Where to find the best coffee in the world and how do they do it?

Top 5 coffee producers and consumers 2:16

(CNN) --

Not that you really needed an excuse, but in honor of International Coffee Day, we'd like to raise a cup.

Our love of coffee goes beyond the Seattle purveyor who added the terms "tall," "big," and "venti" to our vocabulary.

Coffee knows how to travel, and the best thing is that it comes from all over the world.

The origins of coffee are global, of course.

The 15th-century Arabs were the first to grow coffee, and a Frenchman was behind the 1843 debut of the world's first commercial espresso machine.

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There's been some progress since then, and we're not talking about the arrival of the Frappuccino.

So he goes to get a cup of coffee and then reads on about the best coffee destinations in the world and how they do it.

Wellington, New Zealand

New Zealand likes to experiment: edible coffee cups, anyone?

(Courtesy: Air New Zealand)

While the ubiquitous flat white—something like a latte with less milk—was supposedly invented in Sydney, the drink was perfected in Wellington, New Zealand, where it became the country's unofficial national drink.

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"Wellingtonians really know their coffee, and it's served to a very high standard in the city," says New Zealand coffee farmer Nick Clark of Flight Coffee Unlimited.

"Wellington is also a small city. There is a lot of interaction between consumers and professionals, which helps our industry improve and grow."

How to order locally:

Flat white.

It `s a religion.

Melbourne, Australia

Market Lane Coffee in Melbourne sources its beans from all over the world, from Bolivia to Rwanda, and then roasts the coffee there.

(Visions of Victory)

"The coffee culture in Melbourne is just amazing," says former world champion barista Pete Licata from the United States.

Coffee is such an integral part of the Melbourne lifestyle that the city even hosts an annual coffee expo.

How to order it locally:

Piccolo latte.

While lattes, cappuccinos and flat whites remain popular, piccolo lattes (made with less milk to make the espresso taste stronger) are the drink of the day.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Coffee is in Vietnam's DNA and the country is one of the world's largest bean producers.

When Vietnam was a colony of France, the French established coffee plantations throughout the country in the late 19th century, and if you're in the capital, Hanoi, you don't have to go far for a fantastic cup.

Don't expect a flat white or an American here though.

Coffee is brewed in a traditional filter, dripping into a single cup below, producing a thick, rich brew that is sipped or enjoyed with traditional sweetened condensed milk.

It's something the Vietnamese got used to when fresh milk was scarce.

Popular on Instagram and among locals is ca phe trung, the egg coffee, in which a creamy meringue-like foam of egg white is layered over black coffee.

How to order it locally:

Caphe den (thick, slow-cooked black), or caphe sua (black with sweetened condensed milk) or café de coco (frozen coconut milk mixed with rich black coffee topped with shaved coconut ice, like café con café It is more of a dessert than a drink).

London

Coffee drinking gets patriotic here with the Union flag on the foam.

(LEON NEAL/AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

Aussies and Kiwis opened the city's first espresso-focused coffee shops about 20 years ago, bringing their beloved flat whites with them, and more modern cafes have popped up all over the city ever since.

Tea may still be king in England, but Londoners offer good coffee too.

How to order it locally:

Flat white or cappuccino.

Iceland

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Northern Alaska, Canada, parts of Greenland, the northern Scandinavian Peninsula, and northern Scotland—all located between 66 and 69 degrees north—are blessed with some of the most spectacular Northern Lights in the world.

Here we show you the places where you can enjoy the best.

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Muonio, Finland — A destination that doesn't need many — or any — man-made attractions if you have a view like this.

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Lake Jokulsarlon, Iceland — The reflection in the water makes the northern lights that much better, says aurora hunter photographer Moyan Brenn.

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Tromsø, Norway — This “Paris of the North” doesn't need an Eiffel Tower to sparkle in the sky.

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Unstad, Lofoten, Norway — If you're looking for more action as you watch the lights twinkle in the sky, Lofoten is home to the northernmost surf school and championship.

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Kangerlussuaq, Greenland — Dog sledding in Greenland + viewing the Northern Lights = an unforgettable experience.

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Abisko, Sweden — Clouds are the great enemy of Northern Lights fans: the prevailing winds in Abisko mean that there are almost no clouds.

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Paatsjoki, Finnish Lapland — The chances of seeing the lights here are about 90%, says one of the tour guides.

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Finnish Lapland — Villa Aurora is a small place, with a cool view of celestial lights and heated chairs.

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Fairbanks, Alaska, United States — A hot spring and a view of the Northern Lights: comfort and grandeur in one place.

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Australian Auroras — The southern lights can be harder to see than their Northern Hemisphere counterparts, but they're just as impressive.

Scandinavians have some of the highest coffee consumption per capita in the world, according to WorldAtlas.com.

That includes the coffee-mad Icelanders, who occupy one of the most picturesque, but also coldest places on Earth.

A generation ago, coffee and cake was a standard afternoon break, but people focused more on the quality of the cake than the coffee.

That has changed drastically;

now you can hardly walk a block without passing a coffee shop.

And with the lack of commercial coffee giants in Iceland, smaller companies have had a chance to prosper.

How to order it locally:

Latte or cappuccino.

Rome Italy

When in Rome, order an espresso.

(Courtesy of Graeme Churchard)

Coffee is such an important part of Italian culture that you will rarely find a local who doesn't drink it.

But believe it or not, it's not always that easy to find a decent espresso in Italy, and critics whisper that Italians have resisted adopting modern barista techniques.

With the best baristas in the country calling it home, Roma is your best bet for a quality cuppa.

How to order it locally:

Espresso.

Custom dictates that coffees with milk can only be consumed at breakfast.

Singapore

Where the art of coffee is as important as the taste.

(Cafe Hopping Singapore)

Coffee has always been an integral part of life in Singapore.

The ancient tradition of kopitiam, or coffee shop culture, dates back centuries.

But the city has only recently embraced modern espresso technology: today, latte art is an expected part of coffee service.

How to order it locally:

Latte, mocha or cappuccino.

Seattle

Coffee in the public market is a Seattle tradition.

(Credit: Jessica Curtin)

If there's one American city that's consistently ahead of the game, it's Seattle.

The green mermaid is just a small part of the local cafe scene.

"Coffee is our liquid sunshine in Seattle," says coffee consultant Joshua Boyt, a former SCA World Barista competition judge.

"The passion for the product, coupled with the large number of coffee shops in the city, has created a culture of constant improvement through competition and camaraderie."

How to order it locally:

Single origin espresso, cappuccino or pour over.

Austria

Cake obsessions have turned to coffee in Vienna.

(Courtesy Demel)

They are such an important part of Viennese culture that the city's cafés were listed by UNESCO in 2011 as Intangible Heritage.

Modern coffee connoisseurs like Vienna coffee blogger Lameen Abdul-Malik of From Coffee With Love admit that the standard of coffee in these beloved institutions, which act as public living rooms where people come to chat, read newspapers and eating strudel, it was falling behind in terms of cafe technology and service expectations.

That started to change after Vienna hosted the World Barista Championships in 2012 and new-style independent coffee shops opened, says Abdul-Malik.

How to order it locally:

Espresso or cappuccino in a new style cafe.

Or a Weiner mix (similar to a cappuccino, but usually topped with cream) at a traditional coffee shop.

Nigeria

Coffee was probably born in Africa (historians link it to pre-15th century Ethiopia), but Nigeria is a country that has been slower to embrace coffee culture.

That has been changing in recent years.

The coffee culture is seeping in there.

How to order it locally: Regular filtered coffee, black or with milk, or yes, their version of Frappuccino.

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-- Editor's note: A version of this story was first published on CNN in 2014, and has been reformatted and updated for 2022.

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