Tanzania is an important coffee-producing country in East Africa. Its Kilimanjaro coffee is renowned for its full body, mild acidity, and rich aroma, and is praised as the "coffee gentleman." This article focuses on a Tanzanian Kilimanjaro AA washed Bourbon coffee that Front Street Coffee once offered, introducing its green bean information, flavor performance, differences from Kenyan coffee, and the cultivation conditions of Tanzania's two major production regions: southern Tanzania and Kilimanjaro. At the same time, the article outlines the steps of the washed processing method and Tanzania's method of grading by bean size, and retains Front Street Coffee's roasting curve and V60 brewing parameters for this bean, making it suitable for enthusiasts who want a systematic understanding of Tanzanian specialty coffee.

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When Tanzania is mentioned, the first name that comes to many coffee lovers' minds is Kilimanjaro coffee. This coffee has a highly recognizable "Kilimanjaro flavor"—full-bodied, moderate acidity, and rich aroma—and is therefore often praised as the "coffee gentleman." Front Street Coffee also previously offered a Kilimanjaro coffee. Below is a review of its green bean information:

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): Tanzanian Kilimanjaro Coffee Region: Northern Highlands, Mount Kilimanjaro volcanic area

Variety: Bourbon

Processing method: Washed

Grade: AA

Altitude: 1300-2000m

This bean shows a very typical African profile: citrus and berry notes, honey-like sweetness, and a faint tea-like sensation in the finish. If you call it special, it indeed has memorable points; if you say it is not special enough, that is also fair. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) once compared it with coffee from neighboring Kenya, and found that compared with the bright acidity of high-quality Kenyan beans, Tanzanian coffee's acidity is softer and gentler, with more prominent sweet aroma. Although a rich, red-wine-like flavor is a major characteristic of Tanzania, compared with beans of similar attributes, this coffee as a whole lacks a sufficiently distinct memorable anchor. Therefore, if you go to Front Street Coffee now, this bean is no longer on the menu.

That said, many regular customers still miss the taste of Kilimanjaro and try to rediscover Tanzanian coffee from the perspective of production regions. 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. Although its fame among African coffees is not as great as some star-producing regions, its annual output is almost on par with Kenya, reaching 50,000 tons. The earliest Arabica seeds were introduced from Réunion, and were first planted in the Bayamoyo and Mogoro production areas.

At present, coffee cultivation in Tanzania is mainly concentrated in Kilimanjaro and the southern region:

Southern coffee-growing region

The southern region includes RUVUMA and MBEYA, at an altitude of about 1200–2000m. This area is considered to have the potential to produce high-quality coffee. In the past, development was limited by a shortage of funds, but in recent years it has attracted the attention of many certification groups and non-governmental organizations, and the situation in which southern coffee was not highly regarded is gradually improving. The harvest period in the southern region is from June to October each year, and the main planted varieties are Bourbon, Typica, and Kent.

Kilimanjaro coffee Growing region

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain on the African continent, with an altitude of 1050-2500m. Sufficient elevation, volcanic soil, and pure snowmelt water make this a very suitable area for coffee cultivation, and some coffee trees are even more than 100 years old. Christians first introduced coffee from Kenya to begin cultivation here; coffee trees require careful attention. In addition to weeding and fertilizing, old branches must also be pruned to encourage new growth so as to maintain coffee bean quality.

The harvest period in the Kilimanjaro production area is from July to December each year, and the main planted varieties are Bourbon, Typica, and Kent. Kilimanjaro is Tanzania's largest coffee-producing region, and Kilimanjaro coffee is also an important lifeline of the country's economy. It comes from Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain range in Africa, in northeastern Tanzania. Local smallholder coffee farmers grow it at altitudes between 1300-2000m, nurtured by volcanic ash and grown in a high-altitude environment, so the coffee beans are generally of excellent quality.

With a bit of personal bias, because this coffee from Front Street Coffee is of the Bourbon variety, Front Street Coffee will introduce only Bourbon coffee here: Bourbon is also a natural mutation originally produced in Yemen. Its name comes from its original growing place, Bourbon Island, which is now Réunion. Bourbon coffee cherries are short and round, with very high density in the pulp and seeds. Bourbon coffee usually has high sweetness, bright acidity, and a red-wine-like flavor. Bourbon coffee's yield is 20-30% higher than Typica, but it is still regarded as a low-yield bean variety, and it is likewise susceptible to coffee leaf rust.

From the green bean information provided earlier by Front Street Coffee, everyone can see that this coffee uses the most basic washed processing method. In fact, Tanzanian coffee mostly uses the washed method. After picking, coffee farmers send the coffee cherries to the nearest processing station for processing.

Steps of the washed processing method: 1. Screen and remove impurities mixed in with the coffee cherries, 2. Remove the coffee pulp and outer skin, 3. Send into fermentation tanks, where fermentation removes the mucilage layer adhering to the parchment, 4. After washing clean, carry out drying.

Of course, choosing washed coffee beans is actually also a little "trick" of Front Street Coffee. Coffee lovers who have already gotten started should know that washed processing does not destroy the coffee bean's original flavor and preserves the most classic regional flavor. Of course, besides washed processing making connoisseurs excited, AA makes connoisseurs' eyes light up even more. In their eyes, AA represents excellent quality. In fact, Tanzania's coffee grading method is the same as Kenya's, both grading by coffee size. Interested friends can keep reading:

Because these lovely coffee beans are all large beans of uniform size, Front Street Coffee specially designed a roasting plan for them:

Charge at a drum temperature of 175°C, heat power 120, damper opened to 3; turnaround point at 1'33", when the drum temperature is 115°C open the damper to 4, heat power unchanged; when the drum temperature is 151.6°C the bean surface turns yellow, the grassy smell completely disappears, and it enters the dehydration stage; at 9'30", ugly wrinkles and dark streaks appear on the bean surface, and the toast smell clearly turns into coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen clearly for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 10'16", open the damper to 5, develop for 1'48" after first crack, and drop at 192°C.

The purpose of light roasting is to emphasize this coffee's sweetness and light acidity. Front Street Coffee amplified this coffee's strengths, making the coffee taste more acidic and sweetly aromatic, with the best flavor.

So how should this coffee be brewed? Don't worry, Front Street Coffee also has a set of brewing standards suitable for it:

Dripper: V60 dripper

Water temperature: 90°C

Dose: 15 grams

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: medium-fine grind (78% passing through a No. 20 standard sieve)

Pulse pouring: Use 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pour in a small stream in circles until 125 grams for a pulse, and when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225 grams and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Start timing at the beginning of the bloom.) The extraction time is 2'00".

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