Crema Trekkers: Exploring Zimbabwe New Year's Gift AAA

16 May 2018

Zimbabwe Landscape

ZIMBABWEAN COFFEE BEANS

The Zimbabwe single origin coffee beans are a AAA graded Catimor and Caturra mix, grown on the New Year’s Gift estate in the Chipinge region. Grown at an altitude of approximately 800-1,200m above sea level, these beans are processed using a washed method, then sundried.

Caturra is a naturally occurring coffee mutation of the Bourbon varietal that produces smaller cherries but a higher yield per plant. It has low pest resistance and isn’t the hardiest of plants, but (once established) you can grow around 10,000 plants per hectare (compared to a usual 6,000 in other varietals). Typically Caturra beans present soft body, but have a bright and sweet flavour profile.

Catimor is a hybrid between the Robusta species Timor and Caturra, created in Portugal in 1959. It is appealing to farmers for many reasons: it is resistant to leaf rust, it grows and produces fruit quickly, has a high yield, is pest resistant and grows well between 500-1500m above sea level. The cup quality is its downfall, as it is from the Robusta family is doesn’t produce the fruity, nutty or chocolate-like flavours most people are used to in their coffee. It also tends to have a shorter life span, ceasing to produce after 10 years or so.

The Zimbabwe single origin coffee is best suited to alternative brew methods like pour over, plunger and cold brew are best for more body and flavour. Also, as an espresso this coffee is best drunk undiluted or as black coffee – it’s not suitable for large milk coffees.

Tasting Notes: Featuring a medium body and acidity, with notes of chocolate, cereal, sultanas and apricots in the finish.

NEW YEAR’S GIFT AAA - ZIMBABWE

The New Year’s Gift estate resides in the Chipinge district of the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe and was established in 1924 by two Assam planters, Arthur Ward and Grafton Phillips, using seeds carried back from Assam by Mrs Florence Phillips. The estate is part of a larger company called Tanganda Tea and is the country’s largest tea company. Today the estate and company now grow coffee, avocadoes and macadamia nuts, as well as tea, as part of an extensive and ongoing diversification program.

The estate has a total of around 140 hectares of coffee plantation, with a mean annual temperature of 20.5C and loamy and clay soils, coffee grows well even at the lower altitudes here. The annual rainfall is below average at only 600mm although the surrounding hills receive an average of 1200mm per year. Depending on the season New Years’ Gift offers employment to 500-630 workers.

Processing is very similar to East Africa (Kenya in particular) with disc pulpers, fermentation tanks, washing channels, and raised bed sun-drying of coffees. A lot of work goes into grading the coffee, and NYG has set up a dry mill onsite with Pinhalense machinery to hull and further sort their coffees. The grading is done by bean size to the conventional East African standards of AA, AB and C, with the extra-large-bean screen 18-plus coffees being classified as AAA.

THE GREEN BEAN PROCESS

The washed process relies on every stage of the growing, harvest and fermentation process being right, as the flavour is totally reliant on the bean having absorbed enough nutrients and sugars while growing.

The process begins by de-pulping the coffee cherries and leaving the mucilage intact for fermentation. The fermentation process can take anywhere between 1-4 days, giving the bacteria present in the fermentation tank time to break down the mucilage which is then ‘washed’ off at the end of the fermentation period. Once the mucilage has been removed the coffee is carefully sun-dried.

Coffee Cherries Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Coffee Harvest Coffee Drying Beds Zimbabwe