Rwanda | Nemba Hill

Region: Gakenke District, Rwanda
Process: Washed
Variety: Red Bourbon
Altitude: 1900-2100 masl
We Taste: Tangerine, Hibiscus, Oolong Tea

This lot comes from 10 smallholder producers whose farms sit above 1900 masl in the Northern Province of Rwanda. It was processed at the Muzo washing station, owned by Emmanuel Busatira of Baho Coffee and was brought to us through Ben Bowdowin of Sundog Trading. The Muzo station is the smallest owned by Baho and getting cherry to the station for many smallholders in this region is particularly strenuous due to the extreme elevation and mountainous terrain. Baho assists these producers by providing a free collection service at producer's homes. The Nemba Hill lot goes through rigorous sorting protocol to remove defects and ensure uniformity with multiple rounds of floating cherries and removing floaters, density sorting, and a final soak to make for a more homogenous drying process.   

Coffee production in Rwanda is largely built on the model of having centralized washing stations where smallholders deliver their cherries for processing. These stations can receive cherries from hundreds or thousands of farmers, however, Baho is building small lots with several neighboring producers' cherries grouped together. Though building smaller lots like this is more labor intensive than creating larger regional lots, it allows us the privilege to taste the profiles of more micro-scale regions within Rwanda with a greater degree of transparency into who is growing the coffee we get to taste. Emmanuel's attention to lot separation is a major commitment towards quality and is cutting edge for coffee in Rwanda. Baho is not only committed to the coffee quality, but is committed to supporting the producers who deliver to their stations through the distribution of seedlings, education on best agricultural practices, giving loans for infrastructure and quality of live investments, and general community building.

This is the second of two lots we forward-contracted and purchased, and we're very humbled to be able to share their coffees with you. 

Price Breakdown:

Our Total Cost: coming soon
Packaging, labor, and weight loss: coming soon
Green Price: $5.00/lb
FOB Price: coming soon
Farm Gate Price:  coming soon

Importer: Sundog Trading

*We roast on Tuesdays and ship the following day; order deadline is 7:00 am Tuesday morning; local pick-up orders will be ready on Fridays