Good - Tanzanian - Coffee to drink and buy

Coffee has a long lasting tradition in Tanzania. Along the coast it has been introduced by the Omani and Arab traders. Coffee vendors with a jug fixed on a bed of coal, Zanzibari Sweets and a bucket of water to wash the tiny little cups, walk the streets of Dar es Salaam and Stonetown, and make for a nice refreshment for just 2 cents. Inland, the German colonialists started to plant coffee more than a hundred years ago, eg. in the Uluguru and Usambara Mountains, but also around Arusha, and in the South West of the Country.
To drink coffee and also to buy it freshly roasted, head to the Mzumbi Coffe Shop on the first floor in the Seacliff Shopping Mall on the Peninsula (final station of the Msasaki Dala Dala bus; Tel. 027 250 80 22 or 0784 31 82 42; http://www.msumbi-coffees@habari.co.tz/; msumbicoffees@habari.co.tz;). The shopping mall lacks atmosphere, but the coffee is excellent (try Latte Machiato), the smell itself a treat, and the Staff always very friendly. The coffee originates from a farm in South West Tanzania. Another Mzumbi shop is located in Stone Town in Zanzibar, much more atmospheric, and if the machine is working, a place not to be missed for a good coffee treat!


In the Seacliff Msumbi Coffee shop they also have beautiful furniture made of wood of old Ngalawas boats on display. The furniture is made in Arusha made of boats that have come to the end of their working lives on the coast. Contacts are the same as for the Msumbi Coffee).

The tiny little coffee shop in the Mövenpick Royal Palm Hotel is a little oasis in bustling down town, too, however in terms of coffee it comes second to Mzumbi, and in terms of pastry second to Kempinski.