Coffee drinking joints located under trees along streets have become a culture practiced in the East African nation’s cities and regional headquarters with Dar es Salaam leading with many such joints.
Walking in the streets in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam’s suburbs, one is likely to see people seated under shades of trees drinking coffee at selected locations.
Coffee drinking joints located under trees along streets have become a culture practiced in the East African nation’s cities and regional headquarters with Dar es Salaam leading with many such joints.
“We meet in these street coffee drinking joints to while away time when we are off-duty,” said Abel Richard Chideba as he was drinking coffee under a tree at Biafra in the business capital’s Kinondoni suburb.
Chideba, a driver-cum-videographer, told Xinhua in an interview that drivers, carpenters and tailors meet in the street coffee drinking joints to discuss various issues ranging from politics, economics, to sports.
“Apart from being a sort of entertainment, coffee drinking brings together friends from all walks of life. We meet in these street coffee drinking joints to discuss various matters of national interest,” said Chideba as he gulped his second small cup of coffee.
He said currently the coffee drinkers, mostly drivers, are discussing skyrocketing prices of fuel caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
“The rising prices of fuel are making most of us jobless because people are not hiring our vehicles to transport their goods because we have also hiked transportation rates,” said Chideba.
He said the most preferred coffee is Arabica and Robusta which are easily available, adding that they sometimes add ginger to make the drink tastier.
“Coconut peanut brittle is a preferred bite for coffee drinkers,” said Chideba, adding that one can drink up to 10 small cups of coffee a day but in intervals.
Sultan Saleh Mtima, 47, also a driver, said street coffee drinking helps some of the drinkers handle stress caused by the rising cost of living.
“You can engage in a brawl with your wife at home but when you come here and drink two cups of coffee you feel refreshed,” said Mtima.
Erick Richard, a 20-year-old street coffee seller, told Xinhua that he started selling coffee in the streets three years ago after his friends phoned him from Dodoma region telling him that street coffee selling was a lucrative business in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
Richard said he gets 15,000 Tanzanian shillings (about 6.5 U.S. dollars) for selling one kettle of 10 liters of coffee, adding that on a good business day he sells up to three kettles.
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“I sell my coffee in the suburbs of Biafra, Namanga and Leaders Club where there are street coffee drinking joints,” said the young man, adding that he buys coffee in the Kariakoo area where a kilogram sells at 8,000 Tanzanian shillings.
“I can sell three kilograms of coffee in a week,” said Richard, adding that he is saving the money he is getting from selling coffee so that he can build a house in his native region of Dodoma.
He said his customers are very friendly and they prefer both types of coffee, Arabica and Robusta.