Dominican coffee and cacao explained

The hills behind Puerto Plata sit at the right altitude for arabica coffee and the right humidity for cacao, and small family farms have grown both for generations. Dominican cacao is mostly organic and much of it is fermented and dried on the farm, which is why the country is one of the largest exporters of certified organic cocoa in the world. Break open a fresh pod and the beans are covered in a white pulp that tastes like lychee. Coffee here is usually roasted dark and drunk small, strong and sweet, served in a plastic cup from a thermos at any street corner. Ask for a cafecito. Plantation visits in the hills are a relaxed half day. You walk the rows under shade trees, watch the drying beds, roast a handful of beans over a fire and taste chocolate that was a pod on a tree that morning.