:: news @ coffee.co.za ::

The average South African is under the impression that coffees made in Italy are the best; little do they know that even the best Italian coffee has a percentage of the best coffees from around the world in them. Many of the worlds largest consumers of coffee, world leaders in the market such as Starbucks, sell huge amounts of African coffees. Names such as Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Ethiopian Limu, Cameroon's AAA, Kenyan Blue Mountain, Malawi's Mzuzu, Zambian Terranova, and Chisoba and Zimbabwe La Lucie, are being bought up before other coffee companies can lay claim to their unique tastes and flavours. In the coffee industry, the gourmet roasters such as Espresso Concepts are now a part of that exclusive few who can offer prized estate coffees. The coffee connoisseurs will taste flavours full of fruit, thick bodied, sometimes light on the tongue and sometimes strong, but always full of flavours that Brazilian and Colombian coffees have long lost. The heavy rains and thick forests of Africa still offer coffee trees wonderful fertilisers and rich volcanic soil that adds so much flavour to their coffees, and no wonder Italians rush to lay claim to these wonderful coffees, because where would their coffee industry be without Africa's most sort after resources. African coffees need to be tasted on their own, and then ask for blends that contain Africa's best. A good Zimbabwean estate makes an excellent typical Italian espresso. While the Ethiopian LIMU will give you a rich full-bodied strong espresso or filter coffee. Remember that Ethiopia is where the first coffee trees came from. Some of the blends, which are very popular with African coffees in them, are: Rossini espresso, Mocha espresso. Good filter coffees are the Africa blend, Exclusive gold and Breakfast. On the SCAA website coffees such as Ethiopian Yirgacheffe are graded out of 100, 80 being a gourmet coffee. Yirgacheffe was given an 88, while Blackburn from Tanzania got 83. Very few coffees get over 80; no Brazilians have made that grade in a very long time. So enjoy the coffees soon to be added to the list on this web site and don't be afraid to order the expensive but very enjoyable African coffees on display. Terry Wentzel Espresso Concepts (P.S. All e-mails are welcome: terry@coffee.co.za)