil

  Brazil grows more coffee than any other country by a wide margin, concentrated in Minas Gerais. Its naturally-processed beans tend toward low acidity with nutty, chocolatey notes — the backbone of most espresso blends.

• Colombia

  Colombia's steep Andean terrain means most coffee is still picked and sorted by hand. The washed processing method common there produces a clean, bright, well-balanced cup that's become a benchmark single-origin.

• Indonesia

  Indonesian coffee — grown across Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi — is usually processed with a local wet-hulling method that gives it a heavy body, low acidity and an earthy, sometimes herbal flavour unlike anywhere else.

• Ethiopia

  Coffea arabica grows wild in Ethiopia's highland forests, and legend credits an Ethiopian goat-herder named Kaldi with discovering the plant — our namesake. Ethiopian coffees are prized for floral, fruity, almost tea-like character.

• Vietnam

  Vietnam is by far the world's biggest robusta grower, and second only to Brazil in total coffee output. Much of it goes into instant coffee, but it's also the base of traditional Vietnamese drip coffee served with condensed milk.