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Tanzanian Coffee
Tanzania is number four in coffee exportation in African countries and number 20 among the top largest world coffee producers. Tanzania mainly grows the Arabica beans which are very sensitive water, soil and climate. The coffee is only grown on the equatorial at particular temperatures. The country produces more than 40 000 metric-tons annually with like four thousand families depending on the coffee industries. The coffees are premium and usually high quality. Coffee is among the top largest exports in the country which greatly contribute to the economy.
Introduction of Tanzanian coffee
Coffee plantations in Tanzania are rolling green fields extending through the Zanzibar gateways. The plants were first introduced in the country during the trading through trade routes since coffee was already in a nearby country, Ethiopia. A tribe in the country called Haya In the north west of the nation, chewed, boiled and smoked coffee fruits without drinking the dark beverage. Germans and British colonizers are the ones that developed coffee growing in the country. The communities living around the highlands of Kilimanjaro Mountain worked in coffee plantations such as the chagga.
After the independence though the coffee industry was promising, farms management was by the public which was faced by a lot of complications. Due to this reason, the country privatized coffee growing around the 90s. Coffee farming today in the country consists of very many small scale farmers.
Flavor profile of the Tanzanian coffee
Tanzania is known for high end coffees with fruity taste and bright acidity coupled by tart notes. The coffees are very similar to Kenyan or Ethiopian coffees because they share the equatorial climate and same origin. The peaberry coffee beans from the country have a special delicacy.
Visiting coffee farms in Tanzania
Some companies like the Easytravel aid tourist in visiting the coffee plantations which give a very good adventures experience with the beautiful scenarios. You can also have a cup of coffee as you trek through the plantations.
Some of the paces to visit and experience a pleasant cup of coffee in the country include: Moshi (union cafe) – this is some of the classic local coffee cups. Zanzibar house of coffee is another place to enjoy local coffee together with Fifis restaurant.
Some of interesting things you should know about Tanzanian coffee
- The coffee is usually grown at high altitudes of about 1400 to 1800 meters above the mean sea level.
- The major coffee Arabica varieties grown in the country are the Kent, N&KP and bourbon.
- The harvesting periods are usually from July to August and April to May. The milling process is usually from April to May.
- The common methods for processing the coffee are mostly through natural or sun drying and washing.
- The coffees aroma tends to piped soft tobacco. Major coffee flavors for the Ugandan coffee is usually kiwi, lemon, black tea, chocolate and blackberry. The body is full with pungent, citric and bright acid.
Processing Tanzanian coffee
Coffee processing in Tanzania is not as consist and good quality as the Kenyan coffees processing.
The coffee I mostly winey acidized and is well compared to other African as well as Arabian coffees. The coffee is generally wet processed and the coffee is graded as AA being the highest graded coffees.
Varieties of coffee grown in Tanzania
The main varieties of coffees grown in Tanzania are bourbon, Blue Mountain, Kent and Nyara or typica. The Tanzanian market in Arusha coffees have the name Arusha coffees and the crop is usually grown at the Mt. Meru and Mt. Kilimanjaro highlands. The Arusha coffee is usually French mission and typica variety.
Green coffee farming in Tanzania
About 400 000 small families in Tanzania depend on coffee farming.
Tanzanian peaberry
Some of Tanzanian harvested coffee beans are peaberry which consist of a round single bean per fruit and the coffee is usually sold as premium variety. Peaberry is fruitier tasting and more flavored than the rest of the coffees because it has two beans richness. Owing it is round shaped, it uniformly develops flavor which is a bonus to the coffees complexity in flavor. When blending with other coffees, the bean should be roasted separate due to different in the size and the shape. If roasted together over roasting the coffee beans or under roasting can happen.
Quality of Tanzanian beans
Tanzania is among the top 3 Africa coffee producing countries, after Ethiopia and Kenya and contributes about one percent of total Arabica world’s beans. The coffees are strictly hard or high grown beans (SHG OR SHB). These means the beans are grown at high elevations of 1400-2000 meters above mean sea level as compared to the low quality Robusta coffees. Most of the country’s coffees are sold by middle men (coffee brokers) as green coffee which is distributed abroad by the importers.
Vast majority of the country’s coffee are grown around Kilimanjaro and the highlands to the south. Some common and high end coffee producers in the country are Blackburn estate and Ruvuma.
Tanzania coffee growing regions
Major growing regions in the country are Meru (Arusha), Moshi a district located in Kilimanjaro highlands, Oldeani (Arusha), Plateau between Nyassa and Tanganyika lakes called Pare and Songea along River Ruvuma. The most distinctive and high grown coffees come from moshi and Arusha. The coffee is dense like the Kenyan coffees and is grown along Kenya- Tanzania border along Kilimanjaro.
The coffee grown to the south west of the country experience dry weather conditions and is favored by the good transport system. Other good coffees from the country include the Mbeya coffee and are grown in this southern region.
Other coffee growing regions in the country are Mbinga, Ruvuma, Tanga, Mayara, Kagere, Kigoma, Mwanza, Bukoba, Rukwa, Manyara, Iringa, Mayara and Mara.
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