Flavor Profile and Processing Methods of Premium Kilimanjaro Coffee with Woody Aroma

Tanzania is often compared with its close neighbor, Kenya. It is said that Tanzania's earliest Arabica coffee was introduced from Kenya by Christian missionaries, and its flavor profile is somewhat similar to Kenya's, featuring grapefruit aroma and light, bright acidity. However, due to Tanzania's poorer economic conditions compared to Kenya, its production conditions are inferior. Tanzania's quality control for coffee is not strict enough, and many processing steps compromise the coffee's quality, making it unable to compete with Kenya, which is renowned for its high quality. Although similar in flavor tone to Kenya, Tanzania's overall profile is smoother and gentler, belonging to the balanced category. It has moderate to low acidity and sweetness, with dark chocolate aftertaste and medium body. Compared to the distinctive personality of FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's Tanzania coffee appears less complex in layers, without particularly outstanding characteristics after tasting, leaving a less profound impression. However, its soft and rounded characteristics are also quite appealing, making it easily accepted by those new to coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee's Tanzania Kilimanjaro Coffee Beans

The image above shows FrontStreet Coffee's Tanzania Kilimanjaro washed beans, grown at altitudes above 1800 meters, of Bourbon variety. The roasted beans are medium-roasted. The green beans appear yellow-green, small and round, with relatively uniform size. When brewed by pour-over, FrontStreet Coffee's Tanzania performs somewhat inadequately compared to FrontStreet Coffee's Kenya, easily developing cucumber and green bean flavors. The acidity tends to appear in the front section, followed by moderate acidity and sweetness, then presenting chocolate and woody aromas. For brewing this bean, I recommend the siphon method, as the siphon pot enhances sweetness, concentrates flavors, and the increased body compensates for the thinness of flavors. Overall, the siphon pot performs better than pour-over.

Kilimanjaro: Ideal Growing Conditions

Mount Kilimanjaro, located in northeastern Tanzania with an elevation of 5895 meters, is Africa's highest peak. Its extremely high altitude causes year-round snow on the summit, while Tanzania's main coffee growing regions are situated at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. This area has rich volcanic soil, providing abundant nutrients for coffee tree growth. Coffee trees are generally planted in high-altitude regions above 1150 meters, and higher altitude is one of the prerequisites for Arabica coffee to develop quality flavors.

Processing and Grading

FrontStreet Coffee's Tanzania coffee is mostly processed using the washed method. After harvesting, coffee farmers deliver the coffee cherries to the nearest processing plant for processing. The washed processing steps are: first, screening and removing impurities mixed with the coffee cherries; then removing the coffee pulp and outer skin; sending them to fermentation tanks to remove the mucilage layer attached to the inner skin through fermentation; and finally drying after thorough cleaning.

Tanzania's coffee grading system is the same as Kenya's, both based on bean size. During screening, green coffee beans are passed through sieves with fixed-size holes. The larger the sieve number, the larger the green coffee beans. The flat bean grades distinguished by size mainly include AA+, AA, and AB. Additionally, for the abundant production of peaberry (PB) in Kenya and Tanzania, there is also a set of sieve size standards specifically for grading peaberries by size.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473