Single Origin - Dominican Republic Barahona SHG - Organic Coffee
Gentle, delicate. Crisp chocolate and hazelnut notes dominate in aroma and cup; complicating hints of fir and citrus. High acidity; light, silky mouthfeel. Sweet-toned, slightly drying finish.
Roast: Dark Medium
Processing: Wet Processed & Dried
Altitude: 1300 to 1500 M.A.S.L.
Harvest: October to June
12 oz. Handcrafted Fair Trade/Organic Coffee
The high-grown Barahona, which is widely considered to be the finest of the Dominican Republic's gourmet coffees, is notable for its rich flavor with high acidity. Barahona coffee is considered like the best Jamaican coffees.
The Dominican Republic produces between 350,000-500,000 bags of Arabica per year, however, less than 20% of this volume is exported due to very high internal domestic coffee consumption. The country has a coffee culture stretching back over two centuries and consumption hovers around 3kg per-capita.
With a climate unlike anywhere else in the Americas, the Dominican Republic gets rain all year around, with no one distinct rainy season.
Long viewed as an exporter of agricultural products, the Dominican Republic in recent years has grown in the service sector. The GDP per capital is $9,500 USD with its economy being highly dependent on the United States. The country suffers from large income inequality with the poorest half of the population receiving less than one-fifth of GDP. The growth of the economy is one of the fastest in the region although it remains weak financially.
The Dominican Republic's long coffee growing season is extended by the warm and gentle trade winds and ocean currents which together with the moderate climate allow the coffee cherry (fruit) to ripen very slowly on the coffee plants producing a high-quality coffee bean.
Since there are a variety of high altitude growing areas in the Dominican Republic, the coffee plants flower at various times and thus the country can produce high quality coffee crops all throughout the year. The premium coffee beans are grown at 3,500 feet above sea level and higher on the terraced mountain slopes.
The predominant harvesting season is October through June. The farmers repeatedly return to the fields to hand-pick only the ripest coffee cherry throughout the harvest season. The best Dominican Republic coffees are hand-picked on farms and then sun-dried in bulk on large patios.
Most of the coffee farms in the Dominican Republic are less than eight acres in size, and much of the coffee is organically grown and shade-grown beneath native pine trees, guava trees, and macadamia nut trees.
Dominican coffees are surprisingly diverse. The country's six growing regions - Cibao, Bani, Azua, Ocoa, Barahona and Juncalito - have been officially denominated by the government to better promote the individual profiles of the coffees from these distinct microclimates. However, there may be as many as 25 distinct production zones around the island centered on its four mountain ranges.
Farms in the Dominican Republic are typically small – on average less than three hectares each – and much of the coffee is cultivated organically, though many farms are not officially certified. The majority is also shade-grown, often under a canopy of pine, macadamia and guava trees.
Most Dominican producers process their coffee themselves in small wet mills. All coffee is wet-processed: cherries are de-pulped within 24 hours, naturally fermented, washed and dried in the sun. The beans in parchment are then transported to large dry mills where the coffee is prepared for export or for sale in the domestic market.
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