FLAVOR PROFILE: red berries & mango top notes becoming less & less so; almond, brazil nut, cream; tertiary spices, coffee & cocoa
CHARACTERISTICS: full-bodied; bold, robust dark tone; sometimes bitter
f/k/a Carúpano, a once proud brand name until Preuss surveyed it in 1901 as a ‘Trinitario’ of “inferior variety” compared to the grand Criollos. Grown nearby from where its name comes – the town of Caribe in Paria, Sucre State, Venezuela. Subsequently improved since it fell out of flavor, then rebranded ‘Rio Caribe’ – a regional designation for a diverse crop whose core nowadays is technically a cross between Ocumare 61 x IMC 67 (combining cream-factor from the former & fruit from the latter) + an Amazon strain imported via neighboring Surinam.
