Day Trip to Doi Chaang (ดอยช้าง) - Thailand's Coffee Paradise

Doi Chang (Doi Chaang plantation) is a coffee growing village in the Chiang Rai area of Thailand. Get all the details of how you can visit here:
When I was in Chiang Rai, one of the places I really wanted to visit was Doi Chang (ดอยช้าง), where some of the best coffee in all of Thailand is grown. Before you get confused, most of the time, the village is known as Doi Chang and one of the main coffee brands in spelled Doi Chaang Coffee - so just keep that spelling difference in mind.
Doi Chang (ดอยช้าง) is located in the Golden Triangle region of Thailand, the area that was once an important part of the world opium production and trade. But with the help of a Thai Royal initiative, the area was transformed. Doi Chang was give coffee plants to start growing on their land in place of opium, and due to the areas higher elevations and cooler temperatures, coffee began to flourish. For years, the tribes around Doi Chang grew organic coffee, but they also were forced to sell their high quality beans to third parties who didn’t do their coffee justice by mixing it with lesser quality beans and selling it as generic coffee. After growing coffee for over 20 years, the heads of Doi Chang (ดอยช้าง) decided to form their own alliance and sell their high quality coffee themselves, calling it Doi Chaang Coffee.
As a coffee lover, I was extremely excited to be in Chiang Rai, and even more excited that we decided to rent a car and make the 1 - 2 hour drive to Doi Chang village and coffee plantation to drink coffee and to see coffee trees. It took us a bit longer to drive there from Chiang Rai town since there was heavy fog in the mountains, but nevertheless, the drive was beautiful and the air was fresh and crisp. We arrived in the morning, and headed straight for the Doi Chaang Coffee House, where I enjoyed my first cup of Americano. The coffee was so pure, not even a hint of acidity, and just strong but mild at the same time. It was an amazing coffee to start with.
After the first cup of coffee, we walked around the village for a bit, and went to see some of the coffee plants. Unfortunately, when I visited, in September, it wasn’t coffee season, so they weren’t processing any coffee beans and the Doi Chaang plant, but it was still nice to walk around. We then got pretty hungry, but since it wasn’t coffee season, there weren’t many other visitors, so there weren’t really any restaurants in the village, except for one. Ying and I sat down for a good freshly cooked Thai meal. It was simple, but every dish tasted great, and everything tasted extremely fresh. I think the vegetables were harvested right outside the home restaurant.
We then headed to another coffee shop, known as Doi Chang Coffee Farm. I first had an espresso, which was incredible, and hit the spot after lunch. But then as I was getting ready to leave, the owner of the Coffee Farm, met us and invited us to taste a few samples of her coffee. She made us first a non-processed bean and then a Doi Chang peaberry coffee, both of which were strong, almost fruity, and extremely good.
Wired off of high quality coffee, we then headed back to Chiang Rai. It was a great day trip, nice to see the amazing scenery on the way there, and I don’t think there’s anything much better than drinking coffee at a coffee plantation in the mountains. If you love coffee and if you’re ever in Chiang Rai or Chiang Mai, Thailand, you might want to take a day trip to Doi Chang.
Get all the details about how I visited here:
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