Latitude Espresso
Latitude Espresso
Latitude Espresso
Latitude Espresso

Latitude Espresso

Latitude Espresso

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Our Latitude Espresso comprises two coffees from Tanzania and Kenya and is a blend which showcases the best of African coffee. 

Iyenga is a cooperative of 292 members, each farming around 1-2 acres on average.  Harvesting is undertaken by hand at each farm with the cherries delivered to a central processing unit where the fully washed processing occurs.

Kariaini is a ‘coffee factory’ or washing station which processes coffee for some 1,500 members, each farming around 2-3 acres.  The coffee is also processed using the fully washed method.

Expect a balanced acidity with a crisp blackcurrant flavour and a brown sugar sweetness.  There is a subtle and lingering aniseed tone in the finish.  

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Latitude Espresso

We change the components in our Latitude Espresso every three or four months to match the seasonal coffee harvests.

THE FARMS

Iyenga

The Songwe region, rich in agricultural production, is situated in southern Tanzania bordering Zambia and Malawi. This is the location of the Mbozi District, populated with 175 villages and around 515,000 people. 

One of these villages is the Iyenga village, which was originally a part of the Itumpi village, but the villagers found it difficult to access government resources due to distance and thus created their own village in 1974. The government also established a hospital and school within the community to provide the villages with essential resources. This is also the location of the Iyenga Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society (AMCOS), which was created in 2003 under the Tanzanian Cooperative Act. Today, the AMCOS has 292 members, with 34 females and 258 males.  

Kariaini

Kariaini Factory was founded back in 1954 at Mukure location in Kirinyaga County, one of eight belonging to the Mwirua FCS. They assist the 1,500 of its members with processing, providing farm inputs, giving advances to members, certifying coffee seedlings and also help with transporting coffee to the factories. The FCS started planting seedlings and working with producers back in 1952, and became an official FCS in 1954, and therefore have quite a lengthy amount of experience with coffee cultivation and processing. Members will deliver their cherries to the nearest Factory for processing. 

Situated at roughly 1,600 meters above sea level, the region where the Factory is located is defined by its bright red soils, full of rich nutrients for coffee trees. The high altitude allows for ideal temperatures and rainfall for the slow maturation of coffee cherries. The Rundu River is nearby, providing a fresh and clean water source for processing. 

HARVESTING & PROCESSING

Iyenga

During the harvest, cooperative members will deliver their cherries directly to the Iyenga Central Processing Unit (CPU) to be processed. First, the cherries were harvested by picking their cherries by hand at peak ripeness at each farm. Members then delivered their cherries to the CPU. Quality was then assessed, and the cherries were sorted in order to remove underripe cherries and foreign matter. Next, the cherries were pulped to peel away the external fruit and washed to remove the remaining mucilage. The beans were then dispersed on raised beds to dry in the open sun for 9 – 10 days or until the ideal moisture content was reached. 

Kariaini

After the producers gather their ripe cherries, they will deliver them to the Factory. Once the cherries reach the mill, the coffee is pulped within 24 hours to remove the external fruit from the coffee bean. This is done via a disc pulping machine. The coffee is then soaked in cement tanks with water for 18 – 48 hours to break down the remaining mucilage. Following fermentation, the coffee is evenly dispersed on wooden raised beds lined with mesh wiring to allow for airflow to evenly dry the beans. The coffee is spread in layers no thicker than 3cm, and dry in the open sun for 5 – 30 days, and are raked three times a day to ensure even drying. 

sourcing coffee

Our Coffee Broker

For over ten years we have worked closely with Mercanta. They pay a fair price for coffee, empowering the growers they work with. Such is our faith in their commitment to supporting farmers that we now purchase 100% of our coffee through Mercanta.
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