Wild at Heart / 8 oz

The award-winning Isaiso Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Society (AMCOS) was founded in 2008 and boasts 350 farmer members. Most of them are smallholders with farms ranging from one to two hectares at 1350-1490masl. In 2023, the Isaiso AMCOS won the Tanzania Fine Coffee Competition with this peaberry coffee, an outstanding achievement for all the hard work they put into improving both volume and quality.

In Tanzania, AMCOS manage 95% of the country’s coffee production. Smallholders must be registered to an AMCOS to qualify for support in production, processing, storage, transport, marketing, and government aid. Without membership, their raw green coffee would have no way of reaching the global market.

Peaberry Coffee from Tanzania

Peaberry coffee is a result of genetic mutation where only one seed develops inside a coffee cherry instead of two. Peaberries are usually smaller, denser, and rounder than regular coffee beans. Around 1 in 9 coffee cherries result in a peaberry; it takes patience to sort these out from the rest of the beans.

Washed Coffee Processing at CPUs

Many AMCOS have Coffee Production Units (CPUs) that process cherries for member farmers. Freshly picked cherries are delivered on the same day to a CPU, where they’re sorted and pulped.

The beans are fermented in tanks for up to 72 hours before they’re pushed through washing channels with wooden shunts. During this stage, denser, higher quality beans sink, while beans of lower grades float. The different grades are separated then sun-dried on raised beds for up to 14 days.