Coffee first found its way to the lands in today's Dominican Republic as early as 1735. The first Dominican Coffea seedlings grew in Bahoruco Panzo near Neyba in the island republic's south-western corner. As sugar was the number one export until the 1980s, Dominican coffee farmers had more freedom to focus on quality, cultivating mainly the Typica, Catuai and Caturra varieties.
The island has a diverse climate, which results in vastly different coffees coming from this small Caribbean country. While the northern coasts are tropical with temperatures of around 28ºC, it is much cooler and wetter in the south.
High-grown coffee has a heavier body, while beans from lower lying regions are softer and have a lower acidity. Dominican coffee is extremely balanced in flavour, and the best examples have chocolate and spicy notes.
