New arrival: Tanzania Peaberry North, the little round bean from Kilimanjaro
A coffee bean is normally two flat halves sitting back to back inside the cherry. Except when nature decides otherwise: in 5 to 10% of cherries, only one of the two seeds develops, and the bean grows up alone, round, dense, compact. That's the peaberry, and Tanzania has made it a specialty. Our new lot comes from the north of the country, from Kilema, on the slopes of Kilimanjaro.
"Peaberry North FAQ": decoding the name
Three words, three pieces of information. Peaberry (PB) is the grade: Tanzanian coffee is sorted by bean size and shape AA for the largest screens, then A, AB, C… and PB for those round beans, separated out on their own. North is the origin: the northern part of the country, the Kilimanjaro and Arusha zone, as opposed to the southern coffees. And FAQ, no, not a list of frequently asked questions it stands for Fair Average Quality: a trade class for a lot that represents the average quality of the season's crop. In other words, a straightforward, consistent coffee at a fair price. Exactly the kind of bean you want on the shelf for everyday roasting, or as the backbone of a house blend.
Kilema, 1898: where it all started
It was in Kilema, on the southern slope of Kilimanjaro, that Catholic missionaries planted the region's first coffee trees in 1898. Coffee took root so thoroughly that it reshaped Chagga farming for good: to this day, coffee trees grow in the home gardens, those layered smallholdings where coffee ripens in the shade of banana trees, among fruit trees and household crops.
What follows is a cooperative story. In 1925 Chagga farmers organized to defend their prices; in 1933 the Kilimanjaro Native Co-operative Union was officially founded Africa's oldest coffee cooperative union and Kilema was one of its eleven founding member societies. This particular lot is assembled from regional farmer groups in Arusha, Arumeru and Mbinga: not a single estate, but a broad collective of smallholders.
In the cup
A clean, fragrant, high-grown washed coffee, sitting in our Floral & delicate family:
- Notes: floral, sweet, citrus
- Process: washed, dried on raised beds
- Varieties: Kent, Bourbon, compact variety
- Cooperative: regional farmers of Arusha, Arumeru and Mbinga · Region: Kilema
- Altitude: 1,350 to 1,850 m · Harvest: 2025
- Moisture: 11.8% · Grade: PB (peaberry)
A quick note on the varieties: Kent was selected in India in the 1920s for its rust resistance before being introduced to East Africa a veteran that delivers soft, well-sugared cups.
Our roasting tips
Peaberries roast differently. Round and dense, they tumble more freely in the drum: heat transfer is more even, and the roast often moves a little faster than with flat beans. Two reflexes: charge slightly cooler, and keep an ear on first crack, which can land earlier than your usual marker. Screen size is very uniform, so there's little risk of an uneven roast that's precisely part of the appeal of this grade.
Aim light to medium to keep the florals and citrus front and centre as filter. Taken a notch further, the cup turns rounder and sweeter, perfect as espresso or as the backbone of a blend.
Discover the Tanzania Peaberry North FAQ available in 5 lb and 15 lb bags. Ça va Torquer!