Dominican Coffee Grading System - Dominican Coffee Beans with Fresh Tropical Fruit Flavors

FrontStreet Coffee - Introduction to Dominican Coffee

In the Dominican Republic, coffee is graded by size using the AA and AB classifications, while coffees from high-altitude regions such as Cibao and Barahona are classified separately as premium quality. The climate conditions resemble those of higher-altitude regions in Central America, and all coffees undergo wet processing. Harvesting in low-altitude areas begins in September, while high-altitude regions (600-1500m) are harvested between February and May of the following year.

Dominican coffee selection uses the costliest manual method. Workers evaluate two criteria above all: the fullness of the beans and their uniformity. On that basis, the fullest and most uniform beans represent the finest, most superior coffee the country produces. Unlike the coffee of Haiti, most coffee grown in the Dominican Republic is washed, which stands for high quality.

Only wet processing is used, to safeguard the quality and stability of the beans. Coffee processed by the wet method retains more original flavor than the dry method, with a cleaner taste that gives off a subtle, pure, and gentle fragrance. In the cup it reveals a delicate fruitiness with a lingering, smooth finish.

Dominican coffee is delicious, sweet, and full-bodied. These carefully wet-processed beans carry a soft, floral-like aroma. Among the many coffee-producing countries of the Caribbean, Dominican beans possess the most representative coffee aroma.

In its refreshing, pleasant aroma, reminiscent of tropical sea breezes, there emerges a distinctive freshness typical of tropical fruit — like the fragrance that lingers after biting into a pineapple. Its medium-low body makes it acceptable even to people who don't normally drink coffee, letting them appreciate its smoothness. The aftertaste doesn't linger too long, but like occasional waves rolling onto silver-white beaches, every memory recalls that crystalline beauty.

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In short: FrontStreet Coffee is a coffee research establishment dedicated to sharing coffee knowledge with everyone. Our comprehensive sharing aims to help more friends fall in love with coffee. Each month we hold three coffee events with significant discounts, because FrontStreet Coffee wants to enable more friends to enjoy the finest coffee at the lowest possible prices. This has been our mission for the past six years.

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Washed processing is a traditional way of handling coffee cherries with water. The steps usually run through flotation, depulping, a soaking fermentation to break down the mucilage, washing or further soaking, and then drying and hulling to reach the green bean. Soaking in water triggers chemical changes inside the bean and consumes much of its monosaccharides — fructose and glucose — which lowers the sugar content while raising various organic acids. That is why washed coffee tends to hold onto more of the bean's own aroma while showing bright fruit acidity, cleanliness, and freshness.

FrontStreet Coffee's Gudingding co-op is a fine example of washed coffee done well. Many people know Yirgacheffe without realizing that local farms are small, so the cherries are sent to a co-op for centralized processing and sale. Gudingding, a capable processing team from Gudingding village, became known for the especially refined and clean cup it produces. Its washed process draws out jasmine blossom and bright citrus acidity to the fullest, and after a medium-light roast the coffee adds green-tea and honey tones — suitable for pour-over, cold brew, and espresso alike.

Kenya Cherry Tomato is another standout of the washed method, since Kenya excels at double-washed processing: the beans go through an extra washing step, with flotation, soaking, rinsing the residual mucilage off the surface, soaking again, then sun-drying and hulling. The repeated rinsing and soaking deliver juice to the extreme, with rich notes of cherry tomato, smoked plum, snow pear, black plum, and brown sugar and a sweet-tart, juicy body. For a classic washed contrast, Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 shows how the method tames a delicate variety: removing the skin, pulp, and mucilage before drying cuts the moisture around the bean and shortens drying time, producing bright, translucent beans with a low defect rate and a pure cup of hazelnut, cream, chocolate, and caramel, balanced with no single note sticking out.