Tanzanian Peaberry- Kijani - Kongoni Estate - Manyara - Tanzania
Kijani - Kongoni Estate - Manyara - Tanzania
Farrer’s not only have a long coffee heritage, but their small, dedicated team have the drive and vision to bring you the very best ethically sourced coffees from around the globe.
The next coffee in the Farrer’s subscription range is a new and intoxicating blend from Oldeani, Karatu District, Manyara Region in Tanzania.
Coffee was introduced into the Tanzania by the Ethiopians in the 16th century, however, rather than being brewed it was actually used as a stimulant, predominantly by the Haya ethnic group, who grew Robusta and used it as a form of currency.
The growing of coffee by the Haya was heavily regulated by their leaders and this didn’t change until the arrival of German colonisers in the 19th century. The Germans forced the Haya to grow more coffee, introduced Arabica and also widely encouraged other ethnic groups to cultivate the crop. After WWI, the area was taken over by a British administration, who expanded the railway network across the country and actively encouraged the cultivation of the crop in as many regions as possible.
The Kongoni Estate is an old coffee farm dating back to the 1920s, incorporating the former Kiran Coffee Estate and Kilimani Coffee Estate located on the slopes of the Ngorongoro Crater.
(Image by @uzuri_safaris_tanzania on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/CzjRYNAMaN0)
The Ngorongoro Crater is the largest intact and unfilled volcanic caldera in the world, one of the reasons the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The floor of the caldera covers 100 square miles (260 sq. km) and is 2000 feet (610 m) below the rim. It is believed the original volcano summit was around 19,000 feet (5,800 m), which would have made it a rival to Mount Kilimanjaro.
However, the wildlife encounters on the crater floor that make Ngorongoro Crater a true wonder and a conservation reserve. There are around 25,000 large mammals, including elephant, rhino, lion, leopard (usually seen the on the crater rim) buffalo and hippo roaming freely in the area, accounting for six of the Big Seven.
220 hectares of the Kongoni Estate is given over to coffee production, which has been owned and managed by the Aggarwal family since the 1960s, while the other 1380 hectares forms part of the wildlife reserve.
The region benefits from rich volcanic soils, a cool climate and forest canopy which provides the farm with plenty of shade, which allows the coffee to develop slowly. They cultivate the Kent variety at altitudes ranging between 1650- 1850 metres.
(Image by @rodrigoflores_photo on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/photos/T5qjs-63kqQ)
The red cherries are harvested by hand between July and November, with all the neighbouring villagers lending a hand during this busy time. The cherries are then transported to the processing factory in the centre of the estate, where they are then weighed before being passed through a disc pulper. After which they are fermented in tanks for 72 hours, washed and then dried on raised beds.
This combination of the natural processing, perfect climate and the Kent varietal gives this coffee a full body, delicate acidity and some delicious fruity berry flavours reminiscent of fruit salad sweets and rum and raisin ice cream. This is topped off with a wonderful brown sugar sweetness which is a signature of a top quality natural East African coffee.
Farm: Kongoni Estate
Country: Tanzania
Region: Oldeani, Karatu District, Manyara Region
Varietal: Bourbon Kent
Process: Fully Washed
Profile: Dark chocolate, caramel, raisin, rum & brown sugar notes
Cup Score: 84.5