Tanzanian Coffee, anyone?

Throughout our travels we have met some amazing people, and had some really unique experiences, and Tanzania is no exception. As part of our game drive (see Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 here!) we stayed at an organic coffee farm/lodge. This was particularly interesting for me, considering I am a coffee lover!

The owners, Jordan and Iris D’Souza, have been running the 200 acre farm for about 5 years, and have set it up as both a working, organic coffee farm and a tourist lodge. It was originally a British-run farm, and uses traditional techniques to process the coffee.  Another “small-world” connection to Canada – two of their 3 sons are currently attending university in Ontario, one at the University of Guelph and the other at Wilfred Laurier University!

The Lodge

Jordan and Iris have set up a beautiful space to relax and escape after a day of safari. The beds are luxurious and comfortable, the food, prepared by chef extraordinaire Rosie, was fantastic, and the scenery was stunning.

A beautiful place to stay

Unique touches all around the property

Mosquitoes were not bad at this altitude, but better safe than getting Malaria!!

A dried coffee-tree “chandelier” inside the dining tent!

Enjoying a delicious meal.

At night, a campfire is lit and you can sit outside in comfort. The skies were fully lit with millions of stars, which you just don’t see in the city! There was absolutely no light pollution.

The lodge is entirely off the grid, operating on solar energy for electricity, with a generator for backup (just in case!).  Hot water is provided by a fire-heated boiler called a “Kuni Boiler”. The water is fed into a small tank and heated by fire. Jordan told us that once the fire is lit, that there will be hot water in the room within about 5 minutes.

Burning wood to heat water.

Water heater for the guest rooms.

In addition to being spring fed, the lodge captures rain water for washing etc. in a giant tank.

Oh, and they also make their own honey!  We had some with our breakfast, and it was fantastic!

 The Coffee Process

The process starts with the harvesting of the coffee beans, which is done once per year when the coffee beans have reached a bright red. The harvesting is all done by hand…there are no machines being used to pull the coffee beans off of the trees. (insert gallery of green and red beans)

It all starts with a blossom…

…coffee beans grow in, green at first…

…then red…

Left too long on the tree.

Coffee as far as the eye can see!

The beans are brought to a large concrete hopper shaped like a funnel. Spring water is continuously fed into the hopper with the beans, and they pour through the hole at the bottom and into a pulping machine. In other coffee production plants, a minimal amount of water is used in the process, but it results in a different flavoured coffee. What Jordan told us was that by using water throughout the process the coffee retains a fuller flavour.

The pulping machine is used to remove the red portion of the berry from the bean.  A lot of water is used to separate the two pieces.  The beans which are going to be used for coffee sink to the bottom, while beans which are not suitable for use float to the top and are removed from the process.

This machine removes the red, pulpy membrane, exposing the coffee bean which is encased within an additional white membrane. From here, the beans flow into large concrete vats, where they sit and ferment for 2-3 days before they are further washed to have the rest of the membrane removed.

Afterwards, the vats are drained and the beans float through a wide channel.

Drains from each of the vats.

Channel used to float out debris.

Any debris is left behind, and the beans are then loaded onto drying racks. They are brought to the coffee beds out in the open air where they are left to dry in the hot, Tanzanian sun!  Depending on the weather and the moisture content of the beans, with 8-10% being ideal, they are left to dry for 10-14 days.

Here are some leftover beans

Once they have been fully dried, they are brought to the roasting house, where they are all roasted in large pans by hand!

Once the harvest has been processed, the beans are sold at auction.

This is a very labour-intensive process…a lot of work goes into making a cup of coffee!

Sustainability and Community Involvement

Jordan and Iris have developed a very close relationship with the community around them. The people who work on the coffee farm are local people. They have done a number of different things to help the community:

• They have installed a fresh water pipe outside their gate, and anyone can come to get fresh water…after 4pm. Why after 4? To make sure that the children are not sent up during the day to fetch water, but are instead in school. The children finish school and can go home to eat before going to the farm to get water.
• They allow the community to plant beans between the coffee trees outside of the harvesting season. This has two benefits: a) the families have access to some land and can grow food for their own use; b) planting other crops around the coffee trees helps in weed control and helps to minimize the use of herbicides.
• They partnered with some high schools in the United States through an organization called Rustic Pathways.  High school students stayed at the lodge while they volunteered at the local schools to help repair/build classrooms, repair and build desks, paint classrooms, doors, etc. depending on what the students were capable of doing.

Our stay at the Ric Lodge was a really unique experience which brought us off the beaten track.  It gave us a view into everyday life in Tanzania, and how the people are working together with their communities to make the country a better place.  This is a wonderful model of sustainability and community involvement, and I am glad that we had the opportunity to experience it with our girls.