Tanzania Karatu Heights Estate AA

Product Description

Farm Notes

The Heights Coffee Estate is located in Karatu region, not far from the city of Arusha. The farm was planted in the 1930s on the southern edge of the Ngororero Crater, and benefits from nutrient rich volcanic soil. Most of the coffee planted at Heights Estate is called “N39”, an older Bourbon type selected for high yield by the Tanzanian Coffee Research Institute around the time Heights was established. They only process coffee using the wet process method, depulping coffee cherry, fermenting under water in tanks, washing in clean water, and then drying on raised tables. “AA” refers to the grade and bean size, these being the largest, and generally commanding a higher premium. This coffee shared a lot of flavor characteristics with some of our more balanced Guatemalan coffees. It shows convincing sweetness and roast bittering in the middle roasts, and with moderate acidity that’s mouth pleasing.

Cupping Notes

The smells in the dry fragrance are sweet and savory at City+ roast level, butter caramel, glazed nut, and with a toasted sesame seed note. The wet aroma has some chocolate roast smells with sweetness that’s a little more intense than the ground coffee, letting off a crisped toffee smell on the break. The cup flavors have a lot in common with some of our crowd pleasing Xinabajul lots from Guatemala, which is of particular interest right now as we await the new crop to land. There are hefty cocoa and creamy nut flavors at City+ and Full City, with raw sugar notes like sucanat and corn syrup, and a flavor of sesame candies as the coffee cools. The acidity level is moderate and tea-like, with slight bittering in the finish that reminds me a little of goldenseal tea (an herbal aromatic accent lends to this impression). Heights Estate boasts body like a honey process coffee too, making dark roasts exceptional choices for espresso brewing.