Altitude:
600–1,300m (2,000–4,300ft)
Harvest:
July–February
CUBA
Coffee came to Cuba from the island of Hispaniola in 1748, but there was little coffee industry to speak of until the influx of French settlers in 1791, fleeing the Haitian revolution. By 1827 there were around two thousand coffee farms on the island and coffee became a major export, generating more money than sugar.
Castro’s revolution, from 1953 to 1961, brought with it the nationalization of coffee farms and production dropped almost immediately. Those who volunteered to farm coffee had no experience and those who had previously worked the land had fled the country in the wake of the revolution. Coffee production struggled on the island, and little in the way of incentives or encouragement from the government did much to bolster the industry, though production did peak in the 1970s at around 30,000 tonnes (30,000 tons) of coffee. As Cuba’s coffee industry was faltering, many Central American countries continued to enjoy greater exports and success in international markets.
The breakdown of the Soviet Union left Cuba increasingly isolated, and the trade embargo placed on Cuba by the United States removed a major potential market. Japan has been the major importer of Cuban coffee, though Europe remains a strong market. The best coffees are typically exported, usually around one-fifth of the total production, leaving the rest for domestic consumption. Cuba’s own production does not cover domestic demand and in 2013 the country spent nearly $40 million on imported coffee. The coffee being imported into Cuba is not of the highest quality so it is relatively cheap, but high market prices have led to the reappearance of the habit of mixing in roasted peas to bulk out the coffee.
‘CUBAN COFFEE’
A number of Cuban coffee preparations have spread around the world, including Cortadito, Café con Leche and Café Cubano. The latter refers to an espresso that is sweetened as it is brewed, by adding sugar to the ground coffee.
In the United States especially, and in other places, it is not uncommon to see ‘Cuban Coffee’ advertised. True Cuban coffee is illegal in the United States due to the trade embargo, but this term is often used to describe a Café Cubano. Coffees, often from Brazil, are selected to represent the flavours one might expect from Cuba but there are, of course, concerns about confusion among customers and mislabelling of goods.
Right now Cuban coffee production remains low at around 6,000–7,000 tonnes (6,600–7,700 tons) a year. Much of the equipment used is old, and many producers are still reliant on mules. Roads are often badly damaged by alternating rain and drought and are poorly maintained. Coffee is usually dried in the sun, though some mechanical drying takes place, and most of the coffees grown for export are washed. Cuba’s climate and topography are well suited to coffee growing and its scarcity may add much to its value, but there are many challenges facing those producers wishing to create high-quality coffees.
TRACEABILITY
Cuban coffees are unlikely to be traceable down to a single farm, and are often only traceable down to a particular region or sub-region of the country.
Though the climate and topography suit the crop, Cuba’s coffee industry suffers from poor infrastructure and equipment.
TASTE PROFILE
Cuban coffees have a typical island coffee profile: relatively low in acidity with a heavier body.
GROWING REGIONS
Population: 11,239,000
Number of 60kg (132lb) bags in 2016: 100,000
Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean. Much of it is relatively low-lying plains but there are some mountainous areas suitable for coffee.
SIERRA MAESTRA
This mountainous region runs the length of the southern coast and has a long history of guerrilla warfare, from the 1500s to the revolution in the 1950s. Most of the coffee production on the island is located here.
Altitude:
1,000–1,200m (3,300–3,900ft)
Harvest:
July–December
Varieties:
Mostly Typica, some Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Catimor
SIERRA DEL ESCAMBRAY
A small amount of Cuba’s coffee is grown in this mountain range in the middle of the island.
Altitude:
350–900m (1,100–3,000ft)
Harvest:
July–December
Varieties:
Mostly Typica, some Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Catimor
SIERRA DEL ROSARIO
Coffee farms have existed in this region since 1790, though relatively little of Cuba’s coffee is grown here now. Instead the mountains are home to Cuba’s first Biosphere Reserve, and this is a protected area.
Altitude:
300–550m (1,000–1,800ft)
Harvest:
July–December
Varieties:
Mostly Typica, some Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai, Catimor
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Coffee came to the Spanish-controlled portion of the island of Hispaniola, what is now the Dominican Republic, in 1735. The first plantings were probably on a hill in Bahoruco Panzo, near Neyba. By the end of the 18th century, coffee had become the second most important crop after sugar, though both relied heavily on slavery until the revolution of 1791.
Coffee production really took root between 1822 and 1844, particularly in the region of Valdesia in the southern mountains. This region contains several coffee-growing areas and became the primary production area in the country by 1880.
By 1956 the country had started to export coffees from specific regions, predominantly Bani, Ocoa and Valdesia. In the 1960s the farmers in these regions became more organized, and a mill was opened in 1967 with 155 members.
As in many coffee-producing countries, the turmoil and unpredictability of prices at the end of the 20th century have lead to a decreased dependence on coffee as an export product. Many producers diversified into beans or avocados, though a good number of them have retained a small amount of coffee in case prices recover.
Although Valdesia is not one of the main government-designated growing regions, they have sought to protect its origin name with the launch, in 2010, of the Café de Valdesia brand.
Crops from the mountainous Barahona region in the Dominican Republic are of especially high quality.
EXPORT VS DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION
Interestingly it seems that since the late 1970s the quantity of coffee produced in the Dominican Republic has varied little, but exports have dropped dramatically. Currently only about twenty per cent of the coffee harvested is sold for export. This is because domestic coffee consumption is relatively high at approximately 3kg (6½lb) per person per year, more than the United Kingdom. In 2007, around half of exports were shipped via Puerto Rico, though this acts as a gateway to the United States. The rest of the coffee was destined for Europe and Japan.
Since 2001, more and more of the coffee destined for export has been organically grown and certified, adding value and revenue to the industry. But while organic production is overall a good thing, it should be reiterated that it does not necessarily make a better cup of coffee.
Some argue that the high domestic consumption of coffee in the Dominican Republic has resulted in lower quality overall, as the coffee is not competing with other exporting countries for this particular market. Nonetheless, there are still great coffees to be found in the Dominican Republic.
TRACEABILITY
While it is possible to get some extremely traceable coffees, usually down to a particular farm, much of what is exported is not particularly traceable past the growing region. These coffees are often graded by bean size, with designations such as ‘Supremo’, which may carry a premium but not one that is based on cup quality.
TASTE PROFILE
Typical of coffees grown on islands, the better lots tend to be quite mild, low to middling in acidity and relatively clean.
GROWING REGIONS
Population: 10,075,000
; Number of 60kg (132lb) bags in 2016: 400,000
The climate in the Dominican Republic is a little different to many other coffee-producing countries. It doesn’t have clear seasons, neither in terms of temperature nor in terms of rainfall. This means that coffee production is often taking place, to some extent, throughout the year, though the main harvest tends to be from November to May.
BARAHONA
This region is on the southwest side of the island and the coffee here is grown in the Bahoruco mountain range. The area has established a reputation for high quality, compared to the island’s other regions. Agriculture is the main industry here, and coffee the main product.
Altitude:
600−1,300m (2,000–4,300ft)
Harvest:
October–February
Varieties:
80% Typica, 20% Caturra
CIBAO
Coffee is an important product in this region, along with rice and cacao. Cibao is on the north side of the island, and its name means ‘place where rocks abound’. The name refers specifically to the valley between the Central and Septentrional mountain ranges.
Altitude:
400–800m (1,300–2,600ft)
Harvest:
September–December
Varieties:
90% Typica, 10% Caturra
CIBAO ALTURA
This region is defined as being the higher-altitude areas within the Cibao region.
Altitude:
600−1,500m (2,000–4,900ft)
Harvest:
October–May
Varieties:
30% Typica, 70% Caturra
CENTRAL MOUNTAINS (CORDILLERA CENTRAL)
This mountain range is the highest in the Dominican Republic, and is also known as the ‘Dominican Alps’. The geology of the region is notably different from the surrounding areas so the coffee here is the only coffee on the island that is grown on granite substrate, rather than calcium.
Altitude:
600−1,500m (2,000–4,900ft)
Harvest:
November–May
Varieties:
30% Typica, 65% Caturra, 5% Catuai
NEYBA
This region (also spelled Neiba) is named after its capital city, and is in the southwest of the island. The region is quite flat and low and is primarily used for grapes, plantain and sugar, but coffee does grow higher up in the Sierra del Neyba mountains.
Altitude:
700−1,400m (2,300–4,600ft)
Harvest:
November–February
Varieties:
50% Typica, 50% Caturra
VALDESIA
This is probably the best known of the growing regions on the island, and has been award a Denomination of Origin to protect the value of its exports. As it is well defined and protected, it has gained a good reputation, and a small premium associated with it.
Altitude:
500−1,100m (1,600–3,600ft)
Harvest:
October–February
Varieties:
40% Typica, 60% Caturra
ECUADOR
Coffee came relatively late to Ecuador, arriving in around 1860 in the province of Manabí. Coffee production spread throughout the country and by around 1905 exports to Europe began from the port of Manta. Ecuador is one of the relatively few countries to grow both Arabica and Robusta coffee.
After disease ravaged much of the cocoa crop in 1920s, many farmers began to focus on coffee. Exports began to grow from 1935, and what was 220,000 bags then became around 1.8 million bags by 1985. The world coffee crisis of the 1990s caused an inevitable drop in production, but by 2011 production was back to around one million bags per year. Until the 1970s coffee had been Ecuador’s main export crop, but it was later replaced by oil, shrimps and bananas.
Ecuadorians consume more soluble coffee than they do fresh and, interestingly, the cost of coffee production in Ecuador is high enough that soluble coffee manufacturers there import coffee from Vietnam instead of buying it in Ecuador.
Ecuador does not hold a great reputation for quality coffee. In part this is because forty per cent of its production is Robusta but still most of Ecuador’s exported coffee is relatively low quality. To keep production costs down, much of the crop is dried either on the tree before picking, or on patios, and the term to describe this natural process locally is café en bola. This coffee generally ends up in soluble coffee, and around 83 per cent of the country’s export has been naturally processed. Colombia is one of the main importers because manufacturers of soluble coffee there will pay a better price than local ones. This is because Colombian coffee is expensive due to the strength of the national brand in foreign markets.
While coffee has been produced in Ecuador for a long time, there are those who feel that it is only now worth considering coffee from this country as a hidden gem full of potential. There is certainly the geography and climate to produce extraordinary coffees, and it will be interesting to see if investment from the speciality coffee industry results in some great new coffees hailing from Ecuador in the future.
Ecuadorian coffee crops are not recognized for their quality, as much of the harvest is processed naturally – a method known locally as cafe en bola.
TRACEABILITY
It is rare to find coffee traceable down to a single estate. It is more common to see a lot from a group of producers, or sometimes a lot can be put together by an exporter. Lots like this can come from a large numbers of farmers, but may still be excellent.
TASTE PROFILE
Coffees from Ecuador are beginning to live up to their potential for quality, with sweeter and more complex coffees becoming available. They are made more interesting by a pleasant acidity.
GROWING REGIONS
Population: 16,144,000
Number of 60kg (132lb) bags in 2016: 600,000
Ecuadorean coffees are coming to increasing prominence within the speciality coffee industry, and while lower-lying regions are less likely to produce great coffees, the higher altitude areas hold great potential.
MANABI
Nearly fifty per cent of the Arabica in Ecuador is produced here. But with almost all of the coffee in this region growing below 700m (2,300ft), this area does not have the necessary altitude to produce excellent coffees.
Altitude:
500–700m (1,600–2,300ft)
Harvest:
April–October
Varieties:
Typica, Caturra, Robusta
LOJA
Around twenty per cent of the Arabica in the country comes from this mountainous region in the south, and from a geographical perspective this region has the greatest potential for quality. Most of the focus from the speciality coffee sector is here. However, the area is susceptible to difficult weather which can, as happened in 2010, result in an increase in damage from coffee berry borer.
Altitude:
up to 2,100m (6,900ft)
Harvest:
June–September
Varieties:
Caturra, Bourbon, Typica
EL ORO
This coastal region in the southwest of the country includes part of the Andes mountain chain and produces less than ten per cent of Ecuador’s annual coffee production. The main focus on coffee is around the town of Zaruma (not to be confused with the region of Zamora).
Altitude:
1,200m (3,900ft)
Harvest:
May–August
Varieties:
Typica, Caturra, Bourbon
ZAMORA CHINCHIPE
This province is just to the east of Loja and has sufficient altitude to produce great coffee, although only four per cent of the country’s Arabica is produced here. Organic production is relatively common in this area.
Altitude:
up to 1,900m (6,200ft)
Harvest:
May–August
Varieties:
Typica, Caturra, Bourbon
GALAPAGOS
/> A small amount of coffee is produced on the Galapagos islands, and its proponents claim that the climate there mimics a much higher altitude, allowing higher-quality coffee to be grown. Coffees like this can be extremely expensive, and rarely does the quality in the cup match the price.
Altitude:
350m (1,100ft)
Harvest:
June–September and December–February
Varieties:
Bourbon
EL SALVADOR
Coffee was first produced commercially in El Salvador in the 1850s. It soon became a favoured crop, with tax breaks for producers. Coffee production became an important part of the economy and the country’s main export, and by 1880 El Salvador was the fourth-largest producer of coffee in the world, producing more than twice as much as it does today.
The World Atlas of Coffee: From beans to brewing - coffees explored, explained and enjoyed Page 22
