5 Best Dominican Coffee In 2024
Arguably the best part of Dominican coffee culture is that there’s never a wrong time to drink it. Visitors to the country are regularly offered a delicious cup of joe at any and all hours of the day.
In fact, the Dominican Republic produces nearly 500,000 bags of premium, Arabica beans each year. Yet, the country exports less than a quarter of their coffee due to the high volume of domestic coffee consumption.
In other words, Dominicans love their coffee. And how could they not? This tiny Caribbean nation has the perfect coffee-growing climate for cultivating specialty beans.
Don’t fret if you can’t jump on a plane to the Carribean, we have the next-best thing – a list of the very best Dominican coffee beans that are guaranteed to transform your mundane morning cup of joe into a tropical coffee-drinking dream.
Product
Features
Price
Volcanica, Dominican Coffee
- Medium Roast
- Organic, Jarabacoa
Out of the Grey, Dominican Republic Barahona
- Medium Roast
- Organic, Barahona
Santo Domingo, Roasted Whole Bean Coffee
- Medium Roast
- Organic, Fair Trade
Fresh Roasted Coffee, Organic Dominican Republic Coffee
- Medium Roast
- USDA Organic, Fair Trade
Café Kreyol, Coffee Dominican Republic
- Medium Roast
- Organic, Fair Trade
5 Best Dominican Coffee Brands
Volcanica, Dominican Coffee
- Medium Roast
- Organic, Jarabacoa
Grown in the Jarabacoa Region, Volcanica’s single-origin, Dominican bean is creamy, thick, and complex. Packed with lively notes of chocolate, almonds, and molasses, this Dominican bean is known for its earthiness and mild acidity.
Volcanica’s Dominican coffee is also organically grown and hand-picked by the Ramirez Estate in Jarabacoa. The estate, which is nestled at high altitudes in the central mountain range, is infamous for producing award-winning coffee beans.
Volcanica’s coffee beans are freshly roasted on demand and always grown at over 3,000 feet, so it’s easy enough to grab a bag of freshly ground, 100% Arabica Dominican beans and have them delivered directly to your door.
Out of the Grey, Dominican Republic Barahona
- Medium Roast
- Organic, Barahona
Delicate, crisp, and aromatic are just a few ways to describe Out of the Grey’s Dominican Republic bean. Imported from the Barahona region, Out of the Grey’s single-origin Dominican coffee marries robust flavors like chocolate and hazelnut with delicate tones of fir and citrus to produce a complex, bright, and sweet-toned cup of joe.
Barahona beans have a reputation for being the finest Dominican gourmet beans and Out of the Grey’s organic, dark-medium beans readily live up to that reputation. These beans are artisan-roasted, packaged, and shipped to order, so you can sip on the finest Dominican brew to kickstart your morning.
Santo Domingo, Roasted Whole Bean Coffee
- Medium Roast
- Organic, Fair Trade
Santo Domingo is not only the Dominican Republic’s largest city, it’s also the name of the country’s most reputable coffee brand.
Santo Domingo is a ‘field to table’ coffee cultivator, which means they possess the land, the coffee plants, the processing facilities, monitor and oversee the roasting process, and package their own beans. In fact, they even provide the supplies to ship the coffee to your front door.
Not only is Santo Domingo a fair-trade coffee producer, the brand prides themselves on quality, consistency, reliability, and, of course, really great tasting coffee.
Their premium Arabica coffee beans are rich, aromatic, and smooth, offering subtle hints of chocolate and citrus. This bold, well-balanced brew is the perfect pick-me-up, or, according to Santo Domingo, “paradise in a cup!”
Fresh Roasted Coffee, Organic Dominican Republic Coffee
- Medium Roast
- USDA Organic, Fair Trade
Fresh Roasted Coffee is the only coffee-roaster on this list offering a single-origin Cibao brew. This delicious, well-rounded, and sweet cup of joe is characteristically mellow. The muted acidity lends itself nicely to the baked apple, grape, and vanilla flavors in every sip.
As an added bonus, Fresh Roasted Coffee maintains that the family-owned coffee-farm that cultivates their beans organically and ethically grows each batch.
So, not only will you get to enjoy a fresh batch of 100% Arabica Dominican beans, but you’ll also be sipping on an eco-friendly brew no additives, artificial flavors or preservatives.
Café Kreyol, Coffee Dominican Republic
- Medium Roast
- Organic, Fair Trade
Like a few other coffee-roasters on this list, Café Kreyol relies on the trusted Ramirez Estate to cultivate their premium Dominican coffee beans. So, what sets these beans apart? Café Kreyol’s beans are smooth-bodied, yet bold, offering almonds, cocoa, and vanilla soy flavor notes.
Despite their multifaceted flavor profile, Café Kreyol’s Dominican coffee beans are beloved by coffee-drinkers for being well-balanced and robust.
Café Kreyol is also on an admirable mission to change the hearts and circumstances of the less fortunate, one cup of coffee at a time.
Through their Direct Trade System, Café Kreyol is able to offer coffee farmers higher wages and help sustain impoverished, rural coffee-growing regions.
It’s worth noting, this bag of beans is on a limited release. So if you’re hoping to get your hands on a bag, you’ll want to act fast!
Dominican Coffee Flavor Profile
Dominican coffee is said to represent the country’s culture in a cup. In fact, coffee is the Dominican national non-alcoholic drink and declining a cup of joe is the easiest way to offend a local.
Like their Caribbean coffee-cultivating counterpart, Puerto Rico, Dominican beans are known to be rich, full-bodied, and highly aromatic. Though Dominican beans have a reputation for being ‘earthy,’ some varietals will offer sweet notes of chocolate and/or berries.
The very best Dominican beans are also grown at high altitudes, lending nicely to their liveliness and moderate acidity.
Dominican Coffee Growing Regions
The Dominican Republic’s government takes coffee-cultivation very seriously.
In addition to establishing an ADOCAFES association to perfect the flavor profile of the country’s beans, the government has also established several distinct coffee-growing regions – Cibao, Barahona, Noroeste, Neyba, Sierra Sur, Sierra Occidental, and Sierra Central.
Each coffee-growing region contains a variety of microclimates that produce unique and dynamic flavor-profiles. In fact, there are more than 25 individual production zones centered around the island’s four mountain ranges.
The four best-known market names in the Dominican include Cibao, Bani, Ocoa, and Barahona – the latter three receiving the most praise.
Barahona
Barahona beans are generally considered the Dominican’s very best gourmet beans. Known for their rich flavor profile and lively acidity, Barahona beans are often compared to premium Jamaican and Puerto Rican coffee. These beans are grown at high elevations in the southeast region of the island.
Bani and Ocoa
Unlike the robust Barahona bean, Bani and Ocoa beans are known for their mild acidity and subtlety. In fact, Bani and Ocoa beans are typically referred to as ‘soft’ and ‘smooth’ rather than full-bodied or bold.
But that’s not to say that Bani and Ocoa beans don’t have a lot to offer – both beans offer a healthy variety of flavor notes and are known to be the perfect base for a flavorful cup of joe.
Cibao
Like Barahona coffee, Cibao is known to be full-bodied and packed with flavor. However, Cibao beans are far less acidic than their Barahona counterparts and tend to be much sweeter. Cibao is grown on the north end of the country and specialty Cibao beans, also known as Ciabao Altura, are grown at high elevations.
Conclusion
The Dominican Republic produces some of the best coffee in the world. The country’s high-elevation, premium beans are rarely blended with subpar beans and are universally enjoyed in the coffee-loving community.
So, if you haven’t had a chance to dabble in Caribbean beans, Dominican Republic coffee is the perfect place to start.