We are so excited to share this washed espresso from Tanzania with you. Mbili Twiga is a banging peaberry coffee with a superior cup profile that you don’t want to miss out on.
More about Mbili Twiga
This washed espresso is a result of the hard work of two producers, from neighbouring regions in Tanzania; Arusha & Kilimanjaro. ‘Mbili Twiga’ translates as two giraffes and symbolises the coming together of the coffees to create this high-quality washed espresso.
This coffee is a peaberry and is particularly unique. Due to the way it grows it has bright acidity, lots of sweetness and complex flavours in the cup. Usually, a coffee cherry contains two genetically identical beans. Peaberries are a natural mutation which occurs when instead of two beans, the cherry produces just one, rounded bean. The size and shape of a pea. When harvested, they are screen-sorted from the rest of the crop and then graded separately.
Meet the two incredible growers contributing to Mbili Twiga:
Karatu Estate:
Owned and managed by Ladslaud Alfred, the farm borders the famous Ngorongoro National Park. With dark volcanic soil, the bourbon coffee has ideal nutrients to grow. The cherries are picked and brought to the processing station where they’re washed and fermented for 36-42 hours, then dried on African raised beds.
Makiidi RCS:
The Makiidi RCS cooperative provides small growers producing excellent quality coffee access to wider export markets. The coffee is picked, pulped, fermented and washed on the farms then delivered to the cooperative in parchment where it is then cleaned, sorted and graded for quality. For this particular coffee, the peaberries are screen-sorted and separated by the cooperative from the wider crop.
Why we love it
These precious peaberries offer a distinctive, complex cup profile which we love. Rich, spiced-berry acidity, softening to gingerbread in milk. Just wow.
How to brew Mbili Twiga Espresso
For this espresso we’ve gone for a slightly longer extraction to really bring out those complex flavours. Try 18g finely ground coffee in for 36g out and a shot time of 30-32 seconds.
Subscribe to this coffee
Discover a new coffee each month! Subscribe to receive Mbili Twiga in May as part of your Roaster's Choice Espresso subscription.
Meet the Roasters
Mbili Twiga is hand-roasted by Head Roaster, Tommy on Betty, a 1955 Probat drum roaster lovingly rebuilt by the Extract team.
