The Flavor Profile of Luwaita Cooperative from Tanzania's Ruvuma Region

What are the Flavor Characteristics of Luwaita Cooperative from the Ruvuma Region in Tanzania?

East Africa is a producer of many excellent coffees, including well-known varieties from Kenya, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and others. Tanzania is another East African country that produces fine coffee. Located in East Africa, Tanzania borders seven countries and has an Indian Ocean coastline stretching 1,500 kilometers. With abundant natural resources, agriculture is the country's most important economic sector. Approximately 90% of the population engages in agriculture, with 85% of agricultural exports earning foreign exchange. Coffee, corn, wheat, and spices are the main crops.

Coffee was introduced in 1900, with most of it being Arabica varieties processed using natural and washed methods. 75% of the production comes from the Kilimanjaro mountain region. Coffee is Tanzania's largest agricultural crop, with approximately 450,000 people engaged in related agricultural activities. Its flavor profile is similar to neighboring Kenyan coffee, but due to inconvenient transportation and outdated infrastructure, beans often become contaminated during shipping or damaged during processing due to insufficient equipment. This has left the impression that Tanzanian coffee overall has less fresh acidity, weaker brightness, and a milder mouthfeel. In recent years, due to the rising prices of Kenyan and Ethiopian coffee, high-quality beans from other East African countries have gained recognition.

Luwaita Cooperative in Tanzania is a very small-area, low-yield coffee cooperative. The raw coffee beans are small with the deep green color of Kenyan beans, somewhat different from traditional Tanzanian coffee beans which are larger and tend to be more yellowish. The Luwaita Cooperative's style is similar to Kenyan coffee. Although it doesn't have large, uniformly shaped beans, its clear aroma and bright acidity performance are rare among Tanzanian coffees. It is a small but excellent cooperative, primarily exporting to the United Kingdom and Japan.

Roasting Levels and Flavor Notes

Light Roast - End of First Crack (City): After grinding, it reveals banana fruit aromas. When brewed, there's black tea fragrance. The acidity of orange and plum is not irritating or intense, with a quick transition from acidity to sweetness that rapidly develops across the palate. The mouthfeel is balanced and stable but somewhat thin, with a cooling menthol aftertaste.

Medium Roast - 60 seconds after First Crack (Full City-): This roast level can reduce the acidity of East African beans while enhancing aroma. Additionally, being Tanzanian coffee beans, it better enhances the creamy mouthfeel when paired with milk. The wet aroma after brewing has a distinctive Oriental Beauty tea fragrance. The mouthfeel is smooth with a delicate, powdery texture at the finish. The blueberry acidity is relatively gentle, with a brown sugar sweetness in the aftertaste.

Dark Roast - Beginning of Second Crack (Full City): After grinding, it reveals nut and chocolate aromas. When brewed, there's a milk candy sweetness. The mouthfeel is rounded and gentle but not thick, with a chocolate chiffon cake sweetness in the aftertaste.

Flavor Summary

The Ruvuma region AA is a very consistent coffee. Compared to it, Luwaita Cooperative maintains the balanced mouthfeel and nutty sweetness while adding bright, clean, and refreshing blueberry acidity, providing people with another clear impression of Tanzanian coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Recommended Brewing Method

Dripper: Hario V60

Water Temperature: 90°C

Grind Size: Fuji Royal grinder setting 3.5

Brewing Technique: 1:15 coffee-to-water ratio, using 15g of coffee grounds. First pour 25g of water and bloom for 25 seconds. Second pour to 120g and stop pouring. Wait until the water level in the coffee bed drops to half, then continue pouring slowly until reaching 225g. Extraction time around 2:00 minutes.

Analysis: Using a three-stage pour to clearly distinguish the front, middle, and backend flavors of the coffee. Because the V60 has many ribs and drains quickly, stopping the pour can help extend the extraction time.

Important Notice :

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Tel:020 38364473