Episode 352 on Monday the 10th of August 2015 Tanzania Burka Washedz

This coffee comes from the Arusha, Arumeru district, in Northern Tanzania, on the lower slopes of Mount Meru (which rises to a whopping 4,565 metres). Arusha town centre is approximately 8 kilometres from the estates, but over recent years the urban sprawl has meant that the town has expanded up to the borders of the estates.

Burka was founded in 1899 by a German settler (a Mr. Rahn), who decided to plant coffee to send back to his native Germany. Burka covers 1,437 acres, of which 870 acres are coffee. The neighbouring estate, Selian, is also owned by the same group.

The estates have about 200 permanent staff as well as 200 daily causal staff; however, 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 offers loans and advice for education, health, and house construction.

Each estate has its own nursery which educates over 100 children, and two primary schools also cater for over 600 children, who come from the estate workers' families and the neighbouring communities.  An on-site health centre with estate nurse and dispensary is available to meet the needs of all staff, and the estate has its own ambulance. It also has shops, sport facilities, churches, and a mosque.

Regular inter-estate and inter-camp football & netball matches occur, along with staff BBQs and other holiday celebrations. Workers are supplied with free firewood from stumped coffee trees, and fruit & nut trees are grown around the staff villages.

For the processing of this coffee ripe cherries are delivered to mill within 6 hours of picking, where they are graded, sorted, de-pulped and then fermented underwater for between 24-36 hours, depending on temperature, humidity and other factors. Burka has a natural spring which supplies the wet mill, which is then recirculated before disposal into seepage pits, constructed wetlands and settlement ponds. The mill at neighbouring Selian  draws its water from boreholes, which is then recirculated as above. The waste cherry pulp is mixed with worms and produce organic fertiliser, which is then re-used on the estates.

Parchment is then sorted and thoroughly rinsed in washing channels, and placed onto raised African drying tables. The drying period generally lasts for 5-7 days, until moisture level reaches 12% or lower, with regular turning, particularly in the first 48 hours to ensure even rates of drying. Parchment is transported to Moshi for milling and bagging, and then to Dar Es Salaam for export.

Burka has its own cupping lab on site and samples of each day’s lot are cupped and assessed for quality.  This is the second year we've worked with this farm and you should start getting excited about what they're up to behind the scenes, they're experimenting with various washing processing methods and also different patio vs raised bed drying with different turning rates.

In the cup it's all about that mouthfeel, a super creamy cup that really reminds me of a massive fluffy marshmallow. There's peach acidity and brown sugar sweetness which overall makes it a bit like a toasted Flump.

• Country: Tanzania
• District: Arumeru
• Town: Arusha
• Estate: Burka
• Varietal: Red Bourbon N39 and Kent KP423
• Processing: Washed
• Altitude: 1,340 - 1,470 m.a.s.l.
• Soil: Volcanic tuffs and basalt-based soils, ranging from clay loams to sandy clay loams.
• Temperature: 8ºC - 30ºC