A dense, creamy underlying sweetness runs all the way through. Rye malt and milk chocolate dominate, with a supporting cast of vanilla, coconut and jasmine, and cameos from lemon citrus and florals.

Chisi is a washing station in the northern Misuku region of Malawi near the border with Southern Tanzania. The station serves 79 smallholder families and takes its name, which means ‘darkness’ in the local Ndali language, from the hillside it is built on – so called because a unique micro-climate means the hill is often covered in cloud and noticeably cooler than the surrounding region.

This micro-climate is crucial for the coffee strain grown by the farmers. The zone grows more geisha variety than its neighbours and the climate in Chisi, along with its altitude which stretches up to 1850m asl, is more suited to geisha than neighbouring zones. This pulping station has stand-out quality in terms of Malawi for me and showcases what the country can produce in terms of quality. Some of this is due to the geisha variety but terroir and quality processing also has a role to play.

This specific lot comes from a quality improvement initiative run by Artisan Roast, Coffee Nexus and Imani Development. We spent time spent in the region working on improving quality at six pulping stations to help the farmers access higher quality market streams and improving drying infrastructure. This lot shows the unique flavour profiles and quality potential possible following this work too.