Korongo, Filter - Tanzania

Korongo, the Swahili word for flamingo, comes from a network of washing stations across Mbozi, Mbeya and Mbinga, in the southern highlands of Tanzania.

The cherry is harvested by hand and processed by the farmers on their own farms. Typically, the cherry is pulped using an eco-friendly or standard pulper and then fermented. After fermentation, the parchment is dried on raised beds for 14 to 20 days.

Once dry, the parchment rests for 2 to 3 months in cooperative warehouses before being transferred to mills located in the Mbozi or Mbinga districts of southern Tanzania to be prepared for export.

The roots of coffee in Tanzania can be traced back to the Haya tribe of northwestern Tanzania in the sixteenth century. Following the German and subsequent British colonization, the Tanzanian coffee industry has undergone many transformations and adjustments.

For a long time, coffee cultivation in Tanzania was almost exclusively concentrated in the north. Coffee cultivation has expanded southward in recent years in the regions of Ruvuma, Mbeya and Mbozi and today 75-85% of total coffee production comes from farms in this region.

• Region: Mbozi, Mbeya, Mbinga
• Country: Tanzania
• Elevation: 1,600 - 1,900 masl
• Variety: Blue Mountain, Bourbon, SL28, Typica 
• Process: Washed