PERC Coffee // Tanzania Tarime AB

Tanzania Tarime is an AB quality coffee that comes from the Tarime district of Tanzania. Tarime District is one of the six districts of the Mara Region of Tanzania, East Africa. It was previously known as the “North Mara District.” It is bordered from the north to east by the Kenyan districts of Migori, Trans Mara and Kisii, and to the east by the Maasai Mara game reserve. To the south it is bordered across the Mara River by the Musoma Urban, Musoma Rural and Serengeti districts, and to the west by Rorya District. Distances in Tanzania are vast – there’s almost 1000 kilometers between coffee producing regions in the North and in the South, same for East and West.

The altitudes are up to almost 2000 MASL in many places. 90% of coffee producers are smallholder farmers, owning between 0.5 to 3 hectares, and less than 10% of the coffees are grown at estates. Similar to Kenya, coffee came with the French missionaries in the late 1800s, and was planted around Kilimanjaro for the most part (there are the Bourbon varieties that are often seen as SLs in Kenya now). In Tanzania, with its Indian influence, the Indian Kent varieties came from Mysore in the 1920s. In general, there are two varieties widely used today, the Bourbon-descended N39 hybrid, and the Kent hybrid KP432, as well as Kent varieties K7 and K9.*

THEDETAILS

origin: Tarime, Tanzania
farm: N/A
producer: smallholder farmers
association: N/A
elevation: >1500 meters above sea level
cultivars: N39, Kent KP423, K7, K9
process: fully washed, raised bed dried
certifications: standard

CUPPINGNOTES

The aroma of the Tanzania Tarime is a unique one, filled with scents of tropical fruits, candy, and floral fragrances. Melon, citrus, apple, honeysuckle, and cherry blossom.

My first few sips of the cup immediately post-brew are, again, filled with tropical fruit flavors. This juicy, medium-bodied coffee gushes over my palate, splashing my taste buds with a cavalcade of fruity flavors: watermelon, mango, Fuji apple, fig, peach, blackberry, currant, licorice… And there is a sweet candied element to all of this, making each sip taste like a mouthful of Jolly Ranchers or Starburst. There isn’t much of a sugar browning presence, but there are faint hints of caramel and graham cracker. Throughout the cup, and particularly in the finish as the coffee cools, there’s been a flutter of jasmine tea leaves and cherry blossom, and those notes seem to be amplified in correlation with a mellow, rounded lime acidity (it’s lime, but not tart or bitter) which rounds out a crisp, clean finish.

 

FINALTHOUGHTS

Once again this week, PERC Coffee supplied the Table with a really interesting, complex coffee. This time, it was their take on the Tanzania Tarime AB.

This coffee had a helluva lot going on on the cupping table and it was a pretty wild experience for my taste buds. Loads of bright tropical fruits, perfumed floral fragrances, and sugary candied sweet/tartness. In terms of structure, this was a really nicely rounded cup with just the right amount of acidity, great clarity, and depth. Even at room temperature, this coffee was absolutely fantastic (to be honest, I think I actually preferred it at room temperature).

Dynamite coffee.

*content provided by Olam Specialty Coffee

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