April's Coffee of the Month

After the snow melts and the earth is unveiled, the grass is limned with impressions of green. Something is alive in there—the geese are searching for it, pecking the ends of their beaks hungrily into the soil. They do this all day long, trudging along, until eventually the sun runs down beneath the hills like a messy splash of yolk, and they know it is time to form into an imperfect V, take flight, and depart.

Nothing is quite alive, but neither is anything quite dead. The buds are just hinting at the trees: winks, glimmers—stretch and hope enough in the night and they might just pop open in the morning. The world is made up of potentials, hypotheticals, the impressions of possibilities. The transitory space between departure and arrival (time travel is real, if only by stepping inside of a glass house bursting with flowers). Try and fail to wear the right clothes, order the right drink. The sun warms, but the wind is brisk and drives you back indoors, inside that glass house, inside the dreams of idylls and eclogues. Tomorrow this might all be different.

This April, Pollard’s Coffee of the Month Club brings Tanzania: Mwangoka Farm. The Grivas family took up stewardship of GDM Farm over 20 years ago, and as the second generation to manage one of the few Tanzanian-owned coffee estates, Richard Grivas has his sights set on improving quality and the local community through the farm. Over 200 seasonal workers are part of GDM’s operation, and the farm also supports a network of smallholders living in the surrounding vicinity.

Only around 5% of Tanzania’s green coffee comes from large estates. GDM Farm spans 400 hectares at an altitude of 1980msl in the southern highlands near the Mbozi meteorite that was discovered in the 1930s.

GDM Farm produces 300 metric tons of washed Arabica and 100 metric tons of natural Arabica green coffee annually. Most of Tanzania’s coffee volume is wash processed, but estates like GDM Farm have the resources to carry out uncommon methods like naturals to further explore the flavor profiles that Tanzanian green coffee has to offer.

Workers harvest ripe cherries on the estate and deliver them to the pulping unit and drying station on-site. The cherries are hand-sorted to separate perfectly ripe, overripe, and underripe fruits before they’re set out to dry on raised beds. It can take up to 21 days to dry a harvest, depending on the weather, and the cherries are turned often to ensure even drying and good quality. GDM Farm also has a milling station on the estate, where the dried cherries go to be prepped for export

If you’re craving something wondrous, something whimsical as the winds blow in fresh, cryptic energy, subscribe to Pollard’s Coffee of the Month Club today to receive Tanzania Mwangoka Farm. If you’re hesitant, dip your toes in the water—subscribe for one month, three months, six months, a year, or until canceled. Tanzania Mwangoka Farm will become available to nonsubscribers next month, but at a higher price and a limited quantity.

Variety: Bourbon, Compact

Region: Mbozi, Songwe, Tanzania

Altitude: 1450 - 1850 masl

Process: Natural

Harvest: July - October

Producer: GD Mwangoka Farms

Tasting notes: Strawberry, Orange, White Grape, Tea