February, 2009

Tanzanian Peaberry

Just arrived in our KoffeeWorks, this month we offer a Tanzanian coffee grown and harvested on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, under the shade of banana trees, truly an exotic location for this east African coffee.

Tanzanian coffee is somewhat similar to the coffee of its neighbour north of the border (Kenya for the geographically challenged), bright, clean and aggressively complex. The grading process in Tanzania is also the same as in Kenya, where it is graded on bean size and AA is the largest, followed by A and B downthe line. This particular Peaberry coffee is nevertheless not as acidic as the Kenya variety. Peaberry coffee represents less than 5% of Tanzanian’s total harvest.

Ordinary coffee beans are seeds from the coffee plant which grow in pairs in cranberry sized fruit coffee cherries. Occasionally and usually towards the ends of the branches of older trees, fruit will form only one seed… these are Peaberries. There are many coffee fans that prefer the Peaberry. The theory is : “all the goodness of the coffee cherry is only in one bean”.

We decided to roast our Tanzanian Peaberry slowly and into the second crack creating a flavor that is vibrant with full body and a distinguished aroma…..a bean of unmatched uniformity.

ENJOY!

The Koffee Purist