Tanzania Peaberry Ngorongoro

This Tanzania is grown in Arusha, up in the Northeast corner of the country bordering Uganda. These Ngorongoro beans come from three farms on the slopes the Ngorongoro Crater — an area of global importance for its rich biodiversity. This is a microlot of their peaberries sorted out, of just the bourbon varietal. As a results, this coffee is more complex and higher grade than a lot of the country's harvest. The farms also include maize and wheat crops, but large portions of them are not cultivated, to allow the local floral and fauna to flourish. Water from a stream that flows through the property, down from the mountains, is a natural water source for elephants, cape buffalo, and warthogs.

I roast it fairly light. Something like a washed Ethiopia -- needs a fair amount of heat during the roast because of being a peaberry, but no need to roast it long and dark. We are tasting a brown sugar sweetness, some citrus, some floral, some herbs. As you approach 2nd cracks, the acidity tames out and the complexity is simplified, but you have a medium roast coffee with creamy body and slight citrus. No bitterness, a little bit savory. As a French Roast, you find that it holds up really well -- much the way that a french roasted Kenya would -- and obviously you lose the nuances and acidity of the lighter roasts, but it makes for a sweet and exotically aromatic french roast.

The coffee came into the US in December 2018.