Just after World War Two, my grandfather H. R Higgins discovered a coffee which had many of the characteristics of Colombian varieties which had been unavailable since 1939. As part of his allocation from the Ministry of Food, he received some sacks marked ‘product of Tanganyika KNCU’. He learnt that this stood for Kilimanjaro Native Co-operative Union, membership of which was only open to Africans and not Europeans.

After many attempts to buy through his London suppliers, he absconded from an organised trip to Nairobi and travelled by bus to Moshi over the border in what is now Tanzania, and met the Chagga people of Kilimanjaro including their Chief. He became their “first London coffee friend” and we have been buying the coffee ever since despite many ups and downs with the sourcing. Find out more about this visit in Mr Tony's blog here.

It was the first coffee I ever saw growing when I visited Tanzania in 1982. The industry was in the doldrums then, having been nationalised. Many people with coffee farming experience lost their jobs in favour of party loyalists which meant some farms lost all their trees. I saw swathes of withered and dying plants.

Since then though, thankfully, much has improved and individual farms are able to grow some of east Africa’s finest coffees. For our Tanzania Kibo Chagga coffee, we roast the beans to a medium colour to produce rich and fruity flavour with plum, raspberry, a hint of red apple acidity and a chocolate finish. I make it as a pour over at home but it is also good for a Cafetière, or AeroPress.

Best wishes

David Higgins