Description
Kateshi coffee estate, as one of the first coffee estates in Zambia, was established in 1972 close to Kateshi village. Back then, its wet processing facilities represented the heart of coffee production in northern Zambia having been the central mill for all coffee produced in the region. It is also award-winning; its natural and honey placing both 1st and 2nd in Zambia’s annual Taste of Harvest competition.
Local Community is at the heart of the estate’s vision and provides daily access to safe drinking water to over 20,000 locals and supports 3 schools that provide 1,500+ students with primary and secondary education. Also on site is a health clinic, the only such facility for 30km. Complete with a pharmacy and delivery room, the clinic provides free basic healthcare to over 4,000 community members and sees an average of 95 visitors per day.
Kateshi has been recognized for boldly challenging gender stereotypes in Zambia, being the first and only coffee estate to employ women for traditionally male-dominated roles such as driving tractors, bull-dozers and road graders. Oh, and we also sponsor a football team, the Kateshi Coffee Bullets who compete in the Zambian 1st Division.
Tasting Notes: A good hefty cup best from medium to dark roasts. Medium to full bodied with a bit of acidity behind it; buzzy citric/floral brightness balanced with a strong chocolate and spice darker tones. Similar to Rwanda/Burundi/Kenya but with a bit more body and stronger cup features. A clean well rated cup; lighter roasts accentuate the brighter more floral/fruity tones, a bit more showy of a cup but not as chuggable, can pull a little herbal balance. A nice medium roast was our favorite bringing excellent balance between the sweet floral and hefty chocolate/spice. If your not a big acidity fan, darker roasts are the way to go, mutes up most of the brighter cup features presenting a real big bodied, smoky, complex and very dark toned cup of coffee.
Roasting Notes: Beautiful prep and even roasting. Darkens up quickly, so if shooting for lighter roasts, almost easier to watch for the expansion in size, then give it a quick sec before cooling. Low chaff, a longer setup really smooth out the cup. If you like it sharper, 24 hours later is great, if you like it a bit smoother, 3-5 days might be the way to go.
Dylan Alford –
I just tried last nights roasts. I did 3 to roughly the same dark medium color. The first 2, I went to 1C pretty quick, 6 and 7 minutes, then dropped at 10:30 and 11 minutes. Nice acidity, kind of reminds me of yoghurt a little. Kind of a funky Mexican hot chocolate taste, very fun. The 3rd roast I tried a cooler start, 1C at ten minutes, dropped at 14 minutes. Less acidity, a little funkier, but still pretty clean. All 3 had pretty medium body. Ive never messed with African coffee, this was fun. It did brown super quickly; it was like a magic trick. I was worried it was dragging, basically still green at 5 minutes, then bam. I pulled out a small sample of cinnamon colored beans to try the light end, and the acidity was right at the front, but not overpowering. I probably wouldnt want this every day, but its super fun to try. Out of pour over/immersion/moka pot, I liked immersion best.