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COFFEE JOURNEY: Dominican Republic
Jarabacoa
1/19/2005
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-- Seedlings in Shade
-- Shade Grown Coffee
-- Overhead View
-- Harvesting -- Fruit from Coffee Farm -- Sorting -- Cupping
One of the parts that I love most about this business is traveling to origin. No matter what coffee country I'm in, I feel at home. Maybe it's the beautiful, lush landscapes. Maybe it's the passion of the people who put so much care into harvesting and processing the coffee. Maybe it's the food. Maybe it's the tropical climate mixed with cool mountain air. Whatever the reason, I love coffee countries. We spent most of our first few years in business developing relationships with different origin countries and fine-tuning our coffee selections. This was a time when I traveled heavily. The past few years have been tougher because the everyday management of running a company has been extremely time-consuming. Finally, my wife and I were able to set aside some time to visit a new region. This time we decided to visit the Dominican Republic. I happen to have a good friend who lives there and I have always been intrigued by Dominican coffee and its limited presence in the U.S. In the next few weeks, I will post a detailed overview of our trip on the Mayorga website, which will include my opinions on the coffee that we cupped. For now, I figured a brief "pictorial" with descriptions would be nice. |
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Seedlings in Shade ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The seeds are first planted into a bed, and then the
healthy, strong seedlings are selected and planted
into a small container, where they will develop until
they are about 3 months old. They spend all of this
time under the protective shade provided by a
supsended cheese cloth. Finally, the healthiest of
those seedlings will be placed in the farm to replace
damaged or old plants, or simply as a new planting.
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Shade Grown Coffee ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While not all coffee in the Jarabacoa region is shade-
grown, we specifically looked for the coffees grown
in shade and at a high altitude. The shade
protection allows the cherries to ripen more slowly,
thereby developing a sharper, richer flavor in
the cup.
Shade coffee has become synonymous with high-quality coffee, but the benefits don't stop there: such tree canopies also protect the mountains from erosion, provide a refuge for migratory birds, and even fix nitrogen in the soil, thus reducing the need for additional fertilizers.
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Overhead View ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From one of the highest peaks in the Jarabacoa
region, you can see the rows of coffee under partial
shade.
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Harvesting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The coffee is picked by hand with care. The pickers
focus on only the red, ripe cherries that will provide
rich, bold flavors.
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Fruit from Coffee Farm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After we toured one of the small family farms, the
owner and his wife were waiting for us with coffee as
well as oranges and strawberries that grow along
with the coffee.
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Sorting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the coffee has been sun dried and machine
sorted, it is then sorted by hand to remove any
defected beans. This process is critical, as one
defect in a pot of coffee can affect the
taste of the entire pot.
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Cupping ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Overall, I was impressed with the quality of the
coffees that I cupped from the Jarabacoa region. All
had a nice acidity and lively fruit flavors. They were
were well-balanced. My personal favorite was a
single lot certified organic.
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Like most coffee regions, Jarabacoa is beautiful. The people are friendly and welcoming, and they care about their community. In my opinion, Jarabacoa coffee is poised to be not only recognized, but sought after in the U.S. market. In a country with so much to offer in tourism and trade, I'm amazed that coffee from this region lies virtually ignored by U.S. buyers. Maybe it's because their export production is a fraction of Latin American countries. Maybe it's because the cost is slightly higher due to higher energy and labor costs in the Dominican Republic. Maybe it's the lack of marketing and branding by the cooperatives and associations. Whatever the reason, it is my hope that Mayorga Coffee will help to shift the spotlight toward this abundant region in the coming months.
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Contact Information ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email:
martin@mayorgacoffee.com
phone:
877-526-3322
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