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Tanzania is infamous for peaberry-coffee, a ‘Tanzanian Peaberry’. A peaberry is the seed of the coffee cherry, however, unlike a regular coffee-cherry which has two seeds within the one cherry, the peaberry is a genetic mutation that results in the two seeds fusing together into one smaller and more dense seed within the cherry. It is safe to say that the name ‘peaberry’ comes from the observation that the seed is about the same as the size of a pea. I think the notion of ‘berry’ comes from associating the coffee cherry-fruit with berry-fruits. For this reason, I feel that the term peaberry is a portmanteau word, a word that comes from fusing the sounds and meanings of other words together. Nevertheless, what remains clear is that a coffee-plant has undergone a mutation that resulted in one pea sized seed. Mutations are strange, sometimes they result in dramatic changes and other times they result in little to no change. This makes it difficult to declare that a mutation has made a change for better or for worse - does the mutation impart an advantage or a disadvantage unto the organism? However, given the case at hand, there are two instances that need to be disassociated when discussing the peaberry-mutation of the coffee-plant. On one hand is the genetic mutation/coffee-plant relationship. This relationship brings into focus how the mutation impacts the plant’s fitness and reproduction, the plant’s ability to transmit traits to its succeeding generations. On the other hand is the peaberry/coffee-flavor relationship. This association suggests that the peaberry mutation is not only tasteable but that the flavor of a peaberry is distinct from coffees that are not peaberry-coffee. To answer this question all one must do is taste a tanzanian coffee that contains no peaberry-seeds and compare it with a tanzanian coffee that comes from typical cherry-seeds. Ideally, to get the most accurate results and to ensure that the coffees underwent the same growing and microclimatic conditions, the two types of coffee [peaberry and not-peaberry] will have been grown in close proximity on the same farm. What can be assumed then is that coffees will taste similar because they were both grown in Tanzania and on the same farm, however, the real question is whether or not a peaberry tastes better than or equal to Tanzanian typical coffee, or not. To investigate if the mutation benefits the coffee-plant in Tanzania would require a more thorough experiment to be designed. For now, by offering a Tanzanian Peaberry coffee we provide one half of the equation concerning the peaberry/coffee-flavor relationship.

ecologic:

$16.00

Ecologic offerings focus on the ecological context that a coffee-plant was grown within. The environmental factors that are considered are the factors that characterize a Biome. However, inside of a biome, a coffee-plant is grown inside of a subset that is characteristic of and attributed to the ecological factors of the Biome. Generally speaking, this subset is referred to as a ‘microclimate’ (i.e. a part that contributes to the larger whole). The abiotic conditions that are attributed to a microclimate are: hours of sunlight, altitude, temperature, rainfall, soil pH, and air quality. Each of these conditions is its own domain but what is important is not how they exist independently, it's how they act in concert that makes up the ecological dynamisms that a coffee-plant will endure, survive, and fruit out-of. These conditions contribute to the formation of the initial precursors of that flavor to be perceived in ‘the cup’.

details

ECOLOGIC: TANZANIA

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Process: Washed
Score: 84

Farm: Blue Mountain, Bourbon, Kilimanjaro, and Luwiro
Mutation: Peaberry
Region: Mbeya

Slightly tart, marjoram, & chocolate finish.

THE Features

flavour notes

$16.00

Ecologic offerings focus on the ecological context that a coffee-plant was grown within. The environmental factors that are considered are the factors that characterize a Biome. However, inside of a biome, a coffee-plant is grown inside of a subset that is characteristic of and attributed to the ecological factors of the Biome. Generally speaking, this subset is referred to as a ‘microclimate’ (i.e. a part that contributes to the larger whole). The abiotic conditions that are attributed to a microclimate are: hours of sunlight, altitude, temperature, rainfall, soil pH, and air quality. Each of these conditions is its own domain but what is important is not how they exist independently, it's how they act in concert that makes up the ecological dynamisms that a coffee-plant will endure, survive, and fruit out-of. These conditions contribute to the formation of the initial precursors of that flavor to be perceived in ‘the cup’.