Exploring 10 Highly Rated African Coffees You Probably Don't Know About

African coffee is celebrated for its unique flavors and rich history. While many coffee enthusiasts are familiar with famous varieties like Ethiopian Sidamo, Harrar, and Yirgacheffe, there's a world of lesser-known, highly-rated African coffees waiting to be discovered. Let's take a journey through the coffee farms of Sidama, Harrar, Yirgacheffe, Pamwamba, Kirinyaga, Rwenzori, Ngoli, Boyo, Twende, and Kayanza, and uncover what makes each of these hidden gems so special.

1. Sidama Coffee (Ethiopia): Sidama coffee hails from the Sidamo region in Ethiopia and is celebrated for its bright acidity, floral notes, and citrusy, lemon-like zing. This coffee's flavor profile often includes subtle sweetness, making it a delightful choice for those seeking a unique coffee experience. Ethiopia, often referred to as the birthplace of coffee, is known for its rich coffee heritage.

2. Harrar Coffee (Ethiopia): Ethiopia's Harrar coffee is distinct for its bold and spicy flavors, complemented by earthy undertones. What sets Harrar coffee apart is its natural processing method, which involves sun-drying the cherries with the fruit still intact, contributing to its unique, fruity flavor. Ethiopia's coffee culture dates back centuries, making it one of the world's oldest coffee regions.

3. Yirgacheffe Coffee (Ethiopia): Yirgacheffe coffee, another gem from Ethiopia, offers a delicate, tea-like quality with bright acidity, floral notes, and hints of citrus and peach. Ethiopia is not only famous for its coffee but also for its diverse coffee-growing regions, each with its flavor nuances.

4. Pamwamba Coffee (Malawi): Pamwamba coffee, grown in the picturesque hills of Malawi, delights with its vibrant, medium-bodied taste featuring bright acidity, fruity notes, and a hint of cocoa. A fun fact about Malawi: it's often called the "Warm Heart of Africa" due to its friendly people and beautiful landscapes.

5. Kirinyaga Coffee (Kenya): Kenya's Kirinyaga coffee stands out with its bright, juicy acidity and bold fruitiness, often reminiscent of blackcurrants. Kenya, known for its stunning landscapes and wildlife, also produces some of the world's most vibrant coffee beans.

6. Rwenzori Coffee (Uganda): Rwenzori coffee is grown at high altitudes in the Rwenzori Mountains of Uganda, resulting in a medium to full-bodied cup with bright acidity and notes of tropical fruits and cocoa. Uganda is home to diverse landscapes, including mountains, savannahs, and the stunning Lake Victoria.

7. Ngoli Coffee (Zambia): Ngoli coffee is celebrated for its medium body, bright acidity, and flavor profile often featuring citrus and floral notes. Zambia is famous for its copper mines and also boasts a growing coffee industry.

8. Boyo Coffee (Cameroon): From Cameroon's Boyo region, Boyo Coffee offers a medium to full-bodied cup with bright acidity and hints of tropical fruits, citrus, and cocoa. Cameroon, often referred to as "Africa in Miniature," showcases a diverse range of landscapes and cultures.

9. Twende Coffee (Democratic Republic of Congo): Twende Coffee from the DRC boasts a medium body, lively acidity, and notes of dark chocolate, berries, and citrus. A fun fact about the DRC: it's the second-largest country in Africa, known for its rich history and vast resources.

10. Kayanza Coffee (Burundi): Kayanza coffee, hailing from Burundi, is celebrated for its exquisite taste with bright acidity, floral notes, and citrusy flavors. Burundi, often called the "Land of a Thousand Hills," offers stunning landscapes and a burgeoning coffee scene.

    Some of the coffees listed above may not be as well-known as their counterparts, but they offer a world of unique flavors and experiences waiting to be explored. Each cup tells a story of the region it comes from, making every sip an adventure. So, why not embark on a coffee journey and savor the distinctive flavors that Africa has to offer? You may just discover a new favorite brew that will keep you coming back for more.

Rise of Specialty Coffee: Varieties, Brewing Techniques, and Taste Factors

Specialty coffee has been gaining popularity in recent years, with more and more coffee lovers seeking out high-quality, artisanal coffees that are carefully sourced, roasted, and brewed. Specialty coffee is a term used to describe coffees that score 80 points or higher on the Specialty Coffee Association's (SCA) coffee grading scale, which evaluates factors such as aroma, flavor, body, acidity, and balance.

One of the reasons why specialty coffee has become so popular is because it offers a more diverse range of flavors and tastes than traditional commodity coffee. Specialty coffee comes from a variety of regions around the world, each with its own unique terroir, or set of environmental factors that affect the flavor of the coffee. Some popular varieties of specialty coffee include:

• Ethiopian Coffee: Ethiopia is known for producing some of the world's best coffee, and Ethiopian coffees are often prized for their fruity, floral flavors and bright acidity.

• Burundi Coffee: Their coffees are often characterized by their well-balanced flavor profile, with notes of chocolate, caramel, and citrus.

• Kenyan Coffee: Kenyan coffees are known for their complex, wine-like flavors and bright acidity, with notes of black currant, grapefruit, and tomato.

• Malawi Coffee: Often praised for their sweetness and clean, bright acidity, with notes of chocolate, citrus, and stone fruit.

In addition to the origin of the coffee, the brewing technique used can also have a significant impact on the flavor of the coffee. Some popular brewing techniques for specialty coffee include:

• Pour-over: Pour-over brewing involves slowly pouring hot water over ground coffee in a cone-shaped filter, allowing the water to drip through the coffee and into a cup or carafe. This method is often praised for its ability to highlight the nuanced flavors and aromas of specialty coffee.

• French Press: French press brewing involves steeping ground coffee in hot water for several minutes, then using a plunger to separate the brewed coffee from the grounds. This method can produce a rich, full-bodied coffee with a bold flavor profile.

• Espresso: Espresso is a concentrated coffee that is brewed under high pressure using finely ground coffee beans. Espresso is known for its strong, intense flavor and thick, creamy crema.

There are several factors that can affect the taste of coffee, including the roast level, the grind size, the water temperature, and the brewing time. Roast level can have a significant impact on the flavor of the coffee, with lighter roasts often highlighting the more delicate flavors and aromas, while darker roasts can produce a smokier, more intense flavor profile. Grind size can also affect the flavor of the coffee, with finer grinds often producing a stronger, more intense flavor, while coarser grinds can result in a lighter, milder flavor.

Whether you prefer a fruity Ethiopian coffee or a rich, full-bodied French press, there is a specialty coffee out there to suit your taste preferences.

Kayanza Coffee Beans: Burundi

$22.00

Coffee Farmers Earn Less Than 1%

Would you enjoy your morning cup as much if you knew the coffee farmer who toiled to get the beans ready ended up being short changed? You may spend $20 on a bag of coffee beans, but coffee growers may receive as little as three cents which is not enough to provide a better livelihood to their families. The majority of coffee consumption happens in industrialized nations.

90% of coffee exports come from developing countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and others. Sadly, only a small fraction- as low as 1%– of the retail price reaches the hands of coffee farmers.

Founder and second generation coffee farmer Mukurima Muiruki witnessed first hand the exploitation of farmers by brokers and middlemen whose only goal is to profit, disregarding the farmers interest to provide a better life for their families. He believes that correcting historically ingrained patterns of racial imbalance has a financial solution - provide customers an ability to donate directly to coffee farmers. 

Don’t pay it forward, pay it Black. 

Instead of trying to compete on volume and market share, African countries have necessarily focussed on becoming producers of premium and speciality coffee, growing mostly fine Arabica coffees – a highly valued grade of coffee beans regarded as being of superior taste profile to Robusta coffee. The environment, cultivation process, and processing of speciality coffee produces unique and interesting flavour profiles, which are desired by consumers, and subsequently command higher premiums within the coffee market.

In 2016, Kenya produced 49, 980 metric tons of coffee. This placed it at position 16 of world producers. At the top of the apex was Brazil with almost 50 times more coffee output than Kenya at 2.6 million tons. Ethiopia remains Africa’s top producer with 384,000 metric tons while Uganda follows with 288,000 metric tons. Uganda is a net exporter of Robusta, a lesser-preferred variety than Kenya’s Arabica.

Happy African Day

African Day is celebrated on May 25 all over the world.

This day is a celebration of Africa’s independence, freedom and liberation strife from the colonialists.

Between 1945 and 1965, a significant number of African countries gained independence from European colonial powers. Ghana was the first country to gain independence in 1957 and became an inspiration to other countries including the civil rights movement in America. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Travelled to Ghana to witness the taste of victory, and experience that would give him the push to continue agitating for racial justice in America

The unity of African people, and the socio economic freedom from foreign exploitation come to mind on African day. The victory over colonialists saw land returned to native Africans including coffee farms that today are owned by small scale farmers.

Africans pushed back against European dominion. Today, you can help Africans push back against coffee exploitation by buying it black!

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