Why coffee you ask? Several years ago, I read an article about the growing number of people roasting coffee at home. Since my baking hobby had started shrinking my pants, I found the idea of roasting coffee interesting. After all, I have always loved coffee, and many of my fondest memories and deepest thoughts have been shared with family and friends over a steaming cup of coffee. So, I took an introduction to home roasting class, and I was immediately hooked! My new hobby quickly became an obsession. I found myself spending hours reading and learning about the different varieties of coffee plants, the regions where they grow, and the people that passionately plant, nurture, and harvest these plants. I realized that coffee for them was not just a vocation, but a way of life that is deeply imbedded in their culture, economy, and society. Whether it be a large finca in Guatemala or the tiniest micro lot farmer in Ethiopia, they all share the same life-long pursuit of growing the perfect beans that will ultimately become the perfect cup of coffee. And, from that coffee plant, the farmers have grown families, communities, churches, schools, health care clinics, as well as saving our rainforests. I ask you, “can coffee save the world?” Perhaps! It certainly has changed mine for the better!
-Kirstie
My mission is simple. It is to bring to my community premium specialty grade coffees from around the world. My promise to you is to always source beans that are responsibly grown and harvested. I promise to take great pride and care into roasting every batch. I promise to continue to learn and grow as a nano roaster so that I can roast the best darn coffee you have ever tasted!
Coffee arrived in Tanzania from Ethiopia in the 16th century. Originally, the Haya tribe in Tanzania would take the ripened coffee cherries and boil their skins with various herbs until macerated, and then smoked the mixture until it became something akin to coffee cherry jerky, which they would then chew on. They called the coffee concoction “amwani”. At first, coffee wasn’t meant for daily consumption. The people of the Haya tribe restricted its use for cultural, primarily religious, rituals, in which primarily high-ranking officials and royals were allowed to consume amwani, and it was tightly controlled who could grow the crop.
Coffee became a cash crop in Tanzania in the 20th century under German colonial rule, in which the colonists mandated coffee trees be planted in every region in 1911, and soon after coffee became a major exported crop and indelibly linked to Tanzania. After World War I, the British took over the country and quickly planted over ten million seedlings throughout Tanzania, and eventually created the first cooperative in the country by 1925, called the Kilimanjaro Native Planters’ Association (KNPA).
After Tanzania’s independence in 1961, the government made quick work to develop the infrastructure and help grow the coffee industry into the burgeoning success that it is today. Despite occasional setbacks, like the coffee wilt disease spreading through the crops in the 1990s, and various economic troubles of the country, coffee has persisted to become one of the most important crops of Tanzania, and that is no more apparent than in Tanzania Peaberry coffee that Tanzania is known the world over.
Although they are referred to as beans, the coffee that we know and love is in fact a seed. Normally, the seeds inside coffee cherries develop two flat surfaced sides. In approximately 4-6% of the world’s coffee production, only a single seed grows inside the coffee cherry. These are what we refer to as peaberries. Peaberry beans are smaller than their twin cousins and as a result, they tend to be sweeter and more flavorful. After all, they don’t have to share any of their flavor-building resources with a sibling. And because of its sophisticated flavor profile, coffee that’s made from peaberry beans is cherished by coffee connoisseurs around the world and arguably considered the very best available.
If coffee farmers knew how to grow peaberry coffee beans, they would be more readily available. But there is simply no way to tell whether a cherry has two beans inside of it or one unless it’s hand-sorted after picking and processing. All too often, any peaberry beans that are in a harvest get picked, processed, and sold for roasting right alongside their standard counterparts. This is a shame because this means the world is missing out on the best coffee the planet likely has to offer. But some growers have more patience and foresight because they understand the potential this premium bean has to offer. These growers hand-sort their beans to separate the peaberry beans from the mass of standard beans. Because of the rarity of peaberry beans, the amount of labor that goes into harvesting them, and the impeccable and complex flavor profile they offer, growers can then sell them at a premium.
Despite peaberries growing in almost every single region that coffee is grown in all over the world, Tanzania Peaberry coffee has won the distinction of having some of the best peaberry coffee around due to the country’s ideal climate, centuries long traditions of coffee production, and great infrastructure that continues to help support and develop coffee producers to create some great coffee. Some say that you’ve never really had a cup of coffee until you’ve had a cup of peaberry coffee. Unlike coffee made from standard beans, peaberry coffee is smooth, rich, and bold with less acid. It contains flavor compounds that are unique to the region where the beans were grown and harvested.
Mbozi District, Songwe Region
Organic Blue Moon
Smooth and syrupy body with notes of baker's chocolate, cedar, molasses, and vanilla.
Alajuela SHB EP - El Poeta
A clean, medium bodied coffee with bright floral notes balanced with nutty & chocolaty undertones.
Organic Limu G2 - Oromia
Fruity with lime citrus, herbal, and floral notes. Chocolaty and complex.
Guatemala Patzun Finca Las Camelias
Notes of snickerdoodle cookie, caramel, praline nut, brisk black tea with lemon in light roasts. Syrupy and chocolate-centered when roasted darker.
Carpenter Estates - Sigri- Kula Peaberry
Notes of snickerdoodle cookie, caramel, praline nut, brisk black tea with lemon in light roasts. Syrupy and chocolate-centered when roasted darker.
Yercaud Balmaadi Estate
A nice acidic snap is followed by raw sugar notes, sesame snaps candies, toasted barley tea, dried apple, chocolate wafer cookie, chocolate almond toffee, and nutty finish.
Organic Chiapas Tulijá
A very sweet Chiapas coffee with balanced body, mouth-cleansing acidity, and notes of partially-refined sugars, citrus hint, and punchy cocoa nib flavors in the aftertaste.
Peaberry - Mbozi District - Songwe
A full-bodied coffee with notes of baker's chocolate, African spice, and roasty/smokey tones.
Kateshi Estate AA
A fuller bodied cup with a sweet lemony crispness balanced with a chocolaty dark tone and hints of nuttiness and spice in the aftertaste. When roasted dark, it is smoky and chocolaty with hints of spice.