Joining the legendary ranks of our Captain’s Reserve line-up is this washed process, 100% Peaberry offering from beautiful Tanzania.

About the VARIETAL & Farm:

Coffee has been cultivated in Iyula villages since 1938, and in 1952 the Iyula Agricultural Marketing Cooperative and Society (AMCOS) was formed—though under a different legal form that was owned by the Coffee Authority of Tanzania (CAT). In 1981 it took on its current AMCOS status, and over the last decade the group has made investments in quality, including purchasing a pulper in 2009 and transitioning to washed coffee in 2010.

The coffee trees in the area come from seeds brought by the great grandfather of the AMCOS’s current secretary, Mchina Mwamlima, who received the seeds from missionaries in the Rungwe district in the late 1930s. Today, the challenge for producers is understanding the loamy, clay soil in various areas and determining the right fertilizers.

About PEABERRY COFFEE:

Called “caracol” for snail in Spanish, peaberry coffee is a natural mutation that occurs inside the coffee cherry. Rather uncommon, this mutation makes up only 5-10% of the world’s coffee beans. Instead of developing with two halves, peaberries develop into one whole bean.

Because of this, they’re generally smaller, denser, and a rounder shape than average coffee beans. How and why this mutation happens is still a mystery. All we have, currently, are theories. A couple of popular ones involve specific environmental conditions or insufficient pollination. But, so far, no one's been able to replicate the mutation. It’s important to note that peaberry describes the actual coffee bean itself, not where it’s grown. This mutation can occur anywhere in the world.

Sorting peaberry coffee beans takes a lot of extra work. From the outside, you can't tell if a coffee cherry is hiding a regular coffee bean or a peaberry. Once the coffee cherries are harvested and dried, the coffee farmers then must hand sort and separate from normal beans. The extra labor and attention to detail required to achieve a bag of 100% peaberry coffee is extraordinary but the effort is well worth the increased cost.

Tasting Notes:

This pride of Tanzania and unique, not to mention scarce, offering is a wonderful reminder that Africa includes many great coffee producing countries outside of Ethiopia. This coffee provides the drinker with a medium bodied, smooth and bright cup that becomes creamier as it cools. We tasted lemon, pepper, and black tea and would highly recommend it as a pour over option in your daily routine.

Please Note:

This coffee is a premium offering and, as a result, comes in an 8 ounce bag. Due to it’s limited availability we cannot offer it in a larger bag size.