Tanzania AA Coffee Beans: Hand Pour Experience and Flavor Profile

Have you ever visited FrontStreet Coffee's physical store? Have you seen FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu?

As you can see! It's densely packed with coffee origins and varieties. If you count them carefully, there are about 50 different types, seemingly covering the entire world of coffee (slight exaggeration). However, even FrontStreet Coffee, known as the "complete coffee bean collection," has areas it doesn't cover. Here's a hint: Africa. When it comes to African-flavored coffee, people naturally think of Ethiopian and Kenyan coffee. But looking across Africa, there are many excellent coffees worth trying. For example, the Tanzanian coffee that FrontStreet Coffee is introducing today.

Kilimanjaro Coffee

When mentioning Tanzania, many coffee enthusiasts first think of Kilimanjaro coffee. That's right—it's a unique "Kilimanjaro flavor" with a rich body, moderate acidity, and intense aroma, earning it the beautiful nickname "coffee gentleman." A long time ago, FrontStreet Coffee also had a Kilimanjaro coffee. Here is the relevant green bean information:

FrontStreet Coffee: Tanzania Kilimanjaro Coffee
Origin: Northern Highlands, Kilimanjaro Volcano Region
Variety: Bourbon
Processing Method: Washed
Grade: AA
Altitude: 1300-2000m

This coffee is a very typical African flavor: citrus and berry notes with honey-like sweetness and a faint tea-like finish. It's special in its own way, yet not particularly distinctive either. When FrontStreet Coffee compares Tanzanian coffee with its neighbor Kenya, compared to high-quality Kenyan coffee beans, Tanzanian coffee lacks the bright acidity, presenting a softer and gentler beauty with more sweetness and fragrance. Although a strong wine-like character is also a feature of Tanzanian coffee, compared to coffee beans with similar attributes, this coffee doesn't have many memorable points. Therefore, if you visit FrontStreet Coffee for coffee today, you won't find this coffee bean anymore.

Tanzania Coffee Overview

Despite this, many regular customers still cherish the taste of this Kilimanjaro and try to understand Tanzanian coffee starting from its origins. Tanzania is a typical East African country, bordering Kenya and Uganda to the north, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to the south, and Rwanda and Burundi to the west. Although not as famous as other African beans, its annual production is nearly equal to Kenya's, reaching 50,000 tons. The earliest Arabica seeds were introduced from Réunion Island and planted in the Bayamoyo and Mogoro regions.

Today, Tanzanian coffee is mainly grown in the Kilimanjaro and southern regions:

Southern Coffee Growing Region

The southern region includes RUVUMA and MBEYA. With altitudes ranging from 1200-2000m, the southern region is considered a potential area for producing high-quality coffee. In the past, development was hindered by insufficient funds, but in recent years, it has attracted attention from various certification bodies and non-governmental organizations. Currently, efforts are being made to improve the quality of coffee from the southern region, which has previously been rated poorly. The coffee harvest period in the southern region is from June to October each year, with main varieties including Bourbon, Typica, and Kent.

Kilimanjaro Coffee Growing Region

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain on the African continent, with an altitude of 1050-2500m. Its sufficient altitude, volcanic soil, and pure melted snow water sources make it the most suitable region for coffee cultivation. Some coffee trees planted here are over 100 years old. Coffee was first introduced by Christian missionaries from Kenya. Coffee trees must be carefully tended, with weeding and fertilization, and old branches must be pruned to allow new growth, maintaining the quality of coffee beans.

The coffee harvest period in the Kilimanjaro region is from July to December each year, with main varieties including Bourbon, Typica, and Kent. Kilimanjaro is Tanzania's largest coffee-producing region, and Kilimanjaro coffee is also an important economic lifeline for Tanzania. Kilimanjaro coffee comes from Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain range in Africa, located in northeastern Tanzania. Local small-scale farmers grow coffee at altitudes between 1300-2000m, nurtured by volcanic ash. The high-altitude cultivation produces excellent quality coffee beans.

Bourbon Variety

With some personal preference, since FrontStreet Coffee's coffee is of the Bourbon variety, FrontStreet Coffee will only introduce Bourbon coffee here: Bourbon is also a natural variety originally from Yemen. Its name comes from its initial planting location, Bourbon Island, which is now Réunion Island. Bourbon coffee cherries are small and round, with high density in both pulp and seeds. Bourbon coffee typically has high sweetness, bright acidity, and wine-like flavors. Bourbon coffee production is 20-30% higher than Typica but is still considered a low-yield variety and is similarly susceptible to leaf rust disease.

From the green bean information provided by FrontStreet Coffee earlier, you can see that this coffee uses the most basic washed processing method. In fact, most Tanzanian coffee is processed using the washed method. After harvesting, coffee farmers deliver the coffee cherries to the nearest processing station for processing.

Washed Processing Method

Steps of washed processing:
1. Screen and remove impurities mixed in the coffee cherries
2. Remove the coffee pulp and outer skin
3. Send to fermentation tanks to remove the mucilage layer attached to the parchment through fermentation
4. Clean thoroughly and then proceed with drying

Of course, choosing washed processed coffee beans is also one of FrontStreet Coffee's "little tricks." Coffee enthusiasts who have already entered the field should know that washed processing doesn't destroy the original flavor of coffee beans, preserving the most classic regional flavors. Of course, besides washed processing that excites connoisseurs, AA grade makes their eyes light up even more—in their eyes, AA represents excellent quality. In fact, Tanzanian coffee grading is the same as Kenyan coffee, both based on coffee bean size. Friends who are interested can continue reading below:

Because these lovely coffee beans are all uniformly large-sized coffee beans, FrontStreet Coffee specially designed a roasting profile for them:

Heat at 175°C into the drum, firepower at 120, damper at 3; Return to temperature at 1'33", when the drum temperature reaches 115°C, open the damper to 4, keeping firepower unchanged; When drum temperature reaches 151.6°C, the bean surface turns yellow, grassy smell completely disappears, entering the dehydration stage. At 9'30", ugly wrinkles and black spots appear on the bean surface, and the toast aroma clearly transitions to coffee aroma, which can be defined as the prelude to first crack. At this time, listen carefully for the sound of first crack. First crack begins at 10'16", open damper to 5, develop for 1'48" after first crack, then drop at 192°C.

The purpose of light roasting is to emphasize the sweetness and light acidity of this coffee. FrontStreet Coffee amplifies the advantages of this coffee, making it taste more acidic and fragrant with sweet aroma, achieving the best flavor.

So how should this coffee be brewed? Don't worry, FrontStreet Coffee also has a brewing standard suitable for it:

Brewing Parameters

Dripper: V60 Dripper
Water Temperature: 90°C
Coffee Dose: 15g
Coffee-to-Water Ratio: 1:15
Grind Size: Medium-fine grind (78% pass-through rate with #20 standard sieve)

Segmented Extraction: Use 30g of water for 30-second bloom, pour with small water flow in circular motion to 125g for segmentation, continue pouring to 225g when water level drops to about to expose the coffee bed, stop pouring, and wait for water level to drop to about to expose the coffee bed before removing the dripper. (Timing starts from bloom) Extraction time: 2'00".

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473