Tanzania grows arabica coffee in three main belts: the northern slopes near Kilimanjaro and Arusha, the Southern Highlands around Mbeya, and the southwest around Ruvuma. Our No. 9 Optimism comes from Mbeya, in the Southern Highlands, grown at 1,200 to 1,900 meters. That one line on the bag tells you the area, the height range and, with the process line, how the coffee was prepared.
We are not going to tell you about a specific farm or cooperative. The roaster does not give us that, and the label does not print it. What follows is public knowledge about the country, tied to the exact lines on the bag.
Where does Tanzanian coffee grow?
| Area | Where | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| North | Kilimanjaro and Arusha | The best known part of the country for coffee, on volcanic mountain slopes |
| Southern Highlands | Mbeya and nearby districts | Where Optimism is from, in the south west of the country |
| Southwest | Ruvuma and the Mbinga area | Another southern area often named on specialty bags |
This is a broad sketch, and the borders of these areas are not fixed. Coffee is grown in other parts of the country too, but these three are the ones we can describe with confidence.
What does Mbeya on the label tell you?
It names the region, not the farm. Mbeya is a region in the Southern Highlands, and the coffee on our bag comes from within it. The altitude range of 1,200 to 1,900 meters is wide, which means the lot draws on a broad span of elevations. Altitude is often discussed in connection with how dense and slowly grown a coffee is, but we will not credit a particular flavor to it. The flavors are the ones the roaster lists: pear, floral, jasmine and strawberry.
The varietals are Bourbon and Kent. Both are arabica varieties. We list them because they are on the label, and we do not tie a flavor to a variety name.
How is Optimism processed and roasted?
The process is fully washed and dried on raised beds. Fully washed means the fruit is removed before the seed is dried, and the seed is washed clean of its fruit residue first. Raised beds hold the drying coffee off the ground so air can move around it.
It is roasted medium-light by Temecula Coffee Roasters in Temecula, California. We do not print a roast date. We roast on demand, and our FAQ explains how that works.
Our pick
No. 9 Optimism
Mbeya, Tanzania · 1,200 to 1,900 m · Fully washed, dried on raised beds · Bourbon, Kent · Medium-light
Pear, floral, jasmine and strawberry, the bright and tea-like cup of the pair.
How should you brew it?
The roaster recommends pour-over or Aeropress, and notes it is bright and tea-like and flattens faster than our other coffees, so drink it while it is hot. We already wrote the recipes, so we will not repeat them here. Start with the No. 9 Optimism brewing guide, or the focused Tanzanian pour-over post.
To taste it before you commit, read what No. 9 Optimism tastes like, cup by cup. To weigh it against another origin, try Tanzanian vs Peruvian or Costa Rican vs Tanzanian. Or see all ten coffees, or start a subscription at 11% off, skip or cancel in one click.
Why does the region matter when you buy?
A region name lets you compare. If you see Mbeya on one bag and Kilimanjaro on another, you know they are different places and can expect them to differ, even if we cannot say how. A bag that says only "Tanzania" gives you the country and nothing else. That is not wrong, but it leaves you with less to go on, and it is the same point we made about Guatemala and Costa Rica in our label versus supermarket bag post.
It also helps to read the process next to the region. Two Tanzanian coffees can come from the same area and still taste different, because one was fully washed and the other was not. On Optimism, both lines are printed, so you can place it: Mbeya, fully washed, raised beds, medium-light.
How does it sit next to our other washed coffees?
Several of our coffees are fully washed, including No. 1 Common Sense from Colombia, No. 4 Conjuncture from Kenya, No. 7 Praxis from Guatemala and No. 10 Folklore from Peru. Optimism is the only one of the four on this list with a medium-light roast declared on the label alongside it. If you want to keep process constant and change only the origin, that gives you an easy way to explore.
What do we not know about it?
We do not have the name of the farm, mill or cooperative, the harvest month or the grade. If a Tanzanian bag elsewhere prints those, it is giving you more to compare, and that is useful. We would rather say plainly what is missing than fill the gap, and we will update this post if the roaster gives us more.
Questions people ask
Where in Tanzania is Mbeya?
Mbeya is in the southwest of the country, in the Southern Highlands near the border with Zambia and Malawi. It is one of the best known coffee areas in southern Tanzania.
Is No. 9 Optimism a peaberry?
We do not know. The label does not say, so we make no claim. Peaberry is a bean shape that is common in Tanzanian coffee, but our bag lists only region, altitude, process, varietal and roast.
What does fully washed mean?
It means the fruit is removed from the seed and the seed is fermented and washed before drying. For Optimism, the label adds that it is dried on raised beds, which are screens that let air move under the coffee.
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