Flavor profile: raspberry, pomelo, hibiscus
Altitude: 1500–1900 m
Variety: Red Bourbon
Acidity: medium
Body: medium
This coffee from Rwanda is grown on small farms in the village of Bugoyi, located at the foot of a mountain and near Lake Kivu.
The local farmers are true coffee enthusiasts. Each of them has a small plantation of about 250 trees right next to their homes. Although the plantations are small, they serve as the main source of income for many families. Therefore, coffee is treated with special care here.
Farmers harvest only ripe coffee cherries and immediately take them to the washing station. There, the cherries are sorted again and checked for density to select only the best. The cherries are then depulped, soaked, sorted, and dried on African drying beds.
Drying coffee is very similar to preparing meat, says Rusatira Emmanuel, the founder of Baho Coffee, a company managing four washing stations in various coffee regions of Rwanda.
Rusatira believes that meat roasted in hot ash, although it takes more time to cook, ultimately has a better flavor. He draws an analogy to coffee: the longer the beans are dried, the richer and brighter the flavor of the drink becomes, and its shelf life increases. For this reason, at the Bugoyi washing station, coffee is dried under careful supervision for up to 93 days.
