What Defines Kilimanjaro Coffee From Tanzania's Northern Highlands?

Tanzanian Kilimanjaro coffee comes from the northern highlands around the Kilimanjaro volcanic area, grown at 1,300 to 2,000 meters. The beans are Bourbon variety, washed processed, and graded AA. In the cup it shows fruity acidity that is pronounced but softer than Kenyan coffee, leaning toward citrus and berry notes with plenty of sweetness and balanced acidity.

Tanzania borders Kenya and Uganda to the north, and coffee is called kahawa locally. The washed processing flow and AA grading standard keep the profile clean. Roasting is dialed in through cupping and pour-over testing before release, and typica coffee, a related variety, shares the same gentle East African character and medium-sized bean structure.

Tanzanian Kilimanjaro coffee is known as the "coffee gentleman," celebrated for its rich body, gentle acidity, and intense aroma. After several roasting adjustments, Front Street Coffee presents this AA-grade Bourbon bean from the northern highlands as an African flavor profile interweaving citrus and berry notes with balanced sweetness and acidity. This article will cover the growing region background, the characteristics of varieties such as Bourbon and Typica, the washed processing flow, the grading standards, as well as the medium-light roast profile and V60 three-stage brewing method determined by Front Street Coffee, to fully trace the flavor origins and tasting points of this bean and help coffee enthusiasts understand how it differs from Kenyan coffee.

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 and finally settled on 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 notes, with abundant sweetness and acidity—an African coffee bean with a distinctive regional flavor.

This is the必经之路 that Front Street Coffee goes through every time it receives a new coffee bean. Roasting not only tests the roaster's understanding of the bean's growing region, but also requires cupping, pour-over, and other tasting steps to determine whether the roasting profile is appropriate. That is why at Front Street Coffee, it is common for even a single cup of coffee to involve multiple items to evaluate. Although it takes time, Front Street Coffee believes it is necessary—without a process of repeated trial and adjustment, Front Street Coffee will not easily put a coffee bean on the shelf.

Front Street Coffee — Tanzanian 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 covering about 250,000 hectares.

When mentioning Tanzanian coffee, many coffee people first think of Kilimanjaro coffee. That's right—this is a unique "Kilimanjaro taste," with a rich body, suitable acidity, and a deep aroma, earning it the laudatory title of "coffee gentleman."

When Front Street Coffee compares Tanzanian coffee with its neighbor Kenya, Tanzanian coffee has a little less bright acidity and shows more of a soft, gentle beauty, with more sweet aroma. A 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 per year. The earliest Arabica seeds were introduced from Reunion Island and planted in the two producing regions of Bayamoyo and Mogoro. In 1893, beans planted on the slopes of Kilimanjaro became the most successful coffee beans. Other varieties were also successively introduced from neighboring Burundi in the 1950s and planted in western Tanzania. At present, 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 original growing place, Bourbon Island, which is today's Reunion Island. During the French colonial period, the French often exported this coffee overseas, especially to the United States. Bourbon coffee cherries are short and round, with high density in the pulp and seeds. Bourbon coffee usually has high sweetness and bright acidity. Bourbon coffee's yield is 20-30% higher than Typica, but it is still regarded as a low-yield bean variety and is also susceptible to leaf rust.

Generally, when we speak of Bourbon, we mostly mean Red Bourbon. This is because after the Red Bourbon coffee tree flowers and bears fruit, the color of the coffee cherries changes from green > slightly yellow > slightly orange > ripe red > then darker red when more mature. Therefore, some people also say that Red Bourbon is a Bourbon variety planted at high altitude, usually with better aroma, brighter acidity, and even a red-wine-like flavor when drunk. Front Street Coffee's Tanzanian Kilimanjaro variety is precisely Bourbon.

Typica

Its flavor performance is excellent, and it is recognized as a specialty coffee variety, but its yield is extremely low and it is susceptible to rust, requiring more labor 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. The top leaves of Typica are red-copper colored, so it is called red-top coffee.

Kent

A Typica hybrid variety discovered in 1911 at the Kent coffee estate in the Mysore region of India. It was crossed from S288 and Typica and has high yield and rust resistance. Its coffee aroma is fuller than that of Bourbon, and it has been introduced to new-world producing countries such as Kenya and Indonesia, making outstanding contributions.

Kilimanjaro Volcanic Area

Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro is 5,895 meters above sea level and connected to Mount Meru. Coffee here grows at an altitude 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 in the African continent and the only snow-capped peak on Earth located on the equator. The fertile volcanic ash gives the coffee here a rich body and soft acidity, with the typical characteristics of African coffee beans.

In Tanzania's coffee-producing regions, the north includes areas around the highlands at the foot of Kilimanjaro such as Moshi and Mbeya, while the south is mainly the Songea-Ruvuma region through which the Ruvuma River flows.

ARUSHA

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

Altitude: 1100-1800m

Harvest period: July to December

Varieties: Kent, Bourbon, Typica

Ruvuma

This region 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 producing region capable of producing high-quality coffee. In the past, development was hindered by a lack of funds.

Altitude: 1200-1800m

Harvest period: June to October

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

KNCU&TCMB

In the past, Tanzania's coffee industry was always dominated by estate cultivation, but now more than 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 by the Tanzanian Coffee Marketing Board (TCMB) to private exporters. In the 1980s, most Tanzanian coffee sales changed from auction to direct sale 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 may be allowed to buy coffee. At that time, coffee will also need to be graded in different ways in order to attract buyers from Germany, Finland, Belgium, and Japan.

Washed Processing Method

This Tanzanian Kilimanjaro from Front Street Coffee is washed processed. Tanzanian coffee mostly uses the washed method. After picking, coffee farmers send the coffee cherries to the nearest processing factory for processing. The washed method is currently the most widely used processing method, using washing and fermentation to remove the skin, pulp, and mucilage.

Steps of the washed processing method:

1. Screen and remove impurities mixed into the coffee cherries 2. Remove the coffee pulp and outer skin 3. Send into fermentation tanks, and through fermentation remove the pectin layer adhering to the parchment 4. After cleaning thoroughly, carry out drying

Grading System

Tanzania's coffee grading method is the same as Kenya's: both grade 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.

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

AB grade: Screen Size between 15 and 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 and 14 mesh (4.8mm~5.6mm screen)

Roasting Profile

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

Charge 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: fine granulated sugar (80% passing through a No. 20 sieve)

Brewing Method

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

First pour: bloom (to help release gas)

During the roasting process in which green coffee beans become roasted beans, a series of chemical reactions and physical changes occur. 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, letting the coffee beans release carbon dioxide first, so that instability and under-extraction can be avoided during brewing.

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

Second pour

The second pour starts from the center, injecting a small stream into the bottom of the coffee bed. In order to concentrate the penetrating force of the stream, the range of the circular movement should be small, about the size of a coin, and then spiral outward. From the start of the second pour, pay attention to the water volume and try not to exceed the height of the coffee bed. That is, when the stream circles close to the filter paper, you can stop pouring.

Third pour

As the originally thicker coffee bed near 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. Likewise, start pouring from the center in circles, and do not let the water volume exceed the height of the coffee bed. At this time, you will also observe that the foam ratio has already covered the surface. The third pour should increase the tumbling of the coffee particles, causing all the settled particles to tumble and thereby dissolve soluble substances.

The rolling particles will begin to stop once pouring stops. At this point, the flow rate caused by the dropping water level is what creates friction among the coffee particles. Therefore, once pouring stops, the coffee particles sink downward, causing clogging, so pay special attention to the rhythm of pouring. If pouring is interrupted too many times, it is equivalent to letting the coffee particles sit in water all the time. In that case, it 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, and a sweet aftertaste.

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