Africa, a place that often conjures up images of deserts, drought, tribes, poverty and mystery. However, it is precisely because of its special climatic conditions that it has become a happy place for the coffee tree.
The origin of coffee can be traced back to the Horn of Africa. Indigenous tribes used to grind the fruit of the coffee, mix it with animal fat and knead it into meatballs for the warriors who were about to go to war and regarded it as a precious food.
In those days, the euphoria induced by coffee was unknown to the people, who saw it as a religious fervor and considered the drink so mystical that it became a variety reserved for priests and doctors.
Today, coffee has become a major cash crop and an important export for a number of African countries. Angola, Burundi, Kenya and other places in the coffee industry flourished. Ethiopia is known as the "home of coffee", Côte d'Ivoire's coffee production in the world's top, Uganda is famous for its high unit area production in Africa.
As the birthplace of coffee, the African continent produces some of the world's best coffee beans. The coffee beans here emit a unique aroma and have a wild taste, mostly with a hint of red wine acidity. Ethiopia's "mocha" is particularly good, with its producing regions of Harar and Tijima using a unique drying process to produce high-quality mocha beans with a fruity or wine-like aroma and flavorful aftertaste. The beans from Jägermeister are equally impressive. Kenya's coffee varieties are delicious, delivering brighter, livelier acidity than other regions, with Kenya's AA+ beans in particular being highly prized.
Ethiopia is one of the main producers of arabica coffee in Africa and produces some of the finest arabica coffee in the world. According to legend, coffee was first discovered by shepherds in the Kaffa region of Ethiopia, hence the name "coffee country", which is well deserved.
The geographical environment of Ethiopia is very suitable for coffee growing, and it is mainly planted in the southern highlands at an altitude of between 1,100 and 2,300 meters above sea level. The soil in these areas is well-drained, slightly acidic and loose. Currently, about 25% of the Ethiopian population depends directly or indirectly on coffee production for their livelihood, mainly using traditional farming methods. Farmers tend the coffee trees by hand, use organic fertilizers, and do not use harmful pesticides and herbicides. As a result, most of the coffee produced in Ethiopia is organic.
Ethiopia's coffee beans have a variety of natural characteristics, including size, shape, acidity, texture, flavor and aroma. The coffee beans here are smaller and aromatic, with a wine-like acidity that is popular among coffee lovers. Because of their unique aroma and flavor, Ethiopian coffee beans are often used in the production of beverages, ice cream and sweets as well as in varietal improvement.
In Ethiopia, coffee cultivation can be categorized into three types: forest-semi-forest coffee, courtyard coffee and plantation coffee. Of these, forest-semi-forest coffee accounts for about 60%. No pesticides are used in these wild coffee forests; instead, biological methods are used to control pests. Yard coffee accounts for 35%, and the plantations are mainly distributed in a three-dimensional manner. Coffee trees grow in the lower levels, shaded by other crops, and mainly use fallen leaves, dead grass and animal manure as fertilizers. Plantation coffee, on the other hand, accounts for 5% and is grown in a modernized way, where the trees are also spaced out in rows, using new varieties and planted with other shade trees.
According to the processing method, Ethiopian coffee can be categorized into washed coffee and sun-dried coffee. Washed coffee, which accounts for about 35% of exports, is processed from freshly picked, fully ripe fruit, carefully selected and closely monitored, and then fermented, washed, dried, peeled and other steps are taken to keep the humidity of the beans at about 12%. Sun-dried coffee, which accounts for about 65% of exports, is mainly home-harvested, and the red coffee beans are dried to about 11.5% humidity before being peeled and washed. The main coffee varieties in Ethiopia include Liimu coffee, Jimma coffee, Gambi coffee, Yerga Chefa coffee, Sidamo coffee and Harar coffee, all of which are loved for their distinctive flavors and aromas.
Kenya produces one of the highest quality coffees in the world, the Highland Washed Arabica. The coffee industry in Kenya is strictly regulated by the Kenya Coffee Board to ensure consistent quality at all times. Kenyan coffee is known for its strong fruity flavor with sour notes of lemon and citrus.
Coffee trees in Kenya originated in neighboring Ethiopia, but it was not until the early twentieth century that coffee cultivation began in Kenya. In the nineteenth century, missionaries introduced Arabica coffee trees from Yemen, but they were not yet cultivated on a large scale. It was not until 1893 that coffee began to be grown on a large scale in Kenya, when the ancient Bourbon coffee seeds from Brazil were introduced. As a result, Kenyan coffee nowadays has a Brazilian coffee pedigree. Due to the differences in soil, climate and processing methods, Kenyan coffee has a very different flavor from Brazilian coffee.
Coffee trees in Kenya are mainly concentrated on the slopes near Mount Kenya, at an altitude of about four thousand feet to six thousand five hundred feet above sea level. This altitude is most suitable for the development of the flavor of the coffee beans, because the lower temperatures in the mountains make the coffee beans mature more slowly, thus making the aromatic components of the coffee beans fully developed, the fruit acidity is more pronounced, and the texture of the coffee beans is more hard. In addition, Kenya was a British colony in the early days, and the British established a perfect system of coffee cultivation and quality control here. After Kenya's independence, the coffee industry moved forward on this basis and became the most important foreign exchange earning industry in Kenya.
Kenya's coffee beans have a strict grading system, and the washing and processing plant divides them into seven grades according to the size, shape and hardness of the beans. The highest grade is AA or AA+, followed by AB, PB, C, TT and T. This grading system is similar to the Colombian practice, which mainly considers the size and shape of the grains, but a good appearance does not necessarily mean the best flavor.
Tanzania is located in the typical East African region, bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia to the south, and Rwanda and Burundi to the west. People often like to compare Tanzanian coffee with the high quality coffee beans from neighboring Kenya. Compared with the bright acidity of Kenyan coffee, Tanzanian coffee is softer and more docile, with a sweet aroma and a strong red wine flavor, which is one of the characteristics of Tanzanian coffee.
Tanzanian coffee beans have unique qualities and are mainly produced in the Moshi District, a mountainous area near Mount Kilimanjaro, between 3,000 and 6,000 feet above sea level, which is the most suitable area for coffee cultivation. The fertile volcanic ash here gives the coffee its rich texture and mild acidity.
Tanzanian coffee exudes a delicate aroma, with notes of wine and fruit, that lingers on the palate. After drinking Tanzanian coffee, you will feel the corners of your mouth floating a soft and fragrant earthy flavor, coffee lovers often use words such as "wild" or "wild" to describe it, pure Tanzanian coffee can be said to be "the most African coffee". The pure Tanzanian coffee can be regarded as "the coffee with the most African characteristics". Tanzanian AA is the highest grade of beans, with full grains, pure flavor, richness and crispness, all-around superior quality. The acidity is usually relatively mild and evenly stimulates the taste buds at the back of the tongue in the middle and on both sides, somewhat like the acidity of a tomato or soda. After medium or more than medium roasting, it gives off a strong aroma, and then it is ground into a fine powder and brewed into a pot with boiling water, so that you can call your friends to sit around and savor it, and you will immediately feel the aroma overflowing, and your mouth will be full of saliva, and the quality of it is much better than the instant coffee that we often drink. Tanzanian coffee as early as a long time ago by the European favorite, ranked among the famous products, by the Europeans as the "gentleman of the coffee".
Côte d'Ivoire is an agricultural country known for its cocoa and coffee production, which covers 60% of the country's arable land. The number of people associated with cocoa and coffee operations is estimated at over 4 million, or 25% of the country's population. The industry accounts for 10 percent of GDP annually and 30-40 percent of Côte d'Ivoire's domestic tax revenues come from the cocoa and coffee production sector. The cocoa and coffee industries play a pivotal role in Côte d'Ivoire's economy, and their ups and downs are the pulse of the country's economy.
Currently, Côte d'Ivoire is the second largest coffee producer in Africa. The quality of coffee in Côte d'Ivoire is quite average, and the supply is stable and reliable. Its famous Robusta coffee is one of the premium beans indispensable to the blending of the world's major roasters.
Zimbabwe is known for its tobacco, but also for its coffee.
Coffee cultivation is relatively new in Zimbabwe, having started in the 1960s when southern African farmers began to establish coffee plantations in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean coffee is similar to Kenyan coffee, with characteristics such as acidity and fruitiness, but is more concentrated and has a strong wine-like flavor and aroma.
The main coffee growing areas in Zimbabwe are located in the north-eastern part of the Kilimani Mani mountain range. This mountain range is located on the border between Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and is particularly well known for Kilpin coffee from the eastern plateau. In addition, Pinacol, Papier, and Larousse are home to a handful of Zimbabwe's largest farms.
Among the eight major farms, Pinacol farms are extremely strict in selecting coffee beans. The Papier farms, due to their small size and almost home-based farming methods, are known for their strictness, and only coffee beans that are considered flawless will pass their inspection.
On the western slopes of the Mr. Elgon mountains near the Kenyan border, there is a fine Arabica bean known as Bugisu or Bugishu. It has a similar flavor to Kenyan coffee, but with a slightly lighter texture. The official grades for it are Oaganic (organic), BugisuAA, BugisuA, BugisuB, Bugisu PB, Wugar, Drugar, and other unspecified grades.
If you want to find great Ugandan coffee, you first need to recognize the BugisuAA, A and PB grades. Due to Uganda's landlocked location and complicated transportation issues, it is sometimes possible to obtain raw beans with lower moisture content and less than emerald green appearance. However, Ugandan coffee is not the type that emphasizes high aroma, and as long as the raw beans are not rotted or moldy, it generally displays a nice appellation flavor. It has a low, ripe fruit aroma, similar to that of red wine, and a full-bodied richness that is similar to some of the more subdued Kenyan beans. However, Ugandan coffee also has a mild earthy flavor, so the flavor profile is quite different from other East African producers, but somewhat similar to the Asian Sulawesi Tonaga and Java State Estate coffees. Suitable roasts are between City+ and Full City+.