Zimbabwe | Inyangani Region Pezuru Estate AA+ Washed SL28 Bourbon Old Variety Flavor Profile?

Zimbabwe | What are the flavors of AA+ washed SL28 Bourbon old varieties from Pezuru Estate in the Inyangani Mountain region?

Zimbabwe's coffee has an extra delicate fragrance. Although it is not as famous as Kenyan coffee, it shares many similar characteristics. The overall taste expressed through fruit-like aroma and acidity is a major feature of Zimbabwean coffee, which also carries a slight pepper flavour not found in Kenyan coffee. Coffee produced around Chipinge is the best in Zimbabwe; traders have designated it gourmet-grade coffee, and it can also be found on some specific farms. Among coffee-producing countries in Africa, Zimbabwe's strength should not be underestimated, and a representative example in recent years is the AAA grade.

Most of Zimbabwe's terrain consists of highlands, with an average altitude of about 1,000 meters. It is divided into three terrain types: high grassland, middle grassland, and low grassland. Mount Inyangani in the east, at an altitude of 2,592 meters, is currently the highest point in the country. The tropical savanna climate has an average annual temperature of 22°C, with the highest temperature in October reaching 32°C and the lowest in July around 13-17°C. Originating from the eastern highlands of MT. Inyangani, the advantage of high altitude creates Zimbabwe's premium coffee beans. The varieties originate from Kenya's SL28, with the aroma of old Bourbon varieties lingering in the aftertaste, and a unique floral fragrance that is indispensable. The Fine Washed Pezuru perfectly expresses Zimbabwean beans. The second batch of quality beans for April: Zimbabwe Highland Organic Beans Pezuru AA Plus.

Zimbabwean beans have a beautiful appearance, excellent acidity with sweetness, and a very rich overall taste. The cupping results are as follows:

Fine citrus and lemon flavours, the clean fruit aroma typical of East African beans but without the rich essential-oil flavour, excellent balance, and — when cooled — richer oiliness with more intense citrus acidity.

Cupping Report and Basic Information:

Dry Aroma:

Nutty sweetness, drupe fragrance, spicy notes, obvious oiliness, citrus fruit aroma, caramel, nutty fragrance, oily aroma, spicy sweetness, grass-root aroma, cool fragrance, and ripe fruit flavour.

Wet Aroma:

Spicy flavour, rye aroma, obvious woody notes, strong floral fragrance, caramel sweetness, grass roots, nutty aroma, longan honey, and a creamy oily fragrance.

Slurping:

Sweetness is obviously direct, with a texture like high mountain tea and a honey-like sweetness. The aftertaste has a thick sensation similar to orange peel. The lingering sweetness has a strong fruity quality and lasts a long time. Orange, floral fragrance, ripe fruit aroma, orange, berries, cantaloupe, honey, and sweet plum notes, with a gentle acidity.

Basic Information:

Country: Zimbabwe

Region: MT. Inyangani

Estate: Pezuru

Altitude: Above 1,200 meters

Variety: SL28 Bourbon old varieties

Harvest Period: 2007/10; New stock arrived in 2008

Processing: Washed fermentation method, followed by natural sun drying

(FW: Fine Washed)

Grade: AA Plus

FrontStreet Coffee Recommended Brewing:

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: Fuji grinder setting 3.5

Brewing Method: Water-to-coffee ratio 1:15, 15g coffee grounds. First pour 25g of water and let it bloom for 25s. Second pour to 120g, then stop pouring. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half before continuing to pour. Slowly pour until reaching 225g total water. Extraction time about 2:00.

Analysis:

The three-stage brewing method clearly expresses the front, middle, and back-end flavours of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains water quickly, pausing the pour helps extend the extraction time.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Pezuru's washed SL28 shares the clean, citrus-forward character that makes washed East African coffee so appealing, and that same clarity runs through FrontStreet Coffee's washed selection. A natural first stop is FrontStreet's Yirgacheffe Gedingding Cooperative. Because local farmers have small plots, they deliver their cherries to a cooperative for centralised processing, and Gedingding — from Gedingding village — handles that work with real skill, which is why its coffee earned a reputation for being especially refined and clean. The washed process draws out jasmine florals and bright citrus acidity, and after a medium-light roast the cup shows green tea and honey notes; it works well as pour-over, cold brew, or espresso.

For a cup with more fruit and juice, FrontStreet's Kenya Cherry Tomato is one of the best-known representatives of the washed style, since Kenya excels at double washed processing — an extra wash step of flotation, soaking, scrubbing off surface mucilage, soaking again, drying, and hulling. All that rinsing and soaking delivers an intense juiciness, with rich aromas of cherry tomato, smoked plum, pear, black plum, and brown sugar, a sweet-and-sour, juicy mouthfeel, and it is a favourite of many coffee enthusiasts.

And if you want washed processing at its most balanced, FrontStreet's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 is the classic. Jamaica suffers from relatively short sunshine hours as an island climate, so the washed method was developed there to reduce the risk of the beans deteriorating: removing the skin, pulp, and mucilage before drying shortens drying time and yields bright, low-defect beans. The result is a dense aroma and a pure cup of hazelnut, cream, chocolate, and caramel, with the even balance — nothing dominant, nothing missing — that defines Blue Mountain.