Huye distr.         1800-2300 mt

Region/Terroir       Elevation   

 

 Fermentation        Cultivar    

 

   Picked in            Landed in

 

This small lot of coffee produced just 20 bags, of which we were very lucky to get our hands on.
It's a super scarce coffee and very delicious!

Huye Mountain washing station has been made famous in recent years since it was a focal point in the documentary 'A Film about Coffee'. It is located on the slopes of the Huye Mountain in the Huye District in South Rwanda and was established in 2011. It is a private washing station owned by David Rubanzangabo who is something of a philanthropist. He cares deeply about the smallholder farmers who deliver their coffee to his station. Around 1,330 producers deliver their freshly picked coffee cherries to 26 collecting stations around the Huye community, where a truck visits daily to collect the farmers' coffee during harvest season.
Each farm only produces roughly 2 bags of coffee. It is entirely bourbon, which, coupled with analtitude ranging from 1,600 to 2,300 metres above sea level, brings about lots of complexity and great flavours in the cup.

The processing is based on washing the coffee with a set up that is typical throughout East Africa. The freshly delivered coffee is inspectedto ensure only good red and ripe cherries are included. Then it is put into the receiving tank where inferior floaters are removed. The denser, high quality cherries are then pulped in a Penagos disc pulper before entering a concrete fermentation tank where they are held for 12 to 15 hours. It is a dry fermentation process meaning that extra water is not added. After this the mucilage is loose enough to be washed away and the tank is then filled with water and the coffee turned with a large wooden paddle before being drained. This process is repeated a further 4 times to ensure the coffee is clean before being channelled through water (when further floaters are removed) and is then transported to raised beds for drying. Initial drainage drying is under shade as the coffee could be damaged at this point if it is exposed to too much heat. Then it is taken to the drying tables in the sunshine where the beans are diligently sorted by hand, removing defects and turning it regularly. This can take between 15 to 20 days.