Farm: Burka Estate
Region: Arusha
Variety: Bourbon & SL28
Process: Washed
Altitude: 1350 masl
Harvested: 2025
CUPPING NOTES: Floral, rosehip, baked apple, grapefruit. Sweet, long and lingering caramelised apple aftertaste. Juicy, balanced, and complex.
Burka Estate is one of Tanzania’s oldest and most established coffee farms, nestled on the leeward side of Mount Meru, just outside Arusha and not far from Mount Kilimanjaro. Founded in 1899, the estate is home to over 1.3 million shade-grown Arabica trees, thriving across fertile land that also includes protected forests and natural grasslands.
But Burka is more than just a coffee estate - it’s a living, breathing community. Over 200 permanent employees and 200+ casual workers form the core team, and during harvest season, up to 5,000 people work across the estate’s three farms. Staff live on-site in one of four camps, where they’re provided with housing, healthcare, education, and wages set 20% above the national minimum. Contracts include social security, union membership, and access to a dedicated credit union that supports education, medical needs, and homebuilding.
The estate runs its own nurseries and primary schools, offering education to more than 600 children from staff families and surrounding communities. There’s an on-site clinic with a full-time nurse, a dispensary, and even an ambulance. Villages on the estate are lined with fruit and nut trees, and coffee trees no longer in production are used to provide free firewood. Life here is active and connected, with regular football and netball tournaments, holiday BBQs, and a mix of churches, a mosque, and local shops helping maintain a strong community spirit.
Coffee from Burka is washed and sun-dried at one of their two wet mills, giving them full control over processing. The result is a sweet, juicy, and complex Tanzania AA - crafted with the same level of care that defines every part of life on the estate.
Transparency.
What we paid:
-Coffee: 8.65€/Kg
-Shipping: 0.60€/Kg
-Packaging, labelling and sorting: 2€/bag
Quantity bought: 600 Kg
