Coffee culture

Tanzania Coffee Bean Grades and Characteristics_Are Tanzania PB and AAA Coffee Beans Expensive

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee
Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Professional coffee knowledge exchange For more coffee bean information please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style ) Tanzania Coffee Beans Tanzania is a country with rich coffee history and vast coffee cultivation areas, with main growing regions being Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, two very fertile volcanic mountains, with coffee systems and flavors similar to Kenya,
Tanzania Coffee Beans

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

Tanzania Coffee Beans

Tanzania is a country with a rich coffee history and extensive coffee cultivation areas. The main producing regions are Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru, two very fertile volcanic mountains. The coffee system and flavor profile are similar to Kenya's, and coffee is the country's most important economic crop. Among them, 70% are Arabica beans, grown in the northeastern part of Tanzania, while 30% are Robusta, mainly in the Kagera region near Rwanda and Uganda in the northwest.

Tanzania green beans are primarily washed, and the grading method is the same as Kenya's, graded according to bean size and flavor.

Kilimanjaro AA

  • Country: Tanzania
  • Region: Mount Kilimanjaro
  • Altitude: 1700-2000 meters
  • Processing: Washed
  • Variety: Arabica
  • Flavor Description: Citrus fruit aromas such as orange and grapefruit, sweet stone fruit, smooth and clean

Tanzania Peaberry Coffee Beans

Tanzania Kilimanjaro coffee beans are peaberries grown in the mountainous regions of 3000-6000 feet on Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. Traditionally, Tanzanian peaberries, like Kenyan peaberries, are extremely sought-after top-grade products in the international market.

Using medium-light roasting, the flavor expression reveals complex aromas of rose, citrus, berries, and sweet plums amidst fresh, natural fruit acidity. The mouthfeel is vibrant and energetic, while possessing rich, rounded multi-layered complexity, along with caramel-like sweet and mellow flavors that keep you immersed throughout the day!

An impeccable coffee bean that can showcase its flavors even when brewed with a drip coffee maker.

Tanzania coffee beans have a grading system similar to Kenya's, but not entirely identical:

  • AAA: 19 screen and above
  • AA: 18 screen
  • A: 17 screen
  • B: 15, 16 screen
  • C: Below 14 screen
  • PB: Peaberry
  • AF: Inferior quality beans blown out from AA and AAA grades
  • TT: Inferior quality beans blown out from A and B grades
  • F: Broken or inferior quality beans blown out from C grade

This batch of beans we're tasting is Tanzania AAA, which is equivalent to the highest grade.

As for the name "Ruvuma," it translates to Luwuma (directly reminds me of Lu Youjiao from the Beggar's Sect in Jin Yong's novels). It's the name of a coffee production cooperative, named after its administrative region, which in turn is named after the main river Ruvuma within the region.

The Ruvuma Cooperative uses washed processing combined with raised-bed sun-drying methods to elevate Tanzanian green beans to specialty grade levels.

What matters most, of course, is still the taste.

The manufacturer claims that Ruvuma's Tanzania AAA can compete with KENYA AA TOP in flavor—similar acidic aroma, sweet aftertaste, and layered complexity, with the difference being that Tanzania AAA has a relatively smoother mouthfeel.

If this truly achieves such results, I would be delighted, because based on the current price I'm paying for green beans, Tanzania AAA costs only about two-thirds of KENYA AA.

Of course, coffee is a [futures commodity], meaning price doesn't represent true value—it may contain exploitation, greed, black-hearted practices, and speculative inflation.

Comparing Ruvuma's Tanzania AAA with Duomen Kenya AB+ side by side, the bean size is indeed one grade larger.

The color is slightly lighter than AB+.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans. They also provide online shop services: https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473

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