Rwanda Coffee

RUSIZI, RWANDA KIVU BOURBON GISUMA CO-OP FAIRTRADE CERTIFIED COFFEE

Unique. Artisanal. Direct Trade.

The Rusizi district is in southwestern Rwanda. Geographically, it’s magical. Mountains loom over the Rift Valley. Lake Kivu feeds the Rusizi River and beside, you will find monkeys and gorillas playing in the forest. This coffee is grown, picked, processed and sorted by hand, and to the highest standards achievable. The Coffee Washing Stations process this coffee on separate days from their other coffee. For the 2015 crop, AfriCana Traders hired and trained 7 Coffee Quality Leaders, one for each Coffee Washing Station, to teach and oversee growing, picking, logistics of cherry collection and transport, cherry processing into parchment, parchment washing and drying and sorting this exquisite Rwandan coffee.

Logistics are organized so that coffee cherries are processed into parchment and washed within 5-6 hours of picking. Washing is done with clean potable water. This timeline prevents undue fermentation of the sugars in the cherries, a process, which if not checked, will within a few hours add defects to the taste of the coffee. Parchment on the drying tables is constantly turned over and aerated to promote even drying.

Why is Rusizi a paradise for coffee trees?

• Nine month rainy season, resulting in constant moisture during cherry growing and ripening stages and producing coffee beans with a high sugar content. 
• High altitude (1, 500 – 1, 800 m) which produces a harder bean 

• Equatorial latitude which means consistent year-round sunshine