This organic certified fully washed lot is sourced from exclusively women producers supplying Mbizi washing station, a wetmill operated by Gihanga Coffee Company in Kamonyi district. Mbizi sits at around 2,200masl making it one of Rwanda's highest altitude wetmills. Gihanga works with over 3,000 small farmers in the region. These producers cultivate bourbon trees and their farms average around 4ha in size.

The region

Mbizi washing station is located in Rukoma sector, Kamonyi district, in Rwanda's Southern Province. Like much of Rwanda - “the land of a thousand hills” - the terrain is mountainous, rugged and exceptionally beautiful. Rich volcanic soils, plentiful sunshine, and tropical rainfall provide exceptional conditions for the cultivation of arabica, and the Bourbon variety particularly excels in the high elevations of Rwanda’s mountains.

The Process

This lot is fully washed, whereby ripe cherries are harvested by hand, then floated and hand sorted to select the highest quality for processing. These cherries are then mechanically de-pulped and fermented for 12-18 hours (typically overnight) to break down the remaining mucilage. After fermentation, the wet parchment is washed by high pressured water and grading is done throughout long channels to separate coffee by density. 

Next, the beans are dried on so-called raised African beds for 14-21 days depending on the climatic conditions. The parchment coffee is hand picked and turned throughout to remove defects and ensure consistent drying process, as well as covered at night or during rain to protect against moisture damage. A dedicated quality controller tests the relative humidity daily until an optimum content of 12% is reached, after which the coffee is rested in parchment pending secondary processing prior to export.