Ridge Coffee

Overview

Ridge Coffee is a Tanzanian specialty roaster founded in Mbeya, in the country's Southern Highlands, and was the first specialty coffee shop in the city before expanding to Dar es Salaam, with its name borrowed from the sharp outline of the Mbeya ridge that anchors the city's skyline. They roast 100 percent Tanzanian Arabica from microlots in Mbeya, Mbozi, Mbinga, Kilimanjaro and Kigoma, with baristas trained under apprenticeship by a South African barista champion.

Known for

• First specialty coffee shop in Mbeya, Tanzania, since expanded to Dar es Salaam
• Roasts 100% Tanzanian Arabica from local microlots
• Sources from Mbeya, Mbozi, Mbinga, Kilimanjaro and Kigoma cooperatives
• Barista team trained by a South African barista champion
• Tested over 30 different roast profiles to develop the house roast

Why it matters

Tanzanian coffee has historically been treated as a Kilimanjaro story, with the Southern Highlands an under-recognised origin despite producing some of the country's best lots, and Mbeya itself is more often a green-bean source than a specialty consumption city. Ridge inverts that pattern by sourcing locally and roasting locally for a Tanzanian audience first, which is the kind of origin-side specialty operation African coffee economies need to keep more value at home.

Production

destoning

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head roaster

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color sorting

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roaster machine

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filter equipment

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cupping frequency

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roastery location

Mbeya, Tanzania

espresso equipment

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annual volume tonnes

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Café

This roaster operates a café.

Sources

• http://ridgecoffee.com/