Rwanda has a relatively modern relationship to growing coffee in comparison to other origins, with coffee plants arriving in 1904. Now as one of the top 30 coffee producers in the world, with almost 500,000 micro farms that export millions of pounds of coffee a year. High elevations deliver some delicious yields with varied profiles, blueberry muffin notes, kiwi, rosehip, are all among the flavours we've gotten from past crops.
*click here to buy our current offering from this region*
2024
Too much jam? Not in this cup. Jammy, candied stone fruits, mixed in with rose petal black tea - Bonne Maman (or something)!
This naturally processed Rwanda comes from the Gitesi mill in the Western Province, made up of Red Bourbon from 1800 small family farms nearby. The mill sits at 1800 masl and is managed by the father and son team Alexis and Aime Gahizi, a family who have been farming coffee for generations and are well acquainted with the local farmers who bring their cherries to Gitesi.
This history of working with coffee means they have great processes and structure at the mill. Strict routines for cherry management mean coffees with that haven’t undergone sufficient sorting are resorted at the mill, and Aime’s degree in engineering has enabled him to create a comprehensive water purification system for the mill (so good that it’s being used to model future purification systems for other stations).
2023
Perhaps you remember the Mahembe #5 from last year, a sizzling little bean that packed flavour in buckets; this year the #5 has returned, and its return is welcoming like the sweet sweet scent that drifts from a bakery on the street on a warm summer morning.
This Red Bourbon from Justin Musabyiama’s Mahembe mill was grown at 1990masl and is a creamy cup with hints of marzipan, jammy red fruit and sweet pastry. We expect it to be the perfect every day drinker for someone who’s every day starts a little more on the sweet side. Musabyiama grows his own coffee as well as managing his mill, so expectations are always high when it comes to quality with these lots, as someone who understands the importance of the whole cycle.
This coffee underwent a natural process, which adds to the creamy taste it leaves on the palette. 
Last year we had the Intego, a wonderfully sweet, kiwi noted coffee that became a favourite in the cafe and at the roastery. This year we have a special gift for you, the Impano, which literally translates to “gift” in Kinyarwanda; an experimental anaerobic Bourbon variety that reminds us of sweet pastries and stone fruits with a slight funk.
Coffee has not only the ability to wake you up and send your heartrate soaring, but more than that, coffee is viewed as an important asset that can “transform communities,” - this is how the farmers and processors who work together at the Gasharu CWS view coffee.
Valentin Kimenyi says this on their outputs, “Coffee for our community is more than just beans. For a long time, coffee has been a reason for people to spend time together, for a family to go out and meet up with others after selling their coffee because they have some money to afford a drink and food at a restaurant. Particularly the famous “Igisafuriya” or “brochettes”. These are all values that people who are not from the community would not necessarily understand or would not care about. Having grown up with many farmers in the community, my family values what coffee means to the quality of life of the community and to the social cohesion that is essential for any society.”