By the mid-18th century, Saint-Domingue was the crown jewel of the French Empire. Though small in size, it produced roughly 40% of all the sugar and 60% of all the coffee consumed in Europe. The Landscape: The colony was a grid of massive, highly organized plantations. From the fertile Northern Plain to the southern cliffs, the air was thick with the scent of boiling cane juice and drying coffee beans.