Tanzania Korongo Washed AB
- Origin: Tanzania
- Region: Mbozi, Mbeya & Mbinga
- Estate: Various
- Altitude: 1600 - 1900 masl
- Varietal: Blue Mountain , Bourbon, SL28, Typica
- Grade: AB
- Processing: Wet Processed
- Harvest: May-November
- Tasting Notes: Dried Fruit Citrus fruit Dark Chocolate
Medium Roast
Our Tanzania Korongo Washed AB coffee is sourced from various estates located in Mbozi, Mbeya, and Mbinga regions of Tanzania. Grown at altitudes ranging from 1600 to 1900 masl, this coffee is a blend of Blue Mountain, Bourbon, SL28, and Typica varietals. It is wet-processed and harvested between May and November. With tasting notes of dried fruit, citrus fruit, and dark chocolate, this Korongo AB grade coffee is a must-try for all coffee lovers.
About the Estates
Our Korongo blend (named for the Swahili word for flamingo) is sourced from a network of washing stations across Mbozi, Mbeya & Mbinga, in Tanzania’s Southern Highlands.
Selected by QC teams in Tanzania, Korongo showcases Tanzania’s true potential, offering a consistent, fully traceable 84+ SCA cup available in large volumes. Vertical-integration and whole-harvest sourcing enable us to source Korongo at an accessible price that supports roaster success and producer resilience. Our Korongo displays the best of Tanzanian flavor profiles with a full body, pronounced sweetness and prominent acidity.
Cultivation
In addition to growing coffee, farmers typically intercrop with corn, beans, groundnuts, sunflowers and ginger.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Cherry is hand-harvested. Farmer process cherry on their own farms, so individual processing methods vary from farm to farm. In general, cherry is pulped using either an eco-pulper or standard pulper and then fermented. Following fermentation, parchment is dried on raised beds for 14-20 days.
Once dry, the parchment sits for 2-3 months in cooperative warehouses before being transferred to mills in either Mbozi or Mbinga, districts in Southern Tanzania, to be prepared for export.
Coffee from Tanzania
- Coffee in Tanzania was grown almost exclusively in the North for a long time. The Kilimanjaro, Arusha, Tarime, Kagera, Kigoma and Karatu/Ngorongoro regions were prized for their ideal Arabica growing conditions. At the time, coffee production was so concentrated in the north that Moshi, a northern municipality, was the only hub for all coffee milling and sales.
- Operations in Moshi grew to truly massive proportions in the 1950s and early-1960s. Since both Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi were under British rule in the post-war decades, Moshi was the second milling and sales hub (after Nairobi, Kenya) for British coffee production.
- Even though transportation from the few farms in Southern Tanzania to Moshi could take nearly a week, there just wasn’t enough production to make it economical for the government or private companies to construct mills in the South until the 1970s and 1980s.
Coffee in Tanzania Today
- Coffee cultivation has extended southwards in recent years. In addition to the historical powerhouse regions in the north, coffee is now also grown in the southern regions of Ruvuma and Mbeya/Mbozi. Most Southern expansion of coffee growing occurred in the 1970s and 1980s and was encouraged by two projects supported by European backers. In an ironic twist, today 75 to 85% of total coffee production in Tanzania today comes from farms in the south