Varietal – Red Bourbon
Preparation – Washed
Location – Near to Kibuye, Lake Kivu
Altitude – 1600+ masl
Our coffees from Rwanda are directly traded with producers and we are able to offer full transparency and detailed information on these coffees. For more information on how we source coffees take a look at our Transparency Report.
For every kilo of Rwandan coffee sold we will ensure a tree is planted in the Gishwati-Mukura forest in Rwanda. For more information visit our OneTreePlanted page.
We first visited Rwanda in 2014 and over the last few years, we've developed some very close relationships within the Rwandan coffee community. We first visited Bwishaza co-operative in 2015 and have been buying coffee from them every year since our first visit.
Producer Overview:
Bwishaza co-operative is located north of Kibuye close to lake Kivu. You can view the exact location via the link to google maps. The co-operative produces a wide range of coffees with their main focus on clean, juicy, bright washed coffees. They also produce a range of natural processed coffees specifically for us.
Harvesting and Processing:
Coffee is delivered daily during the harvest period (February to June) by small-hold farmers. Usually, they deliver anything between 10 and 100kg depending on the size of their farm.
After delivery coffee is floated in water. Defects tend to float and the good quality cherry will sink. After flotation coffee is pulped to remove the fruit and then fermented dry in tanks for about 12 hrs
After fermentation, the coffee is washed and graded in channels to remove mucilage and to separate coffee by density. It is then moved to raised tables to dry.
Drying takes place in two stages. The first stage is done undercover to allow hand sorting to take place and gentle drying to avoid parchment cracking. After 48hrs of shade drying the coffee is moved to raised tables to dry in the sun until reaching 12% moisture. Each days processing is kept separate to create separated lots.
After the coffee has dried it is stored in a cool stored room and samples are sent away to be roasted, cupped and graded in Rwanda and also sent to us to be sampled. Once we've selected the lots we'd like to purchase the coffee will be dry milled. This process involves removing the parchment layer and further sorting to remove defects.
Tasting Notes:
Orange, Caramel, Black Tea. A lovely well-balanced coffee that is great as espresso and filter and works well with and without milk.