Product profiles: Coffee

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In the local Bemba language, the word "isanya" means "sun." Our Isanya Estate gets just the right amount of it.    Located in Zambia's Northern Highlands and overlooking Lake Tanganyika, Isanya is situated almost 4,500 feet above sea level. Its unique, gentle microclimate and deep soils produce a lively, aromatic bean with a delightfully tangy berry taste. This outstanding bean provides a bright, well-balanced cup appreciated by discriminating coffee lovers. A Coffee To Fall in Love With    Isanya's beginnings as a coffee farm date back to 1920 when an English aristocrat's biplane crashed nearby. The Englishman - we know only his last name, Peachey - had flown regularly from Cape Town to Cairo. While convalescing in a hospital on the Plateau, Peachey fell in love with one of his nurses.    He fell in love with Isanya, too. It is surrounded by rolling hills covered by tall, dense virgin forest. Less than 20 miles away the spectacular Kalambo Falls, among the world's tallest, plunge more than 600 feet in a sheer drop. Beautiful cave paintings by Bushmen and an unearthed older civilization indicate that Peachy was not the first to consider this a special place.    Peachy purchased Isanya, married the nurse and planted coffee trees. He also built Isanya House, an elegant example of Colonial architecture that APC is restoring to its former glory. The plantation enjoyed easy access to the Indian Ocean, along the famous Salt Road from Lake Tanganyika.    During his lifetime, Peachey developed Isanya into one of Africa's finest coffee estates. Europe's older coffee aficionados still remember the famous Isanya coffee that was exported only to the United Kingdom. TO NEXT COLUMN

Building on a tradition of quality    APC has revived the estate's tradition of personal attentiveness, supplementing it with modern agronomic techniques that ensure healthy plants and a plentiful crop.    Isanya's coffee undergoes meticulous processing and quality control, beginning with careful selection. Only when fully ripe, the cherries are carefully hand-picked and sun-dried to perfection. After pulping, a fermentation process enhances the superior flavor of the Isanya coffee bean. And unlike most other coffees, our beans are hulled right before shipping, to preserve Isanya's full flavor.    In Isanya Estate, APC demonstrates that modern agriculture and environmental conservation can go hand-in-hand. The estate's irrigation system ensures healthy plants and large crops. Primary forest still grows on more than three quarters of the estate - almost 400 acres - with the old mahogany and mukwa trees (and their plentiful bird life, varied population of venomous snakes and other native fauna) protected from tree poaching and slash-and-burn agriculture. We are cultivating Isanya's natural beauty and splendid coffee for generations to come. Address and logo TO TOP OF COPY TO TOP OF PAGE