Dominican Republic Barahona

Dominican Republic grows a lot of coffee, but they drink most of it. Only 20% of the crop is exported.

Their coffee does not have high demand in the USA. Even the higher grade lots tend to be fairly inexpensive, with very mild, mellow flavor, little to no acidity, and a clean aftertaste. I used to use it as a base for flavored coffee since it doesn't have any attributes that compete with the flavorings. Dominican Republic coffee became hard to regularly purchase, and now we use Nicaraguan coffee which shares many of those same attributes.

We roast it about like a Colombia. Not quite into the 2nd cracks (although you could if you wanted). We get a really nice raisin sweetness and a little black cherry, a little bit of acidity. If you roast it lighter, you do get hints of vegetables and grass, so you can't take it much lighter than a medium roast, and if you take it dark, it doesn't hold up real well -- the bitter/roasty notes overpower the coffee flavor. But right around the beginning of 2nd cracks is a REALLY pleasant, albeit ordinary, mug of coffee that most anyone could appreciate.  

US Arrival July 2024