Iqhilika African Coffee Mead

Iqhilika African Coffee Mead....$21.99 / 750ml

In the southern most corner of the Wild Coast in South Africa, there is a small coffee estate called Transkei Gold, located in the Coffee Bay area. In the early 1900s, the estate had fallen into disrepair and its coffee trees had reverted to the wild. Over the next 90 years, the trees cross-pollinated each other and a new, hardy strain developed, adapting to the edge of the mangrove swamps of the area. These wild coffee saplings only recently started to experience significant growth, and have since been organized into plantations to be cultivated.

This rarest of African coffees, grown entirely organic and sold only to exclusive outlets, is harvested as part of a community job creation project. Local village people are brought on to cultivate and tend the crops, along with volunteers from Europe & the United States. The profits from this project are returned to the community to support education, health care, and clean water projects. The coffee smells wonderful to the nose, and has the aromas of hope for the community.

This exclusive coffee is blended with Makana Meadery’s Sweet Mead to produced a robust beverage ideal for accompanying after-dinner treats. A bit of carmelized honey has been added to the recipe to integrate the flavors of African wildflowers with the roast expressions of the coffee.