Tanzania is one of my favorite origins, with some of the best and biggest parks in Africa, and some of the most varied and unique landscapes. Each year, Tanzania sees millions of animals make their way across the land in search of water and fresh pasture. And the coffee is spectacular, too! I love Tanzania coffee for it’s tangy, sweet and wine-like flavor profile.
The term “washing coffee” defines the process of removing the outer cherry skin and mucilage (fruity layer) from the valuable beans that lie in it’s center. The washing process is critical to achieving brightness, sharpness and sweetness in the coffee profile.
I believe the raised-bed drying tables of Africa are the most effective of all the drying methods I have seen. Plenty of sunshine and air flow, and at a height that makes it easier for the quality control workers to sift through the coffee. Mostly local women are hired to turn the coffee. They thoughtfully and meticulously pull any defects out of the bean harvest, such as rocks and twigs. Their careful hands help ensure the coffee is clean and dry for proper roasting. Watching them at work is a practice in mindfulness!
I often hear people ask, “What do coffee cherries taste like?” They are tangy, citrus-y and sweet, like a fruit candy. So, why don’t we eat them? Once the cherry has been pulled from the bean it quickly starts to ferment, so they don’t last long in their sweet state, and not very tasty.
"Pergamino" is Spanish for dry beans in parchment. Parchment coffee is a stage in wet/washed processing. Coffee roasters are familiar with silverskin or chaff, the last remnants of parchment, but otherwise it’s rarely seen it, unless they visit a coffee farm or mill.
Like all stages of coffee production and processing, you can tell a great deal about a coffee’s quality by inspecting the parchment.
I love scooping up a handful of pergamino, rubbing it together in my hands as the hulls fall away, and breathing in the vibrant aromas of freshly dried green coffee beans. Before coffee’s graded it’s dried in the parchment, which protects the bean. There’s nothing like it!