Welcome to For the Love of Coffee! A blog exclusively for the employees of Vienna Coffee Company.
I hope you all are having a good summer and staying cool. All the recent heat waves have certainly made iced coffee drinks much more appealing lately! Today however we will focus on hot coffee, namely our featured coffee for July, the amazing Tanzanian Mwika! This beautiful coffee is sure to delight and inspire employees and customers alike.
Tanzania is a country located in the south-east region of the African continent. It is further south than Ethiopia, and its northern border touches the world-renowned coffee-growing country of Kenya. Tanzania is most famous for its peaberry coffee; a coffee which we featured here at Vienna exactly one year ago for our July 2023 featured coffee. If you are unfamiliar with Peaberry Coffee check out my previous blog from last year to learn more about this distinctive Tanzanian coffee.
We are lucky to be able to receive this amazing coffee through our partnership with Deeper Roots. Here are some insights about Mwika North from the Deeper Roots team:
“All of us here at DRC have been really looking forward to this year’s fresh crop Mwika North and it does NOT disappoint. It has always been a favorite of the team and we love sharing it with you all. This lot was processed using the Coffee Processing Unit (CPU or washing station) that is now operational after a decade of being unusable! One of our previous Community Giveback Projects helped get the CPU up and running and Mwika has been using it since the 2020 harvest.”
(Above) Coffee Processing Unit (CPU) with the fermentation tanks in front before the installation of new tile lining.
Coffee fermentation tanks as they appear today.
“This year’s lot is a continuation of that work and was entirely processed through the CPU. We’re still working with issues locally to help Mwika fulfill their goal of running. ALL their coffee through the on-site wet mill. Farmers will get paid sooner, quality will go up and we were all able to play our small part state-side. Option 3: Win-win-win.”
Mwika North members gather for a meeting on coffee quality and consistency at the updated processing facility.
We have cupped this coffee here at the Vienna Coffee Lab and found it to be an exceptionally complex, yet balanced coffee. It features a bright, fruity acidity, full body, and tasting notes of caramel, dried fruit, and orange blossom. You should have all received 4 oz samples of this amazing coffee to enjoy at home. Please share any thoughts you have with me about the coffee once you have tried it. I would love to hear your feedback!
And finally, a thought to ponder:
“Some say money can’t buy happiness. They lie. Money can buy coffee, and coffee makes me happy” ~Anonymous
Until next time - Peace, Love, & Coffee.
Matt