About This Coffee

This Tanzanian coffee comes from the Mondul Estate which was established in 1931 and acquired by Burka estates in 2007. The estate is a 211 hectare farm on Mondul Mountain, around 25 km from Burka town in the Arusha region of Northern Tanzania. This area is the heart of the Maasai land in Tanzania. The coffee has been grown at an altitude of 1600 - 1800 masl and the Blue Mountain, Kent and N39 varietals. This natural coffee has been processed using anaerobic fermentation and here at Bean Brothers, has been roasted medium to strike the perfect balance of flavours.

Tasting Notes

Cherry, mango and chocolate

Growing Coffee in Tanzania, Mondul

The Estates (Burka-Selian-Mondul) have about 200 permanent staff, and 200 daily causal staff although in the peak of the harvest season, there can be up to 5,000 staff involved in picking and processing. All permanent staff are provided with housing on the Estates (in four different camps), and the minimum salary is set at 20% above the government minimum requirement. Staff have social security and Labour Union membership included in their contracts, and an Estate credit union also offer loans and advice for education, health and house construction.

Dedicated conservationists sit on the Burka Estates board to uphold the legacy of the estates and ecology of the local biome. From the maintenance of Burka Forest and the restoration of Burka Hill, Burka Estate is faithful to its ecological roots.

One of the last and certainly the largest indigenous forests in Arusha, Burka Forest holds the natural spring which first gave Burka its name over 100 years ago. The preservation of these forests has led to a dramatic increase in the diversity and wealth of wildlife in this area. Everything from Dik Diks, to the Madagascar Squacco Heron, to Velvet monkeys, to the last baboon colony in the area enjoys the protection of Burka’s strict conservation policies, along with over 120 species of bird, attracted by the local flora and natural grassland and forest areas. The Estate trains dedicated wildlife wardens to protect and conserve this wildlife.

Process

The process begins with selective picking of only deep red cherries. Further hand sorting is conducted before the cherry enters the fermentation vessel.

The fermentation vessel is a 1000 litre plastic tank with a fermentation valve system to allow gas to vent off while avoiding the introduction of more gas. As the CO2 builds in the tank this displaces the latent oxygen to create an anaerobic environment. Fermentation takes place over 5 days. After this the cherries are dried on raised African beds in a traditional manner.

Burka has its own cupping lab on site, and samples of each day’s lot from Mondul are cupped and assessed for quality.