Dominican Republic - Öko Caribe 2021 Organic

 Origin:  Dominican Republic

 Region: Du'arte province

 Crop: 2021

Certs: Organic

 Flavor Notes:

Wood and red fruits dominate the aroma.  The flavor is juicy red fruits such as sweet cherry and huckleberry.  The bitterness and astringency is from wood and walnut skins and can be minimized with keeping the roasting profile not aggressive but you will want to keep in mind you want some in there for balance.  Among the fruit flavors there is also tart mango and incredibly clean sugar cane sweetness and a dry woodland earthiness.

The end impression is one of clean balance and (as odd as it sounds) a nice walk in a warm pine copse with a cool mango/berry juice in hand.

Nestled in the heart of the cacao rich Duarte province in the Dominican Republic, Öko-Caribe (or “eco-Caribe,” in German) is a gem amongst cacao suppliers. With more than 50 years of combined experience in cacao, owners Adriano de Jesus Rodriguez and Gualberto Acebey Torrejon have fine-tuned their systems to ensure consistent, superior quality in their 500+ tons of annual production.

Öko Caribe maintains close relationships with its 165 farmers through technical training, in agronomic practices and organic certification. In addition, owners Adriano and Gualberto have personal relationships with all farmers, offering microfinance loans for cacao-related expenses, as well as personal loans for family emergencies or other community needs. The loyalty between Öko Caribe and the farmers they work with is not only evidenced in daily interactions between staff, management and farmers, but also in their best-in-class, award winning final product.

On the Behmor I would suggest P1 as your starting point and roast at least 20 minutes.

The drum roasting profile I used for the evaluation sample was 13:00/15:15/19:20 @ 258 F.  It would do well at a lighter profile also given the moderate chocolate and fruit notes. That does not mean you have to treat it gentle though.