Tastes Like: Grapefruit, mandarin and grilled pineapple. Crisp and juicy, with candy-like sweetness and black tea finish.
Roast Level: Light Filter Roast (Best suited to Aeropress, Drip and Plunger)
Altitude: 1550-1700
Variety: Red Bourbon
Processing: Washed
Importer: Melbourne Coffee Merchants
About:
This 100% Red Bourbon coffee was processed at Ubumwe washing station, which sits at 1,650 metres above sea level in the Gacurabwenge sector of Kamonyi District, in Rwanda’s Southern Province. Ubumwe washing station is privately owned by the wonderful Epiphanie Mukashyaka of Buf Coffee and her family, who we have been buying from since 2009.
Located only 20 minutes away from the capital city Kigali, the region surrounding Ubumwe washing station has very rich soil, with high levels of phosphorus, potassium, zinc, and boron. These nutrients are key in the nutrition of coffee trees, as they promote cherry ripeness and root development. To take advantage of these conditions, Buf have planted 200 coffee trees onsite, which is used as a model farm to demonstrate best practices to the local farming community. Ubumwe receives cherries from approximately 500 farmers in the surrounding villages, who grow coffee at elevations of 1,550m–1,700m above sea level. All processing here is done using water from the nearby hill of Gawra Bwenge.
Ubumwe’s first year of operation was in 2017. The property includes Buf’s dry mill, which is used to process all coffee produced by the company (Ubumwe is one of four washing stations owned by Buf). This added control during the milling and preparation of the coffee allows for more microlot separation and experimentation. Ubumwe is managed by Edoine Mugisha, who used to head operations at Nyarusiza, another washing station owned by Buf. With the help of another seven permanent employees, Edoine oversees all of the operations of both the wet and dry mill.
