Complex & Bright; Peach · Mango · Melon
Variety: Red Bourbon
Process: Natural
Region: Ngozi
Exporter/Importer: GreenCo + Cafe Imports
The coffee supply chain is linked to colonial history and human history, inextricably.
Belgium colonised Burundi in 1916 and, when they recognised the country's ideal growing conditions, they mandated coffee cultivation as a tool of economic extraction. Every farmer was forced to grow at least fifty coffee trees with little compensation. The infrastructure built during this period focused around centralised washing stations and state-controlled cooperatives, shaping an industry designed for export volume. Today these washing stations work as farmer co-operatives paying fair prices for ripe cherries and assisting in the development of communities.
Gihere washing station sits in Burundi's Ngozi province, perched high along the Congo-Nile Divide. The soils here are deep, volcanic, and iron-rich, formed over millennia by the tectonic activity of the Albertine Rift, creating fertile, mineral-rich soil perfect for growing coffee. High altitude slows cherry development, extending the ripening window and building the layered sweetness and acidity that defines great coffee from this region.
Red Bourbon thrives in these conditions, almost identical to those found across the border in Rwanda. The mountainous terrain, the same volcanic soil, the same cool nights. Both regions produce complex, structured and deeply sweet coffees with a plethora of fruit diversity.
Natural processing is exceptionally rare in Burundi, where the centralised washing station model has long made washed lots universal. Only in recent years has the development and export of naturally processed, air-dried whole cherry, been developed. Extremely clean and deeply layered, we jumped at the chance to secure this lot.
Complex & Bright; Peach · Mango · Melon
Variety: Red Bourbon
Process: Natural
Region: Ngozi
Exporter/Importer: GreenCo + Cafe Imports
The coffee supply chain is linked to colonial history and human history, inextricably.
Belgium colonised Burundi in 1916 and, when they recognised the country's ideal growing conditions, they mandated coffee cultivation as a tool of economic extraction. Every farmer was forced to grow at least fifty coffee trees with little compensation. The infrastructure built during this period focused around centralised washing stations and state-controlled cooperatives, shaping an industry designed for export volume. Today these washing stations work as farmer co-operatives paying fair prices for ripe cherries and assisting in the development of communities.
Gihere washing station sits in Burundi's Ngozi province, perched high along the Congo-Nile Divide. The soils here are deep, volcanic, and iron-rich, formed over millennia by the tectonic activity of the Albertine Rift, creating fertile, mineral-rich soil perfect for growing coffee. High altitude slows cherry development, extending the ripening window and building the layered sweetness and acidity that defines great coffee from this region.
Red Bourbon thrives in these conditions, almost identical to those found across the border in Rwanda. The mountainous terrain, the same volcanic soil, the same cool nights. Both regions produce complex, structured and deeply sweet coffees with a plethora of fruit diversity.
Natural processing is exceptionally rare in Burundi, where the centralised washing station model has long made washed lots universal. Only in recent years has the development and export of naturally processed, air-dried whole cherry, been developed. Extremely clean and deeply layered, we jumped at the chance to secure this lot.
