This month we chose to do a lighter roast to switch it up a bit. Ilomba has a cup profile with some fun complexities to it. At first sip the sweet aroma is tantalizing and surprises you with some caramel and praline notes as well as sweet notes of raw sugar and finish with a hint of citrus. Light roasts yield malty sweetness, like brown ale, with bracing acidity, high toned citrus notes, baking spice aroma, and a pleasantly bittering aspect in the finish that hints at grapefruit, and tannic tea.
These beans come from ilomba a coffee cooperative in the mbozi district of Tanzania. They use a water conserving eco-pulper to remove the outer cherry, and then ferment the coffee for 1-2 days in order to break down the sticky fruit mucilage. The coffee is then washed in channels using clean water, and transported to the raised drying tables, where it takes about 2 weeks to fully dry. The station is at 1700 meters, and coffee is grown up to 1900 meters. Farms are typically less than 2 hectares in size, and farmers are growing Bourbon, Kent, and Typica. In short it is safe to say this was a diverse pick for us! We hope you enjoy the holiday season with this absolutely vibrant cuppa. Merry Christmas from the Heave Ho Team!