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Rodríguez is one of a growing number of coffee producers who want to make Dominican coffee famous for quality rather than quantity - in much the same way Dominican cigars are now regarded as among the finest in the world.  Quality, however, doesn’t seem to be a problem. Rodríguez  claims that the chairman of a large specialty coffee association has said that - Dominican coffee is much better than Jamaica’s Blue Mountain - which retails for upwards of $90 a pound in Tokyo.

For more than 265 years, coffee has been part of Dominican culture, with per-capita consumption now at around 3.0 kilograms per year. Coffee is cultivated in four mountain ranges: the Cordillera Septentrional; the Cordillera Central (with the country’s highest mountain, Pico Duarte, at 3,175 meters above sea level); the Sierra de Bahoruco and the Sierra de Neyba.

Peltier said Dominican coffees are particularly sought after for espresso blends because of its mild, soft flavor.  The Japanese love Dominican coffee because it’s from the Caribbean and it’s something that goes well in their flavor profile,  she said.

In contrast to Central America, there are almost no volcanic soils in these mountain ranges. As a consequence, the Dominican Republic produces unique drinking and cupping characteristics. In fact, only the Cordillera Central is of granite origin. The other ranges contain a calcium substrate, which is a very rare distinction in the world of coffee and which provides this coffee with a particular taste.

Average rainfall is 1,800 to 2,200 millimeters a year, while coffee grows at altitudes of 300 to 1,500 meters above sea level. Virtually 100% of the country’s coffee production is washed Arabica; 90% of planted areas consist of typica with shade, and little or no use of chemical products, with the remaining 10% consisting of caturra with regulated shade or no shade in the highest areas.

The Dominican coffee harvest begins in August or September at lower altitudes in the southern half of the country, and continues until May or June at higher altitudes in the north. The great variety of altitudes and numerous flowerings permits production of Dominican coffee almost year-round.

Coffee is important in this country not only because of the revenues produced by the industry, but also the people, culture and communities that live from the plantations, said Rodríguez.

Café Serrano used to export semi-roasted coffee to Puerto Rico. Last year, the island bought 100,000 quintales of bulk coffee from the Dominican Republic, nearly all of it from Industrial Banilejas (Induban), makers of Café Santo Domingo.

The Puerto Rican market is for semi-roasted coffee, not green coffee, he said. At this moment, only Café Santo Domingo is reaching that market.