In the landscape of African specialty coffee, Tanzania's Kilimanjaro has always occupied a unique position. It lacks the sharp acidity of Kenya, yet wins the name "Coffee Gentleman" with its soft, rounded citrus-berry tones, honey sweetness, and tea-like finish. Front Street Coffee, through multiple roasting adjustments and cupping pour-over verifications, ultimately determined this bean's roasting curve, striving to present the true flavor of its origin. This article will provide a complete analysis of this bean's flavor code, from Tanzanian coffee history, cultivated varieties (Bourbon, Typica, Kent), the Kilimanjaro volcanic region, washed processing, AA grading, roasting parameters, to V60 three-stage brewing.

The coffee bean that Front Street Coffee is introducing today comes from Kilimanjaro in the northern region of Tanzania, Africa.

Front Street Coffee made several different roasting adjustments to this Kilimanjaro coffee bean, ultimately determining its roasting parameters. Through pour-over brewing, it was found that the Kilimanjaro coffee bean has pronounced fruity acidity, but not as intense as Kenya's, leaning more toward citrus and berry tones, full of sweet and sour sensation—a uniquely origin-flavored African coffee bean.

This is the necessary path Front Street Coffee takes every time it receives a new coffee bean. Roasting not only tests the coffee roaster's understanding of the bean's origin, but also requires cupping, pour-over, and other tasting steps to determine whether the roasting curve is appropriate. Therefore, Front Street Coffee often encounters this phenomenon: a single cup of coffee involves multiple items to evaluate. Although it takes time, Front Street Coffee believes it is necessary—without repeated trial processes, Front Street Coffee will not easily put a coffee bean on the shelf.

Front Street Coffee — Tanzania Kilimanjaro Coffee

Region: Northern Highlands, Kilimanjaro Volcanic Area

Variety: Bourbon

Processing Method: Washed

Grade: AA

Altitude: 1300-2000m

Tanzania

In Tanzania, coffee is called kahawa. Tanzania is a typical East African country, bordering Kenya and Uganda to the north, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to the south, and Rwanda and Burundi to the west. Its coffee history is actually quite long, with coffee cultivation area of approximately 250,000 hectares.

When mentioning Tanzanian coffee, many coffee people first think of Kilimanjaro coffee. Indeed, this is a unique "Kilimanjaro flavor," with a full-bodied texture, moderate acidity, and rich aroma, earning the reputation of "Coffee Gentleman."

Comparing Tanzanian coffee with its neighbor Kenya, Front Street Coffee finds that Tanzanian coffee has less bright acidity, showing more of a soft and gentle beauty, with more sweet fragrance. Its strong red wine character is also a feature of Tanzania.

Although not as famous as Kenyan beans, its annual output is almost equal to Kenya's, reaching 50,000 tons. The earliest Arabica seeds were introduced from Reunion Island and planted in the Bayamoyo and Mogoro regions. In 1893, beans planted on the slopes of Kilimanjaro became the most successful coffee beans. Other varieties were successively introduced from neighboring Burundi in the 1950s and planted in western Tanzania. Currently, they are mainly grown in high-altitude areas, accounting for 75%, while local wild coffee still continues to appear.

Unlike most African producing countries, Tanzania's coffee bags are not the common jute bags, but rough fiber bags made from agave leaves. This is because the local government, in order to protect Tanzania's sisal industry, banned the use of jute bags.

Cultivated Varieties

The most commonly cultivated coffee varieties in Tanzania are Bourbon, Typica, and Kent.

Bourbon

Bourbon is also a natural mutation originally from Yemen. Its name comes from its initial growing place, Bourbon Island, now known as Reunion Island. During the French colonial period, the French often exported this coffee overseas, especially to the United States. Bourbon coffee fruits are short and round, with high density in the pulp and seeds. Bourbon coffee typically has high sweetness and bright acidity. Bourbon coffee's yield is 20-30% higher than Typica, but it is still considered a low-yield bean variety and is equally susceptible to leaf rust disease.

Generally, when we speak of Bourbon, we mostly refer to Red Bourbon. Because after Red Bourbon coffee trees flower and bear fruit, the color of the coffee fruit changes from: green > slightly yellow > slightly orange > ripe red > then darker red. Therefore, some also say that Red Bourbon planted at high altitudes typically has better aroma, while the acidity is brighter, even tasting similar to red wine. Front Street Coffee's Tanzania Kilimanjaro variety is precisely Bourbon.

Typica

It has excellent taste performance and is recognized as a specialty coffee variety, but its yield is extremely low and it is susceptible to rust disease, requiring more manpower for management. Typica coffee originated in Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan, and is the most widely cultivated coffee variety in the Western Hemisphere. The plant is relatively robust but not tolerant of light. Typica's top leaves are copper-red, hence called Red Top coffee.

Kent

A Typica hybrid variety discovered in 1911 at the Kent coffee estate in the Mysore region of India, bred from S288 and Typica, with high yield and rust resistance. Its coffee aroma is more full-bodied than Bourbon, and it has been introduced to Kenya, Indonesia, and other New World producing countries, making outstanding contributions.

Kilimanjaro Volcanic Region

Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro reaches an altitude of 5,895 meters and is connected to Mount Meru. The coffee here grows at altitudes of 1,150 to 1,500 meters. It is Tanzania's largest coffee producing region and an important lifeline of Tanzania's economy. Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest peak on the African continent and the only snow-capped peak on Earth located on the equator. The fertile volcanic ash endows the coffee here with a full-bodied texture and soft acidity, possessing the typical characteristics of African coffee beans.

The northern coffee producing regions of Tanzania are the Moshi, Mbeya, and other areas around the Kilimanjaro foothills highlands, while to the south, the Songea-Ruvuma area through which the Ruvuma River flows is predominant.

ARUSHA

Arusha is adjacent to the producing areas around Mount Kilimanjaro. This area surrounds the active Meru volcano, which has been dormant since 1910.

Altitude: 1100–1800m

Harvest Period: July–December

Varieties: Kent, Bourbon, Typica

Ruvuma

This area is located in the southernmost part of Tanzania, and its name comes from the Ruvuma River. Coffee is grown in the Mbingo area and is considered a potential high-quality coffee producing region, though development was previously hindered by insufficient funds.

Altitude: 1200–1800m

Harvest Period: June–October

Varieties: Kent, Bourbon, and N5 and N39 derived from Bourbon

KNCU&TCMB

In the past, Tanzania's coffee industry was dominated by estate cultivation, but now over 85% is grown by smallholders. Many smallholders have formed cooperative organizations, the most important of which is the Kilimanjaro Cooperative Union (KNCU). Tanzanian coffee is sold by auction through the Tanzanian Coffee Marketing Board (TCMB) to private exporters. In the 1980s, most Tanzanian coffee sales shifted from auction to direct sales to the Tanzanian coffee marketing board. Now this situation has changed somewhat, and the coffee industry is undergoing reform so that in the future individuals or groups will be allowed to purchase coffee. At that time, coffee will also be graded differently to attract buyers from Germany, Finland, Belgium, and Japan.

Washed Processing Method

Front Street Coffee's Tanzania Kilimanjaro is washed processed. Tanzanian coffee mostly uses the washed method. After harvesting, coffee farmers send the coffee fruits to the nearest processing plant for processing. The washed method is currently the most widely used processing method, using washing and fermentation to remove the fruit skin, pulp, and mucilage.

Steps of the washed processing method:

1. Screen and remove impurities mixed in the coffee fruits

2. Remove the coffee pulp and outer skin

3. Send into fermentation tanks to remove the pectin layer adhering to the parchment through fermentation

4. Clean thoroughly and then dry

Grading System

Tanzania's coffee grading method is the same as Kenya's, both grading by coffee bean size. During screening, green coffee beans are passed through screens with fixed-size holes. The larger the screen number, the larger the green coffee bean particle.

AA grade: Screen Size between 17–18 mesh (7.20mm screen)

AB grade: Screen Size between 15–16 mesh (6.8mm~6.2mm screen),

PB grade: Round green beans, accounting for about 10% of all coffee beans

C grade: Screen Size between 12–14 mesh (4.8mm~5.6mm screen)

Roasting Curve

Kilimanjaro coffee is a large, uniformly sized coffee bean with a gray-green color, relatively strong acidity and sweet aroma, and excellent flavor. Front Street Coffee's roaster chose a medium-light roast, which after roasting gives off sweetness and light acidity.

Bean drop temperature: 170°C, turning point: 6'30'', 150.8°C, first crack: 10'16'', 182.7°C, first crack development 1'45'', drop at 193°C.

Brewing Parameters

Dripper: V60

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Water temperature: 91°C

Grind size: BG#5G

Brewing Method

Front Street Coffee uses staged extraction, that is, three-stage pouring.

First pour: Bloom (to help degassing)

During the roasting process from green beans to roasted beans, coffee beans undergo a series of chemical reactions and physical changes. After reaching a certain degree of roasting, a large amount of gas (mostly carbon dioxide) accumulates inside the coffee beans.

Generally speaking, the fresher the coffee and the closer to roasting, the more bubbles usually appear during blooming. Dark-roasted beans also release more gas during blooming than light-roasted beans. Front Street Coffee's coffee beans are all freshly roasted, so customers are generally advised to rest the beans for three days first, allowing the coffee beans to release carbon dioxide first, which avoids instability and under-extraction problems during brewing.

After the bloom expels gas, the coffee particles can absorb water evenly, allowing for even extraction later. A good bloom allows the coffee grounds to quickly and fully degas while also allowing the coffee grounds to fully and quickly contact water, helping the coffee grounds be evenly extracted.

Second Pour

The second pour starts from the center, injecting a small stream of water into the bottom of the coffee bed. In order for the stream's penetration to be concentrated, the circling movement range should be small, about the size of a coin, and then circle outward. From the start of the second pour, pay attention to the water amount, trying not to exceed the height of the coffee bed. That is, when the water stream circles to near the filter paper, you can stop pouring.

Third Pour

As the thicker coffee bed near the edge of the filter paper becomes heavier from absorbing water, it slides down and becomes thinner as the water level drops. When the water level drops by half, you can proceed with the third pour. From the start of the third pour, observe the extent of the water level drop, similarly starting from the center and circling, with the water amount not exceeding the height of the coffee bed. At this point, you will also observe that the foam ratio has already covered the surface. The third pour should increase the tumbling of coffee particles, allowing all settled particles to tumble, thereby dissolving soluble substances.

The rolling particles will begin to settle once water is stopped. At this point, it relies on the flow rate caused by the dropping water level to create friction among the coffee particles. So once water is stopped, the coffee grounds sink downward, causing blockage, so pay special attention to the rhythm of pouring. If the pouring is interrupted too many times, it is equivalent to letting the coffee grounds soak in water continuously, which will cause astringency and off-flavors in the final stage of coffee extraction.

Flavor Description

Berry aroma, citrus acidity on the palate, soft and refreshing acidity, honey sweetness in the middle, tea-like finish, sweet aftertaste.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add private WeChat Front Street Coffee, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.