Rwanda
Bwenda, Lot 682 - Rwanda
250g
*Terroir Best Lot*
QUALITY SCORE: 89.00
Cup Notes
Orange / Cranberry / Rhubarb / Lemon
Suggested for espresso and filter
when we roast
We freshly roast to order all coffees on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (excluding national holidays), and ship the same day! Cut-off time is 11:59pm (UTC+1) of the day before the roast day. *We only ship whole beans*
Details
- Quality Score
- 89.00
- Producer
- Several Small Farmers
- Country
- Rwanda
- Terroir
- Nyamagabe
- Altitude
- 1700 mt
- Process
- Classic Washed
- Arabica cultivar
- Red Bourbon
- Picked in
- July 2019
- Arrived in
- June 2020
- Shipped in
- Jute + GrainPro
- Roast profile by
- Rubens Gardelli
- Roasted on
- Customised solid-drum roaster
THE STORY BEHIND
The owner of Bwenda, Bernard Uwitije, is a native of southern Rwanda, Nyamagabe district. Coming from a region where coffee has been a dominant crop, he has first entered the sector trading ordinary home processed coffee. He later learned about the added value of selling the fully processed coffee. Wanting to set up a proper and sustainable business in the coffee sector, he built his first wet mill near his hometown in 2016. He used the first year to learn all the details of operating a wet mill successfully, and he built a second washing station the following season, where he then mastered processing large volumes without compromising quality. Bwenda was his third washing station, which he built in 2018 after realizing a group of farmers who were a bit isolated, did not have a closer washing station to process their cherries into high quality coffee. 2019 was the first season of operating Bwenda, processing only 1 container worth of cherries. Bernard is already developing various programs to help farmers delivering to Bwenda with extension services, and he is expanding the capacity of the wet mill. During the harvest the farmers deliver cherry to the washing station where they are floated and separated before being pulped on a disc pulper and fermented in tanks overnight until the mucilage is ready to be washed off. It then passes through the grading channels before being taken to the raised beds and dried for 10 - 14 days.
THE VARIETY
Red Bourbon — In 1859, Bourbon seeds arrived in Brazil, sent for by the Brazil central government after hearing that coffee growing on the island of Reunion, then called Bourbon, were more productive and of higher quality than the Typica variety. Now that the Yellow Bourbon variety exists, the original Bourbon is distinguished as Red Bourbon. In the 1930’s, different strains of Red Bourbon were bred at the Campinas Agronomic Institute (IAC) in the state of Sao Paulo and distributed to farmers in 1939. Studying the success of different selections of Red Bourbon planted in different regions with distinct conditions helped researchers understand the effects of environmental variations on coffee varieties.
THE FERMENTATION PROCESS
Washed coffees showcase solely the bean. They let you taste you what’s on the inside, not the outside. Washed coffees depend almost 100% on the bean having absorbed enough natural sugars and nutrients during its growing cycle. This means the varietal, soil, weather, ripeness, fermentation, washing, and drying are absolutely key.
Washed coffees reflect both the science of growing the perfect coffee bean and the fact that farmers are an integral part of crafting the taste of a coffee bean. When looking at washed coffees, it becomes apparent that the country of origin and environmental conditions play a vital role in adding to the flavour.
During wet processing, the pulp (i.e.the exocarp and a part of the mesocarp) is removed mechanically. The remaining mesocarp, called mucilage, sticks to the parchment and is also removed before drying. During this process, the sugars present in the mucilage are removed through natural fermentation or mechanical scrubbing. Mucilage is insoluble in water and clings to parchment too strongly to be removed by simple washing. Mucilage can be removed by fermentation followed by washing or by strong friction in machines called mucilage removers. Fermentation can be done by stacking the coffee outside or placing it under water and allowing nature to take its course. After the sugars are removed, the beans then can be taken through a secondary washing to remove any additional debris, or taken immediately to the beds for drying.