The days are shorter now. I remember how we have tried to copy the north a couple of times during my childhood and for a brief period the clocks were set back an hour in DR to mark of the end of summer; even though the heat in the Caribbean usually intensifies by the humidity in October and November just before it gets a bit cooler by Christmas. The lack of interim holidays like Halloween or Thanksgiving made the families start Christmas decoration early in November and some crazy competitive moms would even start hanging wreaths in October. Personally the holidays brought me many anxieties and disappointments as my birthday falls too close to the holidays and most relatives would merge the two occasions to give me just one present. Stores would set their windows with toys by October and I would stare for hours at the Star Wars action figures, fancy robots or chemistry sets on my way back from school, always hoping the next December would be different. There was always that aunt who would think a child would be happy with fabric for a pair of pants as a gift. In what I could only describe as a complot to ruin my holidays, she would tell all other aunts, cousins and even my mother about the early-bird fabric sales at the main department store La Casa Amarilla and I would get, not just two yards of black summer wool from “Corte Inglés” but enough fabric to make my tailor Mr. Ureña a happy man and to dress me up in nerdy pants until next Christmas. I would be furious and sad when right after opening the presents I was forced by my mother to say thanks; “what do you say, to your tia? - Gracias!”
Now in the States, the end of Daylight Saving Time brings with it cooler nights and harder-to-wake-up mornings, nurturing a lazy love affair with my duvet. Aiming at interrupting the unproductive liaison with my comforter, I decided to try different Dominican coffees. I started my search for online Dominican coffee resellers thinking this would serve a triple purpose: alleviate my morning laziness, act as a muse for writing this blog and in the process buzz me enough so I wont have to think about the upcoming holidays blues. I liked the buzz part! I grew up with coffee grown at my grandmother’s farm roasted by her cook and given to us, together with the rest of the agricultural commodities, every Sunday when we visited her. I was partial to the taste of her dark brew having learned to roast it myself; I even picked some beans during my stays at the farm. During the last decade, I was introduced to the different coffees of DR while I worked with farmers in the mountains of the south of Dominican Republic developing some tours to fair trade coffee initiatives with FEDECARES. While I could identify the coffees that I like I don’t consider myself a coffee cupper or connoisseur, not even an aficionado.
I ordered 3 types of organic fair trade coffees and some traditional brands. Every morning in October and now part of November I have woken up to a different coffee or a different combination of the morning brew; concocting in the process my own anti-sluggish formula and the perfect excuse to get high on coffee. You can find all the coffees here. My favorite was the one called Café Femenino! (Feminine Coffee) Go figure! I heard of the term before when I worked with the coffees cooperatives but to be honest I expected a pink, more curvaceous package or a delicate tasting coffee. This coffee was great (no affected mannerism or weakness!) full of strong caramel aroma and a great balance between its acidity, bitterness and sweetness with just a hint of saltiness. I don’t like high acidic or strong bitter coffees and I prefer a medium dark roast with more chocolate tones. I tried Jamamucito from Karoma Mundo (produced by the same manufacturer of the world famous Karoma Estate Coffee), although not organic or fair trade certified, I met the owners and visited their farm where I saw they care enough about responsible practices that in my opinion their coffees are socially accountable. This brew was more like the fancy coffees you taste at coffee houses, rich and creamy with dry fruit undertones a hint of chocolate and just the right amount of acidity leaving a great aftertaste. I could not talk about Dominican Coffee without reviewing Café Santo Domingo or its fancy version Induban Gourmet. Café Santo Domingo is the most popular coffee in DR and the easier to buy here in USA, its taste is similar to the famous Bustelo but it’s lighter in flavor and the one sold on the internet tasted milder than the one I bought in the island; beside its nostalgic value I prefer a coffee sourced with more responsible practices and with a better social track. The Induban Gourmet and Café Don Jorge were ok coffees and price/value are the best commercial coffees available online. I expected to find more Organic or for that matter more Dominican coffees available online here in USA, but that was not the case. I went to Porto Rico in Manhattan and found the same origin Café Femenino as online but freshly roasted and still think this is the best coffee for a proud Dominican caffeine addict.
For Coffee vacations plans in DR write to iLoveDominicanRepublic or Tequia Experiences. Find Coffee selections reviewed here at ilovedominicanrepublic.com/store.
Additional photos from www.goodstuffnw.com and www.santodomingocafe.com.
// <![CDATA[ !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs'); // ]]>
// <![CDATA[ !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs'); // ]]>
// <![CDATA[ google_ad_client = "ca-pub-5342069559346794"; google_ad_slot = "4726713120"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; // ]]>// <![CDATA[ // ]]>