Vier Roesterei is a small coffee roastery from Dusseldorf. Although small, the roastery strives to work directly with farmers and green coffee growers. Thanks to this roastery, last year we tasted Yemen coffee for the first time, the coffee that left a huge impact on all of us. For sure we can say that it is a coffee that was sold in record time. Now it is again in our offer to enjoy its specific notes of dark chocolate and tobacco aromas for one more time. This story will not be dedicated to Jabal Haraz farm in Yemen, but to another, equally interesting, coffee farm from the Crake Valley in Zimbabwe.

Rarely we have been in a position to hear about Zimbabwean coffee. The country in southwest Africa has all the prerequisites for coffee growing. But why then we can so rare hear, and even rarer taste coffee from Zimbabwe?!

Below is a short story of Robert Boswell Brown's family who has been growing coffee in eastern Zimbabwe for decades. This family used to run three farms successfully. We are saying used to since this relates to the period of the 80s of the last century when this country was one of the leading coffee producers. Unfortunately, the political instability of the country during the long reign, firstly in a position of Prime Minister and then of the President, Robert Mugabe, led to economic decline. The country’s involvement in the war in Congo has led to the outflow of hundreds of millions from the Zimbabwean economy, and the inflation rate has been rising year by year. All of this has led to Zimbabwe not playing a major role in the global coffee market in the last 20 years.

During that period, the state forcibly confiscated private property and turned it into state property. Thus a thousand farms became unusable, among them two farms of the Robert family. The only farm left in their possession is the one in the Crake Valley. With great effort, Robert is trying to bring Zimbabwean coffee back to the stage of the world coffee market.

Vier Roesterei, a roastery in Dusseldorf, has been sourcing coffee directly from a farm in the Crake Valley since 2014 and has been working with Robert Boswell Brown ever since. This year's crop, which is roasted lighter (for filter coffee preparation), conquers with fresh and clean notes and the sweetness of cocoa, characteristics that are typical of an African country.

For already 7 years from now Vier Roesterei has been supporting Robert's work by buying his coffee directly and providing him with continuous feedback to improve coffee production. This year's harvest is of the best quality so far and on the one hand a premiere presentation of the production. For the first time, Robert processed coffee using the natural method, a method that highlights the taste characteristics of Zimbabwean coffee in a way we have never tried before.

It is worth trying this special coffee because who knows when there will be a chance again!

Did you know that by subscribing to our coffee you can enjoy top-quality craft coffees?! Try Karibu coffee subscription or surprise someone with this original gift!