Top 10 Best-flavored African Coffee Beans

One of the world’s most popular types of beverage – coffee originated from Africa which also happens to be the second-largest continent in the world. There cannot be coffee if there are no coffee beans. In this article, we have detailed the origin of coffee beans in Africa and some other details that may interest you regarding the processing of African coffee beans into coffee powder.

There are lots of reasons why coffee has gained the hearts of many as their best-preferred beverage. This may be because of its medicinal purposes, it acts as a stimulant for keeping one awake for longer hours, and its vitamin contents help in boosting energy levels.

Coffee continues to expand throughout most nations of the world. It has now become one of the major export products in some African countries like Ethiopia, and Kenya, among others.

Before now, coffee beans were only produced for household consumption in Africa but with time and technological advancements, coffee products hit the market and soon entered the foreign trade.

It is very important to note the origin of coffee beans as it is the basis for grouping the different types of coffee. This would be beneficial to you if you’re someone that likes taking coffee and is very specific about the flavors and tastes you prefer.

If you’re not familiar with the original African coffee beans and their flavor, you may fall victim to taking coffee-flavored powders and not the real deal. The distribution and sales of these branded coffee flavors by agritech companies are legalized in nearly all countries of the world.

So, it’s not a problem if you take flavors besides milk flavors that are sold alongside milk powders in the market. The choice to pick any of the two is yours.

Unlike milk, coffee is not that quite easy to decipher. It takes a grandmaster in the art of tasting coffee or even tea, to know if a particular coffee drink was from the main coffee beans or if it was just made with coffee flavor.

At the end of this post, you should have also learned the different African coffee types that you can take to awaken your taste buds.

Top 10 African Coffee Beans

1. Ethiopian Coffee Beans

Some regard Ethiopia as the birthplace of coffee. Coffee farming is one of the major trades of the Ethiopians and they have been in the business since 800 AD.

Ethiopia’s coffee is genuine and arguably made from the best-tasting coffee beans in the world. There are also varieties of African coffee beans and spices in Ethiopia which makes the scent even more seasoned.

The country is so sophisticated in the business that coffee plants are grown in gardens and house compounds and not necessarily on farms.

The harvest season for Ethiopia’s flavored coffee is usually between November and February. You should plan your vacation to the African homeland of coffee during this period to enjoy their coffee harvest festivals.

Harrar Coffee Beans is relative to Ethiopia. It is an outstanding coffee variety grown in the country and is known for its bold and natural flavors. The Ethiopian Harrar coffee gained its name from a village in the country where it first originated.

2. Kenya Coffee Beans

Kenya is one of the countries that have very close borders with Ethiopia and it is unsurprising that they also share in their coffee production. The Arabica coffee beans were introduced into Kenya by French and Scottish missionaries.

It is a medium roast coffee type that sold best through the market in Nairobi after the country gained independence in the 1960s.

It was in 2000 that coffee became noticeably commercialized in Kenya farms, with most of the harvest coming from the Bungoma, Mt. Elgon, Kiambu, and Nyeri regions; from September to January.

The seeds were found to have a little different taste from others with a dark acidic flavor that makes it taste almost like its natural shiny color.

This deep flavor of the Kenyan coffee seeds was later discovered to be due to the cultivation of the plant on fertile volcanic soil high above sea level.

3. Burundi Coffee

The most robust coffee variety in Burundi is the Kirimiro African Coffee Beans. The beans are also medium roast like the Kenyan coffee beans. The Kirimiro coffee is enriched with different flavor notes peculiar to that in East Africa.

Even before the country got its independence from Belgium, it had already identified that coffee was a booming cash crop in the country. Because of this, the coffee farmers immediately privatized productions and trade exports when they gained independence.

Through the hustles and bustles of civil wars in the early 1990s, coffee survived and continued to rake in profits for the farmers. Though this time, processing was now done centrally in the country before sales.

These are the African coffee beans you would want to try out if crisp acidic, spicy, and wild flavor notes stand out to you. You can find the best in the Karuzi, Kirundo, Muyinga, and Ngozi regions of Kenya, especially between February and July.

4. Malawi Peaberry Beans

Without being told, you would think the Malawi Peaberry coffee beans are the Kenya coffee except for the gentle and mild acidic taste of the Malawi beans compared to that of Kenya. Both African coffee beans had physical similarities as well.

The Malawi coffee beans are one of the best in West Africa and are grown at high altitudes for flavor retention.

Another outstanding difference between the Malawi coffee plants and the East African coffee beans is that a mature seed has just one bean inside and not two which the latter is known for.

5. Ivory Coast’s Coffee Variety

Standing on the coasts of West Africa are the gigantic coffee industries of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire. These seeds are very special and valued in Africa. They are grown from robusta plants that have bitter and full flavors.

With the Robusta coffee variety, Ivory Coast became the 3rd largest coffee exporter in the world just after WWII in the 1950s.

They remained the major exporters of Robusta coffee berries till 1980 when they met a decline in production caused by power surges and political clashes.

While they still used to be the top producers of coffee beans in the African continent around December and January, they took pride in the chocolate and spicy notes of their coffee flavor.

6. Uganda Coffee Plants

Uganda’s deep acidic and earthy coffee is one of the most valued seeds of coffee plants produced in Africa. They used to be marketed only within the country as roasted seeds and coffee grounds.

The flavors of the Robusta Arabica and Ruwenzori coffee plants are also sold here, though some believe that the Robusta variety is indigenous to Uganda.

New varieties of Arabica and Robusta African coffee beans are currently grown in the Mbale and Bugisu regions of Uganda. This ranked Uganda as the world’s 8th largest coffee exporter in 2015.

7. Rwanda Coffee Beans

Rwanda used to have a very low-productive coffee industry with poor-quality coffee grades imported by missionaries from Germany and Belgium.

Between the 1900s and 1990s, no significant grade of coffee came from Rwanda, but in the 2000s, the economic decline got an upward spike from the farming and industrialization of special coffee grades. The notes are deeply infused with flory, spicy, and deep acidic flavors.

Quality Rwandan coffees can be gotten from Lake Kivu and Ngoma District between March and August.

8. Cameroon Arabica Coffee Berries

Arabica beans were grown traditionally in Cameroon, unlike most other African coffee beans that were imported. The country’s capital – Yaoundé is the principal region for coffee production in Cameroon.

The Arabica coffee in Cameroon has a rich flavor like the Kenyan seeds and a significant aroma of the Tanzania coffee.

9. Zimbabwe Coffee Grounds

Kenya seems to have dropped off some of its coffee specs in nearly all African countries and Zimbabwe is no different.

Zimbabwe has one of the best coffee farms for roasting beans to the precise crust. You would get to taste African coffee beans, fresh and flavored right in this country.

10. Tanzania Coffees

Tanzania coffee is another one of the African coffee beans that share the crisp acidic flavor and a medium roast of Kenyan coffee.

Tanzania grows coffee on a small scale but regardless of this, it is still very tasty and refreshing. The mounts bordering Tanzania and Kenya are where these coffee beans are grown; specifically Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru.

Conclusion

With the wide varieties of African coffee beans to taste and the different brands of ground African coffee flavors in the international market, you are sure to make the most of your coffee experience.

You can easily get any of these at online coffee stores since they are the most common varieties of coffee brands

So which one of these coffee berries would you like to explore next?

Let me know in the comments section below