Flavour Notes : Lemon lime bitter, Nougat

Roast Degree : Light

Region : Gakenke Northern Province

Altitude : 2,150 masl

Variety : Red Bourbon

Process : Washed

Awards : Cup of Excellence 2008, 2013, 2015

Sweetness 7/10 - Sugar cane, Molasses
Acidity 7/10 - Syrupy, mellow
Body 7/10 - Thick
Balance 7/10 -Complex, long finish

Crisp and clean. Bright green apple, cherry and mandarin with cane sugar sweetness and a tea-like body.

It is very rare to be able to get a coffee that is traceable back to a single farm in Rwanda, so we feel extremely fortunate to be able to share this special nano lot from producers Andre Hakizimana and Anathal Mukagwiza.

Most of the coffees we source from Rwanda are traceable back to a washing station, or sometimes a farmer group. Most washing stations in Rwanda receive cherry from hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of farmers who own very small plots of land – on average less than a quarter hectare, with just 300-600 coffee trees. Separation of such tiny lots is expensive and impractical, so the large majority of coffees are processed as a mixed lot from multiple producers. Typically, lots are separated as day lots (ie. cherries that were all picked on the same day) rather than by a single farm or producer group.

Single farm micro-lots like this one are extremely rare. In this case, it is made possible due to the size of Andre and Anathal’s farm, which totals 1.3 hectare. Andre is also a member of the Dukunde Kawa Cooperative, which has its own dry mill, allowing them to process smaller lots individually, whilst minimising cost and maintaining excellent quality standards.

Andre Hakizimana

Andre has worked in coffee for over 40 years. He is a founding member of the Dukunde Kawa Cooperative and remains active as a member – he even works at the cooperative in the off-season by providing support with maintenance and improvements outside of the harvest.

Andre is an industrious coffee farmer; over time, he has gradually saved and acquired more land and planted more trees. Today he owns over 3,000 coffee trees and produces around 16 tonnes of coffee cherry per season, making him one of Dukunde Kawa’s biggest producing members. Andre employs eight workers during the harvest to help him with picking. The pickers are trained to select only the ripest cherries for harvest and do several passes throughout the season to ensure quality standards are met.

Andre farms 100% organically. He uses manure from his pigs and cow to fertilise his trees and has planted pumpkins and banana trees to prevent erosion and keep the soil moist. His wife, Anathal Mukawiza, works closely with him on the farm and the couple take great pride in their work and their coffee, which they see as an important investment in their family’s future.

Eugenie Muganda, the head cupper and lab manager for Rwashoscco talking to Agnes Mushimitimana, the Production Manager at Mbilima

ABOUT MBILIMA WASHING STATION

At a staggering elevation of 2,020 metres above sea level, Mbilima is one of Rwanda’s highest washing stations. The area surrounding the washing station has mineral-rich soil and a lush environment that is well suited to specialty coffee production. Typically, farms in this area are very small – averaging just a quarter of a hectare – and are situated between 1,800 to 2,100 meters above sea level.

The washing station was established in 2005 and services 874 growers (643 men, 231 women) who live and grow coffee locally. Four permanent staff and 49 seasonal workers are employed by the washing station – most of whom are women.

Day-to-day operations at Mbilima are overseen by John Bosco Habimana, who has been the washing station’s manager since 2012, and QC is headed by Agnes Mushimiyimana. The washing station has recently become 100% organic, Rainforest Alliance certified, UTZ certified, and Fair Trade certified. John Bosco explained that becoming certified has been extremely useful in formalising and documenting a lot of things that the cooperative was already doing. “It has helped us to better the lives of our producers and quality of our coffee. It’s been a lot of work to get the certifications,” he explained, “but it also made us realise how many positive things we were already doing. The certifications reinforce this.” 

Head here to learn more about the work of Dukunde Kawa in Rwanda.

Quality control and day to day operations at Mbilima are overseen by John Bosco Habimana, who has been the Washing Station Manager since 2012.

PROCESSING AT MBILIMA WASHING STATION

The team at Dukunde Kawa takes a huge amount of care in processing its coffee. All members of the cooperative are trained to only select ripe coffee cherries from their trees.

• On delivery the cherries are inspected and sorted by hand to ensure only the very ripest cherries are processed. They are then sorted by weight (and any floaters are removed) by a Pinhalense machine that the washing station staff affectionately have nicknamed the ‘Umupolisi’ (police officer). They are then pulped on the same day – usually in the evening – using a mechanical pulper that divides the beans into three grades by weight, with the heaviest, A1, usually having the highest cup quality.
• After pulping, the coffee is fermented overnight for around 12–18 hours and then graded again using floatation channels that sort the coffee by weight. The beans are then soaked for a further 24 hours, before being moved to raised screens for ‘wet sorting’ by hand.
• As at most washing stations in Rwanda, women do the majority of hand-sorting. This takes place in two stages – on the covered pre-drying tables and on the drying tables. Washed beans are moved from the wet fermentation tanks onto the pre-drying tables, where they are intensively sorted under shade for around six hours. The idea is that greens (unripe beans) are still visible when the beans are damp, while the roofs over the tables protect the beans from the direct sunlight.
• Next, the beans are moved onto the washing station’s extensive raised drying tables (‘African beds’) for around two weeks, where they are sorted again for defects, turned regularly and protected from rain and the midday sun by covers, ensuring both even drying and the removal of any damaged or defective beans. During this period the coffee is also turned several times a day by hand to ensure the coffee dries evenly and consistently.
• After reaching 11% humidity, the coffee is then transported to Dukunde Kawa’s purpose-built warehouse prior to final dry-milling and hand sorting at the cooperative’s dry mill.

Ratio

1:2.7 ~ 2.8

-Synesso MVP 
Pre-infusion 0.0sec / Pulse 410-420 (56-60g out)
Ramp up 4.0 sec / Ramp down 80%

-Linea PB / KB 90 
Pre-infusion 0.0sec / ABR 57.0g / Pulse 410-420

- V60 or Pourover 

3 pour without agitation.

2:45 ~ 3:00 Brew

Pour 45g(ml)

At 0:35 pour until 150g(ml)

At 1:10 pour until 250g(ml)

- Moccamaster or Breville Brewer

- Fetco