A delightful example of the Bourbon variety famously grown in Rwandan terroir, this coffee starts out with beautiful floral notes which flow into earl grey tea with honey and a squeeze of lemon. A juicy apricot acidity and body quickly follows accompanied by caramel and red apple which makes us think of a toffee apple.
Located in the North-West region of Rwanda, at the shore of lake Kivu, Mushonyi coffee washing station (CWS) is about two and a half hours from Kigali and one hour from Rubavu city by car. The many hills that surround the station add to the already bucolic view, which includes a glimpse on the beautiful Lake Kivu Rwacof started operations there in 2013. In 2014, the station won the Cup of Excellence, a prize which awards high quality coffee lots. Rwanda's rich volcanic soils, rainfall distribution and clement yearlong temperatures favour the slow maturation of the coffee bean, creating a distinctive taste in the cup.
At the Mushonyi CWS over 1200 smallholder farmers contribute their crops to this coffee, 68% of whom are men, and 32% women. The are provided with training and resources by RWACOF through 'Farm Field Schools', Demo-plots, and free access to coffee nurseries. Educational programs are provided on best agricultural practices, sustainable farming, business and economics information, and social wellbeing.
The station offers 3 different processing methods: Fully washed, Natural and Honey. After being hand-picked, floated, washed and sorted, the coffee is dried on raised drying beds. The riper cherries are sorted and processed separately to the lower quality specimens - those that are either too ripe or not quite ripe enough. Bad fruit is removed through hand sorting, and the higher-density cherries are separated by immersing them in water so that lighter specimens float. For the Washed Process, cherries are fermented in tanks for 24 hours and then thoroughly washed to remove the mucilage. The parchment is left to dry on raised beds made of wood and mesh.