Tanzanian Coffee Development, Coffee Varieties, SL28, Geisha Varieties, Kilimanjaro Coffee Introduction

Tanzania is located in eastern Africa, bordering countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda, and Burundi. The eastern coastal region and inland lowlands of the country have a tropical savanna climate, while the western inland plateau has a tropical highland climate.

According to some coffee histories, coffee was introduced to Tanzania from Ethiopia in the 16th century. Later, during the German colonial rule period, coffee had already become an economic crop in Tanzania. Currently, the country cultivates Typica, Bourbon, Kents, as well as independently developed disease and disaster-resistant varieties. The Tanzanian Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI), established and operational since 2001, is a non-profit institution founded with the goal of revitalizing Tanzania's coffee industry. The institute provides essential public services to stakeholders in the country's coffee industry, enhancing productivity and quality while improving producers' profitability and Tanzania's coffee competitiveness in the global market.

Tanzania has made many contributions to coffee, particularly in crop improvement research. To date, TaCRI has released 23 improved coffee varieties, including 19 Arabica hybrid varieties and 4 Robusta varieties. Among these is KP423.

KP423: A Tanzanian Variety

KP423 is one of the varieties released by Tanzania, selected from the Kent variety. Kent is a Typica hybrid discovered in 1911 at the Kent coffee plantation in the Mysore region of India, created by crossing S288 with Typica. It is characterized by high yield and resistance to leaf rust disease. Consequently, it was introduced to Kenya, Indonesia, Tanzania, and other parts of East Africa. In the 1920s, Kent was part of an intensive selection program at Tanzania's Lyamungu research station. KP423 was released in Tanzania in the 1940s and sent to Uganda, where it became an important variety in Arabica growing areas. However, the variety's leaf rust resistance has since broken down.

Tanzania's Connection to SL28

Additionally, Kenya's renowned coffee variety SL28 is also related to Tanzania. SL28 is a single variety selected and released by Scott Laboratories, which has now been renamed the National Agricultural Laboratories of Kenya (NARL). In 1935, senior coffee officials from Scott Laboratories selected and brought back a single tree from a drought-resistant population in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) to Scott Laboratories. SL28 is a descendant of this variety.

The Tanzanian Connection to Panama Geisha

In fact, the fame of Panama Geisha is also related to Tanzania. The Geisha variety was originally collected from the coffee forests of Ethiopia in the 1930s, later sent to Tanzania's Lyamungu research station, and then brought to Costa Rica's Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE) in 1953, where it was recorded as T2722. After being recognized as resistant to coffee leaf rust, it was distributed throughout Panama through CATIE in the 1960s.

FrontStreet Coffee's Tanzanian Offering

FrontStreet Coffee also offers coffee from Tanzania, selecting coffee beans from the Mount Kilimanjaro region in the northern highlands, processed using the washed method. When brewed using V60 with a 1:15 ratio, it exhibits citrus and berry flavors, honey-like sweetness, and a smooth, tea-like mouthfeel.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473