Josh’s notes:
Very clear note of ripe blackberries on bag open, along with the edge of concentrated pomegranate juice. On grind, the smell of cranberry. On wet, more cranberry, and the smell of warm blackberry juice. Perhaps preserves. In the cup, very similar to the aroma. Tart cherry and pomegranate, and the juice of blackberries. It is super clean with no funk to speak of, like a sparkling blackberry seltzer.
Thoughtful’s notes:
“60 smallholders farming Kiyonza Hill in Nyaruguru District, Southern Province, at around 1,900 masl. Farms average 0.17 hectares, planted in 25-year-old Red Bourbon.
They deliver to Fugi, owned by Emmanuel Rusatira of Baho Coffee and managed by Aphrodise Munyangaju. Fugi was Emmanuel's first station, bought in 2016, and buys cherry from roughly 950 farmers. Baho provides free fertilizer and seedlings, an on-site agronomist, and contributions toward health insurance. Kiyonza Hill is part of Baho's appellation project, separating lots by hill rather than pooling them at the station.
Cherry was sorted under full shade, then floated across several rounds, with only the densest kept for this lot. It fermented in sealed plastic barrels for 9 hours in cherry, was depulped, then fermented wet another 12 hours before being washed and density-graded in the channels.
Drying started with skin drying — 12 to 72 hours on shaded beds, a Rwandan step that eases into the drying curve and allows sorting while the parchment is still wet. The parchment then moved to raised beds inside a parabolic dryer, finishing below 11% moisture at 27 days.
If you like fruity coffees with a hint of tartness, you'll like this one. Our favorite from Rwanda this year.”
Roast:
Roasted light and spectacularly by our friends at thoughtfulcoffee in Brooklyn, New York, rested for 10 days, then vacuum packed and frozen. I recommend enjoying this coffee right away.
Josh’s notes:
Very clear note of ripe blackberries on bag open, along with the edge of concentrated pomegranate juice. On grind, the smell of cranberry. On wet, more cranberry, and the smell of warm blackberry juice. Perhaps preserves. In the cup, very similar to the aroma. Tart cherry and pomegranate, and the juice of blackberries. It is super clean with no funk to speak of, like a sparkling blackberry seltzer.
Thoughtful’s notes:
“60 smallholders farming Kiyonza Hill in Nyaruguru District, Southern Province, at around 1,900 masl. Farms average 0.17 hectares, planted in 25-year-old Red Bourbon.
They deliver to Fugi, owned by Emmanuel Rusatira of Baho Coffee and managed by Aphrodise Munyangaju. Fugi was Emmanuel's first station, bought in 2016, and buys cherry from roughly 950 farmers. Baho provides free fertilizer and seedlings, an on-site agronomist, and contributions toward health insurance. Kiyonza Hill is part of Baho's appellation project, separating lots by hill rather than pooling them at the station.
Cherry was sorted under full shade, then floated across several rounds, with only the densest kept for this lot. It fermented in sealed plastic barrels for 9 hours in cherry, was depulped, then fermented wet another 12 hours before being washed and density-graded in the channels.
Drying started with skin drying — 12 to 72 hours on shaded beds, a Rwandan step that eases into the drying curve and allows sorting while the parchment is still wet. The parchment then moved to raised beds inside a parabolic dryer, finishing below 11% moisture at 27 days.
If you like fruity coffees with a hint of tartness, you'll like this one. Our favorite from Rwanda this year.”
Roast:
Roasted light and spectacularly by our friends at thoughtfulcoffee in Brooklyn, New York, rested for 10 days, then vacuum packed and frozen. I recommend enjoying this coffee right away.
