Rwanda GishekeCoffee Bean Intro:

Rwanda Gisheke washed Bourbon Catuai Caturra

Coffee region: Nyamasheke

Growing altitude: 1700 to 2000 meters

Processing method: Washed process

Coffee varieties: Bourbon, Catuai, Caturra

-Coffee region -

Rwanda is one of the coffee-producing countries that PTT Coffee currently pays the most attention to. Rwanda is uniquely blessed with an ideal coffee-growing environment, including high altitude, stable rainfall, volcanic soil, an organic environment, and a rich variety of coffee such as Bourbon.

Rwandan coffee generally does not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides. The fertilizer in the soil comes from natural ground cover and traditional fertilization methods.

The vast majority of Rwandan coffee is produced by smallholders, with about 500,000 farmers owning less than one hectare of farmland each.

Although Rwanda has a long history of coffee production, it is only recently that the quality of its coffee has significantly improved.

Since many coffee trees are planted on mountains between  1700 and  2000 meters above sea level, Rwanda is also known as the "Land of a Thousand Hills."

The charm of Rwandan coffee lies in its balance and clarity, which is comparable to Central American coffee, surpassing Kenyan coffee in taste.

Generally speaking, Rwandan coffee has a bright acidity, reminiscent of the aroma of oranges or tropical fruits. If we were to point out differences, PTT Coffee notes that the intensity varies—Kenyan coffee offers a fuller body, while Rwandan coffee feels more delicate and smooth.

-Western Nyamasheke District (Nyamasheke)-

Nyamasheke  (Nyamasheke) is a province in western Rwanda near the famous Lake Kivu  (Lake Kivu) , renowned for its rich, complex, and sweet coffee. Green bean traders  Nordic Approach have invested considerable effort in Nyamasheke over the past few years, conducting numerous experiments with local coffee farmers, and this batch is the result of those experiments.

The farmlands of coffee farmers near Lake Kivu in Nyamasheke are very small, mostly located between  1700-2000 meters above sea level. After being delivered to different washing stations, the coffee undergoes pulp removal, dry fermentation, then grading in channel sluices, followed by washing, soaking—a process very similar to the Kenyan washed method.

 -Gisheke washed processing plant -

Fidele Ndagijmanais a young trader in the Nyamashekeregion who saw the potential for specialty washed coffee in Rwanda. He applied to the government to build this processing plant, successfully processing 170tons of coffee cherries in the first year. He used the off-season to improve and expand production equipment, aiming to provide better machinery and storage conditions for the next harvest season. This excellent trader also secured more land near the processing plant for coffee cultivation.

-Washed processing method -

The most commendable aspect of Rwandan coffee is that after harvesting, farmers first sort out unripe green coffee cherries. Then, the ripe cherries are separated in water tanks, with only red cherries sent to the pulper.

Depending on weather conditions, the mucilage-covered coffee beans ferment for  24-48 hours. The purpose of fermentation is to avoid damaging the coffee flavor.

The cleaned, parchment-covered beans are then sun-dried. All coffee is dried on raised beds for  15-22 days, with the moisture content dropping to around 11%%.

When the weather is excessively hot, farmers cover the beans with cloth to prevent premature drying.

High-quality Rwandan green beans should have a white surface, indicating properly timed drying, and should not have cracks. This helps retain more organic compounds, resulting in a pleasant flavor and longer shelf life.

Washed-processed Rwandan coffee beans grown at high altitudes are generally sweet and full-bodied.

-Micro-lot (Microlots)-

What is a micro-lot? (Microlots)It is selecting the best-performing beans from a batch that already performs well. In the simplest terms, it means further selecting the top-performing beans from an already good batch.

Before entering the market, the higher-quality portion is separated out to achieve higher returns. On one hand, it satisfies the increasingly discerning palates of the single-origin coffee market, and on the other, it helps farmers' coffee enter the specialty coffee market while establishing their own premium image.

To “select ”a micro-lot, there are many methods—for example, separating today’s coffee beans due to better weather conditions, or isolating a farmer’s production because of superior fertilization techniques. It could also involve specifying the collection of only ripe fruit on a given day, then using double the labor to remove impurities and defects. It might even be a high-risk experiment, such as deciding to plant a different, more flavorful variety.

Roasting curve