Is Zambian Coffee Delicious? Flavor Profile Characteristics of Zambian Coffee & How to Buy It

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A First Encounter with Zambian Coffee

I want to drink all the coffee.

Zambian coffee, roasted Full City.

Brewed on a Syphon 50A-3.

Tried brewing both two-person and three-person portions.

The first brew was impressive: the stimulating spiciness of pepper mixed with gentle floral aromas.

The mouthfeel resembles the richness of Yemeni coffee, though slightly milder.

If the roast were pulled back to City or City+, it might offer a different experience.

This coffee has no acidity... perhaps friends who dislike acidity should take note.

When brewed as a three-person portion, another flavor emerged: a leathery taste—an extremely strange flavor I did not quite like, though my friend loved it.

Those are my impressions of Zambian coffee—quite memorable.

Zambia

Zambia has long been overlooked by the specialty coffee industry. Some call it a chicken-and-egg situation: because specialty buyers showed little interest in the past, little was invested in improving quality; and because quality lagged, buyers stayed away.

Coffee arrived in Zambia in the 1950s, when missionaries brought Bourbon seeds from Tanzania and Kenya. Production only began to grow in the late 1970s and early 1980s with World Bank funding. Rising pests and diseases pushed farmers toward the hybrid Catimor, though it is less delicious than Bourbon. That shift was temporary—the government later recommended Bourbon again—but numerous Catimor varieties remain in Zambia.

Zambian coffee exports peaked in 2005/2006 at roughly 6,500 tons and have since fallen sharply. Some blame price drops, but the deeper problem is the industry's lack of long-term financing. The country's largest producer, Northern Coffee Corp, ceased operations in 2008 after loan defaults; at closure it was producing 6,000 tons, one-third of the national total. By 2012, total production was just 300 tons, though a recovery is underway.

Zambian coffee comes mostly from large estates, though smallholders are also supported. The estates are generally well-managed and equipped with modern facilities (coffee production started relatively late) and may belong to multinational corporations. Smallholders struggle to obtain fertilizer and equipment, and their coffee quality is generally not high. Scarce water and a lack of good post-harvest processing facilities make producing clean, sweet coffee even harder.

Coffee Flavor Profile

The rare, excellent lots show distinct floral aromas and pure fruit flavors with a complex mouthfeel.

Traceability

The best Zambian coffee mostly comes from single estates, though you may need some effort to find it. The country's production is not small, but high-quality lots are hard to find. Frustratingly, given the varieties and geography, Zambian coffee has enormous untapped potential.

Growing Regions

Population: 14,580,000

2013 production: 10,000 bags (60kg)

Zambia's coffee growing regions are not formally defined and are usually grouped simply as southern, central, Copperbelt, and northern. Coffee is grown mainly in the northern Muchinga Mountains (including the Isoka/Nakonde and Kasama districts) and near the capital, Lusaka.

Altitude: 900-2,000 meters

Harvest period: April-September

Varieties: Bourbon, Catimor

FrontStreet Coffee is a roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but a remarkably diverse bean selection, carrying both famous and lesser-known origins, with online store service available.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If the no-acidity character of that Zambian brew appeals to you, a medium roast is the sweet spot: the deeper the roast, the more bitter and heavy the cup; the lighter, the more acidic and delicate. FrontStreet Coffee recommends its Brazil Queen Estate coffee for balance without either extreme—a yellow Bourbon from the world's largest coffee producer that, at a medium roast, shows creamy peanut, chocolate, toasted bread, and sugarcane sweetness, working equally well as pour-over, moka pot, or espresso.

For a sweeter medium roast, try the FrontStreet Strawberry Candy blend, which pairs Costa Rica honey-processed coffee with Panama washed Geisha for orange-blossom honey notes and rounded sweetness in cold brew, pour-over, or espresso; or the FrontStreet 2013 sun-dried Yunnan Typica, whose nutty, brown-sugar, black-tea, and dried-apricot flavors make it remarkable value for daily brewing.