*12oz bag*

ORIGIN: Tanzania

REGION: Mwalyego, Mbeya

PRODUCER: 150+ smallholder farmers; Agricultural Marketing & Cooperative Society (AMCOS)

ALTITUDE: 1,615 masl

CULTIVAR: Kent, Bourbon, N39

PROCESS: Washed

ROAST: Light-Medium

BODY: Medium

FLAVOR: Raisins - Malt - Molasses

The group is named after their washing station in Mwalyego (mwah-lee-ego), a small town in Tanzania’s southern Mbeya district. AMCOS stands for ‘Agricultural Marketing and Cooperative Society’; this is a 150 farmer strong group you can find by looking for a town called ‘Iwala’ on the map, about 10 miles west of Mbeya City, on the southern slopes of Mt. Mbeya.

Mwalyego has led the way in the country’s Taste of Harvest, an annual coffee quality competition hosted in AFCA (African Fine Coffees Association) member countries, some years sweeping the country’s top spots. They are struggling with their success; the better they do the more they pay members. The more they pay, the more members deliver, and the more who want to join. The more they receive, the more drying beds they need. The more drying beds they build, the better their coffee gets, and the more premiums they have to pay out. It’s a vicious, virtuous cycle.

Photos courtesy of Crop to Cup Importers