Starmaya AA, Zambia

THE COFFEE.

 Taste. 

 Big bold guava flavours on this one – think Rubicon before they ruined it with sweeteners. Light lavender background hum and a round, juicy blackberry body.  

 A really nice example of a traditional washed East African coffee. A vibrant complexity of flavours and mouthfeels, making this a complete and satisfying cup. Doesn’t leave you wanting anything more or anything less. Whack it through a V60 or brew it on batch to let the florality really sing.  

First-generation Hybrid. 

 The Starmaya is an F1, or first-generation hybrid, and a pretty unique one at that. Most F1 hybrids can only be propagated by cloning or manual pollination. Allowing F1 hybrids to reproduce naturally can lead to mother-mother or father-father crossbreeds, where the produced coffee tree possesses the characteristics of just the mother or the father.  

 The Starmaya is however a hybrid of the Marsellesa and a male-sterile Ethiopian/Sudanese landrace varietal, meaning that the latter does not produce pollen and all offspring are therefore mother-father hybrid. As a result, Starmaya can be propagated via seeds as opposed to costly and time-consuming methods such as manual pollination and cloning.  

 Exceptionally resistant to leaf rust and producing a good yield as well as great cupping results, the Starmaya is an exciting varietal that excels at this altitude and offers a crisp acidity and clarity of cup.  

You can read more about F1 hybrids in our latest blog post. 

Processing. 

 A washed coffee, the Starmaya AA was processed at Mount Sunzu’s on-site wet and dry mill. Cherries are selectively picked and floated to ensure quality, before being pulped and dry fermented for 24 hours with naturally occurring yeast and bacteria that enhance the coffee’s flavour 

After fermentation, the coffee is dried on raised beds for 10 days before undergoing hulling, grading and one last QC check before being prepared for export.  

 THE PLACE.

 Origin. 

 This is our second coffee this year from Mount Sunzu’s farm nestled at the foot of Zambia’s highest mountain in the country’s far north, not far from the Tanzanian border. The farm sits at the heart of the Miombo woodland belt, a biodiverse savanna ecosystem home to native trees, grasses, and wetlands. The indigenous forest provides the coffee trees with well needed shade and keeps the soil biodynamic and healthy.

Here, fertile loamy soil, high altitudes, and a rich ecology, as well as a temperate climate greatly benefit coffee cultivation, boasting the ideal conditions for the slow maturation of coffee cherries and greatly enhancing the cup’s sweetness and complexity. 

THE STORY. 

Origins.  

This coffee was produced by Mount Sunzu Coffee, company first dreamed up in Switzerland in 2016 by Fridolin Stocker and brothers Yanik and Luca Costa. It’s taken years of planning and land negotiation for the project to get off the ground. In that time, they’ve built the project from the ground up, sewing the first seeds in 2021, training staff, and installing infrastructure.  This lot is their first harvest, and its exceptional quality makes us extremely excited to see what they produce in years to come.  

 Sustainable Commitments. 

 Mount Sunzu Coffee produces all of its coffee on a single farm, allowing for greater emphasis on traceability and oversight on production practices. Alongside producing exceptional coffee, an integral part of the Mount Sunzu project is the protection of the local Miombo Forest and applying climate-conscious farming practices, such as solar-powered irrigation, placing them at the forefront of innovation in environmentally friendly coffee farming praxis. 65% of the power used on the farm is created by its own solar panels and innovations in their watering have reduced waste by 35%. Of the 780 Hectares purchased, 600 are also reserved to protect the Miombo Forest and Dambo Wetlands.   

 Mount Sunzu Coffee also places equitable and sustainable employment and local development at the heart of its mission. So far, they have created 300 jobs in the local area and provides each employee with a pension fund and health insurance, affording workers more long-term stability.  They also actively encourage and support their employees in joining the National Union of Plantation and Agricultural Workers.  

 This isn’t a completed project, the three founders have major aspirations to elevate the quality of their produce and drive equitable and sustainable change for both the local people and environment. They are current focused on improving local road networks and upgrading both water and electrical infrastructure. 

 As Co-Founder Luca says, ‘quality for us goes beyond taste: it includes how we care for the environment, treat people, and build lasting relationships.’ 

Better Partnerships. 

 The partnership between Omwani and Mount Sunzu Coffee is part of Omwani’s commitment to move away from pricing coffee against the volatility of the C Market. By signing a three-year fixed-price contract with Mount Sunzu, they have ensured a price that covers fair wages and allows for reinvestment in future crops. By bypassing the commodity exchange, the model protects both producers and roasters from market fluctuations. While it carries some risk if prices fall, committing to these contracts prioritizes long-term security and ethical sourcing over short-term market trends.  

 In Omwani’s own words, ‘Let’s move beyond the market’s ups and downs. Let’s build a coffee supply chain grounded in fairness, trust, and lasting relationships.’