THE PRODUCERS
WILD INDIGENOUS COFFEE
Our unsung local variety is low in caffeine and seductively aromatic, writes Sue Derwent
C affeine makes me jittery, so imagine my delight when I discovered a coffee that is naturally so low in caffeine (only 0.38%) it can happily be considered decaffeinated. What’s more, this coffee is indigenous to South Africa. The natural habitat of Coffea racemosa is the KwaZuluNatal north coast up into Mozambique and the East African coast. Until recently, I had no idea anyone was growing it commercially, but there are two places in southern Africa where this is happening; KwaZulu-Natal and Ibo Island in the Quirimbas National Park, northern Mozambique.
Coffee plants are related to the gardenia family and have a similar beautiful white flower. Unlike the better-known arabica and robusta varieties, racemosa has not undergone any genetic tampering to make the beans larger or the trees bear more prolifically. The bush is about one-third the size of a robusta tree, it bears substantially less, and the beans are much smaller. It takes about six racemosa trees to produce the same weight in beans as one arabica or robusta tree. Another difference is that racemosa bears blossoms and ripe fruit simultaneously. This necessitates harvesting by hand, making it difficult, time consuming and expensive, which could be why its commercial exploitation is so limited.
Marlene Cathey, along with her pineapple-- and sugarcane-farmer husband Frans, cultivates racemosa coffee. She clapped her hands in delight as she described how passionate she became about racemosa after she heard about it. She wrote to and telephoned everyone from the agricultural research stations in Nelspruit and Pretoria to the botanic gardens and conservation authorities in Pietermaritzburg to find out more. No one could help her.
At some point, she read that the Portuguese colonists in Mozambique had grown racemosa and she immediately planned a trip across the border. Supported by the bemused and longsuffering Frans, they undertook numerous fruitless 4x4 trips to Nyhambane where they heard there had once been coffee plantations. When it became obvious the Mozambicans could not help, Frans finally drew the line. “But I just couldn’t let it go!” said Marlene. She decided if she really wanted to do this, she would have to do it on her own.
Eventually Marlene tracked down 35 racemosa seedlings at a nursery where they were being sold as garden plants, and the rest is history. She now has a small plantation of about 2 000 trees, all of which she has propagated herself. She and Frans roast beans in a converted tumble drier set up in a corner of their farm office, where they also grind and package their delicious coffee in small quantities.
My next stop on the coffee trail was Ibo Island. Racemosa was the first thing I asked about on arrival at the beautiful Ibo Island Lodge. “Oh yes,” came the casual reply. “Of course we serve Ibo coffee. Would you like some now?” I was beside myself with glee. “And ma’am . . . would you like us to book you on the coffee tour? It is the first one ever being run on our island. We are celebrating our history and culture.”
Ibo coffee once grew wild in areas on this coral island. The Portuguese cultivated it in small quantities and apparently back in 1914 entered it in a competition in Portugal where it won a gold award, beating coffees the colonists had imported from all over the world.
The next afternoon, I joined two Portuguese tourists, a small group of Ibo coffee farmers, and representatives of WWF and the Mozambican Department of Agriculture for the tour. The NGO and the government, along with Slow Food International in Italy, are assisting farmers to revive the small but thriving local racemosa coffee industry. Ibo’s racemosa coffee has very special characteristics of flavour, body and aroma.
A study carried out by Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo showed that racemosa has such a minuscule amount of caffeine it’s hardly worth mentioning. The study also estimated the potential market for caffeine-free coffee worldwide to number 10 million people.
IBO COFFEE WON A GOLD AWARD, BEATING COFFEES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD
So Ibo coffee farmers are perhaps onto a good thing.
What a privilege it was to wander through the village with the farmers, inspecting the odd tree here and there, touring the small seedling nursery under the shade of plaited palm leaves, and interacting with community members. Some farmers in the fledgling project have two or three trees, others have a dozen. Luis Augusto from WWF said that Ibo Island plans to establish some 50 000 trees.
Our tour ended at the home of Felicidade Rabia, who showed us how she dries the beans. She roasted some in a clay pot over an open fire until the beans were a rich brown and the aroma was just right, and then she pounded them into grounds in what looked like a traditional wooden mielie stamper.
Finally, the grounds were cooled in a winnowing basket before being spooned into a plastic tea strainer. Boiling water was poured over and into mugs. We ended the evening on her veranda sipping fresh, hot indigenous coffee accompanied by doce de
amendoim, a traditional raw peanut cookie. Seldom have I enjoyed a more delicious cup of deep, rich, strong coffee.
Wild Coffee in Hluhluwe district, KwaZuluNatal, 083 233 6409 or 082 454 5330; Ibo Island Lodge and Dhow Safaris, 021 785 5498, e-mail info@iboisland.com, or visit www.iboisland.com