As a major coffee producer, Burka employs over 200 permanent workers and 300 specialized task workers. During the harvest season, the workforce expands to between 1,000 and 2,000 people, depending on the size of the coffee crop. They operate two independent wet mills on-site. Burka Estate is located in the northern highlands of Tanzania, on the slopes of Mount Meru. It is less than 25 kilometers from the city of Arusha, the largest city in the north of Tanzania.
After pulping, the coffee is fermented overnight to break down the sugars, before traveling through channels to the soaking tank where the coffee is carefully cleaned, soaked and spread out on the raised drying tables. Waste water used in the processing is discarded in soaking pits, and is also recirculated for conservation. Time on the drying tables depends on climate, ambient temperature and total production volume undergoing processing. Drying can take from 7 to 15 days in total. Continuous sorting and hand turning of the parchment takes place throughout the drying process. Another special feature of sourcing in Northern Tanzania is that as local temperatures have risen over time with climate change, it's actually made it easier to dry coffee cleanly. While its critical to address the negative climate change impacts we see in well-established specialty sourcing regions, we are also always looking for areas where the climate becomes more favorable for top-tier specialty coffee with time.
