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Africa: Tanzania


Tanzania Coffee
Map of the Tanzania
 
Ruvuma Coffee District -Tanzania
City of Songea, Ruvuma District
 
Mt Kilimanjaro
Current Crop Comments:

Ruvuma district has been a solid cup, with the generic "Northern" coffees, and Kibo having that off, baggy, "steamed in the container" note. The Southern type is clean cup, zesty, albeit mild next to the Kenyas. We have received 2 peaberry small lots from the south and they are very fruited, winey, complex. Last season we had micro-lots from Nkoanekoli and Ngorongoro that represent progress from the other regions. There is a lot of chaff in the coffee, which has no bearing on cup quality. We cupped a bunch of peaberry lots and they had the typical "transportation problems", that is, coffee that had been baked or steamed in transit. The problem is that Tanzania has realized it gets a premium for its peaberry nomatter the quality ... so what's the incentive to actually pick and care for the coffee better, to prevent this defective character?

 

In terms of the Tanzania coffee character, it belongs to the Central/East African family of washed (wet-processed) coffees, bright (acidy), and mostly aggressively flavorful of which Kenya is certainly the dominant coffee. Peaberries are often sorted out and sold at high premiums, but the cup is sometimes tainted and not worth the price. It has become a novelty coffee, and sells well in the US, so many roasters capitulate. Yes, it is a coffee with great potential but shipments arriving in the US do not always express that truly excellent Tanzanian cup. One possibility is the coffee ages in shipping containers on its way to port, since Tanzania does not have the infrastructure of Kenya. Every so often I cup a really good example of this coffee, but some years are a complete bust. So keep in mind that if there is a current Tanzanian offering listed here, it had to overcome my cynicism and must be pretty damn good. Of the good Tanzanian coffees there are northern regions around Mt. Kilimanjaro, Moshi, Mbeya region and Southern Songea region that drains into the Ruvuma river and Ruvuma Basin.

Coffee Farms:
Total = ?
90% Smallholder
10% plantation
Harvest Times:
October to February
Coffee Workers:
270,000
Grading,
Processing :
AA (14% of crop)
A (24% of crop)
Lowest= HP, coffee from ground + debris
Shade Grown:
Mixed: Coffee is grown with bananas for shade
Certified Organic:
None certified: small coffee farms raise coffee as cash crop, cows and goats (fertilizer, food) and subsistance crops, fruits/vegetables
Major Coffee Growing Regions:

Moshi District: sides of Mt. Kilimanjaro
Arusha: Meru
Oldeani.
Pare: High Plateau between Lakes Nyassa and Taganyika, Songea -Ruvuma (South at Lake Malawi)

Rank in Production::
8th in Africa
24th in World
Botanical Cultivars:
Kents,
Bourbon, Typica/Nyara, Blue Mountain
Introduced:
1893, Bourbon arabica introduced by the Jesuits; Kents introduced in 1920
 

Our Tanzanian Offerings: Please refer to our Reference Page for definitions of terms and cupping numbers used below.

Tanzania Hassambo Macro-Lot Peaberry
Country: Tanzania Grade: Peaberry Region: Hassambo, South Tanzania Mark: Hassambo
Processing: Wet-Processed Crop: March 2008 Arrival Appearance: .2 d/300gr, 17 PB Screen Varietal: Arusha, and Hybrids
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.6 Notes: This is a smaller lot rather than a pooled coffee from many washing stations. It's not exactly a "micro-lot," but from a single, distinct lot from a cooperative washing station nonetheless. So with a little tongue-in-cheek, we thought we would call it a macro-lot. After all, the term "micro-lot" seems like it is being stuck to every other coffee, whether the name truly fits or not. Since nobody has set distinct parameters for what a "micro-lot" is, we've all been left to define it for ourselves, and I suppose my definition is a bit stricter than others. When a lot comes from a larger capacity mill, and is 135 bags, I just think it has exceeded the term "micro". So here's our first "macro-lot" offering, and it's a great cup. It has lower acidity that other Tanzania coffees we offer and a fruited, round, full character. The aromatics are loaded with deep winey notes, almost Syrah-like in their fruited aspect. Full City roasts have dense plum fruit, with a slight peppery zest. While lower in brightness compared to our other Tanzania offering, the Hasambo has a rounded mouthfeel. The finish has distinctly winey character, hence the red wine comparison. City+ roasts of the Hassambo seem a bit "under-developed" which is why I advocate for going a bit darker here.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.7
Brightness - Acidity (1-10) 8.4
Flavor - Depth (1-10) 8.6
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5) 3.5
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10) 8.7
Cupper's Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / Winey, ripe fruited flavor and finish  
add 50 50 Roast: City+ to FC+ roast - see the notes I the review.
Score (Max. 100) 86.5 Compare to: Unique winey fruit, and lower acidity that Tanzanias, and other similar coffees like Kenyas. Those who like Indonesian coffees and find many Africans too bright might enjoy this lot.

Tanzania
Hassambo Macro-Lot Peaberry
$5.90 add to cart
$11.21 add to cart
$25.67add to cart
$48.97add to cart
$90.86add to cart

Tanzania Nyamtimbo Peaberry
Country: Tanzania Grade: Peaberry Region: Nyamtimbo-Songea Ruvuma, South Tanzania Mark:  
Processing: Wet-Processed Crop: March 2008 Arrival Appearance: .2 d/300gr, 17 PB Screen Varietal: Arusha, and Hybrids
Dry Fragrance (1-5) 3.6 Notes: Coffees from South Tanzania have a few advantages that result often in better cup quality. It might not be romantic to list "transportation" alongside "terroir" as major factors in cup quality, but indeed it is. With coffee, it matters little loamy the soild was, not high the elevation of the farm, how ripe the cherry was when harvested, how carefully it was wet-milled, if it gets packed in a container that gets steamed for a couple weeks in a humid port city. Typically, Tanzania pebearry lots were from the northern districts near Kenya actually have a shorter trip to port in Dar Es Salaam, but somehow suffer so much more in the process. Southern district coffees from Ruvuma province, collected and milled in cities of Songea and Nyamtimbo face a longer trip but miraculously survive it better. The key might be logisitcs, or the fact the coffees are better treated in drying, and in particular the rest period when coffee remains in it's parchment shell for 30-60 days before being hulled, sorted, measured for density, and bagged for export. This period is crucial to allow moisture to be distributed evenly in the coffee, to acheive physical stability in the green seed. In any case, Tanzanias can arrive with the baggy burlap-taste defect from day 1, but not here. This is a great, sweet, bright, clean cup. At a lighter City+ roast the dry fragrance has a vivid fruitiness to it with traces of flowers. There is a rose-water, perfumey quality, with a sweet barley grain backdrop. At FC roast these aromatics knit together a bit more, and there's a sweet gingerbread aspect. I recommend the lighter roast, which is simply more dynamic, but at this stage expect the coffee to have a wrinkled surface appearance, with some surface color mottling. In the cup the C+ roast has that malty sweet grain aspect, and orange notes to the acidity, with ripe fruit flavors from start to finish, into the long aftertaste. It has balanced fruity character, and a winey dimension to it. The body is in the middle range, similar to many Kenyas, but it suits the effervescent, lively, bright cup character overall. I am surprised by the substantial mouthfeel, which can often be lacking in a Tanzania, and the balance overall.
Wet Aroma (1-5) 3.7
Brightness - Acidity (1-10) 8.7
Flavor - Depth (1-10) 8.6
Body - Mouthfeel (1-5) 2.9
Finish - Aftertaste (1-10) 8.5
Cupper's Correction (1-5) 0 Intensity/Prime Attribute: Medium intensity / Excellent sweet citrus and floral notes  
add 50 50 Roast: City+, see my review for notes about FC+ roasts
Score (Max. 100) 86 Compare to: East African brightness (Kenya-like) with a milder, less acidic cup overall than most coffees from the Kenya plateau.

Tanzania
Nyamtimbo Peaberry

$5.80add to cart $11.02add to cart $25.23add to cart $48.14add to cart $89.32add to cart


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