Zambia Kateshi Estate – Northern Province

One of Zambia’s pioneering coffee estates, producing an award-winning anaerobic natural coffee with bright citrus, ripe peach and marzipan sweetness.

A pioneer of Zambian coffee

High in Zambia’s Northern Province, around 1,450 metres above sea level, Kateshi Estate has helped shape the country’s coffee industry for over fifty years. Established in 1972, it became one of Zambia’s first commercial coffee estates and the region’s central wet mill, supporting coffee growers across the surrounding area.

Today, Kateshi continues to push quality forward, earning recognition in Zambia’s prestigious Taste of Harvest competition with its outstanding natural and honey-processed coffees.

The combination of cool highland temperatures, rich soils and careful processing creates coffees with remarkable clarity, sweetness and complexity.

The growing conditions

The Northern Province sits close to the equator, where warm days and cool nights provide ideal conditions for Arabica coffee to develop slowly and evenly.

1. Origin: Zambia
2. Region: Northern Province
3. Estate: Kateshi
4. Altitude: 1,450 masl
5. Varieties: Castillo & Catimor 129
6. Harvest: May – September
7. Processing: Anaerobic Natural
8. Cupping Score: 86+

What makes this coffee special?

This lot undergoes a carefully managed 24-hour anaerobic fermentation, where freshly picked cherries ferment in sealed tanks before drying. Rather than creating overpowering ferment flavours, the process builds layers of sweetness and fruit while maintaining an exceptionally clean cup.

After fermentation, the cherries are dried on raised beds for up to four weeks, spread only a couple of cherries deep and turned regularly to ensure an even, consistent dry.

Only fully ripe cherries are selected through multiple rounds of hand-picking before flotation sorting removes lower-density fruit, helping produce the estate’s distinctive sweetness and balance.

Roasted the Cracking Bean way

We’ve chosen a medium roast for Kateshi because it brings together everything that makes this coffee stand out.

The bright lemon and lime notes remain lively, while the roast develops a smoother body with juicy peach sweetness and a subtle marzipan finish that lingers beautifully.

It’s vibrant enough for filter brewing, yet sweet and rounded enough to make an exceptional espresso.

Tasting notes

Lemon & Lime

Peach

Marzipan

Expect a cup with:

1. Bright citrus freshness
2. Juicy stone fruit sweetness
3. A silky, balanced body
4. A smooth marzipan finish

Brew guide

Brew Method

How it performs

Espresso

Sweet and silky with lively citrus and a smooth finish

Filter

Clean, bright and fruit-forward

Pour Over

Excellent clarity and layered sweetness

Batch Brew

Balanced and approachable all day long

Milk Drinks

Peach and caramel sweetness still shine through

More than great coffee

One of the things we love about Kateshi is that its impact extends far beyond the coffee itself.

The estate helps provide safe drinking water to more than 20,000 people, supports three local schools, operates the only health clinic within 30 kilometres, and has become a leader in creating opportunities for women in roles traditionally closed to them, including operating heavy machinery.

It’s a reminder that exceptional coffee can also create lasting benefits for the communities that produce it.

At a glance

Origin

Zambia

Region

Northern Province

Estate

Kateshi

Altitude

1,450 masl

Roast

Medium

Best for

Espresso • Filter • Pour Over

This is one of those coffees that perfectly fits your Roasters Choice ethos—it’s from a country many customers won’t have tried before, has an interesting story without feeling overly technical, and the lemon, peach and marzipan flavour combination is distinctive enough to make people curious.