Back in November on our quick trip to the Haiti Coffee Academy, we visited our friends at the Association des Paysans Agricoles de Savane-Zombie, the group of farmers that produced the delicious Savan Zombi lot. Not only did we get to see the way they process small lots of their beans, using an old-school hand crank huller, we were also treated to a real Haitian cup of coffee: super strong and crazy sweet.
Hot water is poured through a cloth bag full of coffee grounds and sugar over and over, creating a syrupy brew with major body. As it passed through the coffee mixture, the water seemed to pick up only the sweetest notes of the beans without over-extracting the bitter notes. Our kind hosts passed out pieces of dense, tasty bread for dipping into the coffee, and we stood around together on the drying patio enjoying the mid-morning Haitian sun and good company. We drink lots of cups of coffee every day, but that was one cup we won’t soon forget.
6 comments
I spend a little time in Leogane doing some mission work and loved having the coffee that was grown and processed nearby the compound that I stayed at. I would love to try some of the Haitian coffees that you have all procured when I can afford to do so!
We have so enjoyed the RaRa Jean Baptiste. I will try the other brand to see if we can continue to support the people of Haiti.
In the years that we lived in Haiti (mid-80’s) out in the countryside (“an deyo”) the locally harvested beans were “roasted” with raw sugar cane. The result was unique but way too burnt tasting for this dark roast loving coffee drinker.