The Nyasaland variety is extremely unknown, but has received more attention in recent years. The plant was previously on the verge of extinction.
The plants are descended from Typica coffee palms, from the area of the Gesha Mountains in south-west Ethiopia, and found their way from the English colonies via what was then Nyasaland - now Malawi - and Jamaica to the Mount Elgon Mountains in eastern Uganda.
The coffee plants grow between 1.5 and 2 m high and are ideally adapted to the mountainous climate of Mount Elgon. Their great advantage is that they are much more resistant to diseases than, for example, commercially available SL varieties. This makes cultivation much more organic, but also more cost-effective, because the use of pesticides and also artificial fertilisers can be completely dispensed with. The coffee beans are somewhat smaller than other Arabica varieties, but have an intense flavour profile in the cup.
