Haitian coffee has a long history, one of the earliest regions planted in coffee in the Americas, and still has a good potential for quality coffee.
It is said that coffee cultivation was first introduced to Haiti in 1715, one of the earliest entries of coffee into the Americas. But these plants might not have taken and later been replaced by those brought by Gabriel de Clieu in 1720-25. The story of de Clieu's introduction of coffee comes from his account in the "Année littéraire" of 1774, after first planting coffee on the French-run colony on Martinique.
Haiti became the major coffee-producing region of not only the Americas, but the world, at times supplying up to 60% of the coffee traded globally! But through cycles of booms and busts, hurricanes, plant disease, earthquakes, and the fickle fate of global trade, Haiti now produces a minimal amount of coffee compared to its historic highs. Much coffee grown in Haiti is consumed in Haiti. Often the picking and processing for the local coffees are not ideal, and very little Haitian coffee is currently exported. However, the potential for quality still exists to produce a clean, mild cup in the vein of the "island flavor profile," as one might find from other Caribbean nations.
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