Region: Burundi

Farm: Ryirengeye Hill

Variety: Bourbon

Altitude: 1500+ masl

Processing: Washed

Notes: Black cherry, caramel, lime & black tea

Farm & Location:

This fully washed lot is from smallholder producers on Ryiyerngeye Hill in Kayanza. These farmers work with Cafex, a project launched by a Belgian-Burundian couple that wanted to combine the coffee production of their ancestral lands with sustainable development and a desire to improve the lives of the local population. 

This lot is milled and exported by Ikawa Nziza which began in 2013 as a partnership between the owners of Cafex mill and Schluter (now Covoya Europe), specifically aimed at building and promoting the specialty coffee production in Burundi. Ikawa Nziza’s mill is the first purpose-built specialty drymill in Burundi, situated at altitude and designed to cater for high-quality microlot coffees.

The Producers

Cafex was launched by a Belgian-Burundian couple that wanted to combine the coffee production of their ancestral lands with sustainable development and a desire to improve the lives of the local population. Cafex has developed a profitable business model for all parties based on mutual participation with growers.

The Cafex station has positively impacted families in the region. The town where the washing station is located is undeveloped and the implementation of the Cafex station allows men and women of the town to find a job that gives them a better salary to improve their quality of life. Families who have a seasonal job have the opportunity to receive an extra income that gives them access to medical care or allows them to buy books in order to send their children to school. Whereas many coffee producers have to wait many months to receive final payment for their harvest, Cafex has introduced a weekly payment to growers, with no delay. It allows them to have a regular income throughout the harvest coffee season.

The Process

Ripe cherries (superior quality) are selected from daily pickings and then floated to select only the highest quality cherries by density. These are then pulped, dry-fermented for 14 hours and thoroughly washed to remove all the remaining mucilage. The coffee is then dried on raised beds, first in the shade and then in full sunlight for a total of around 20 days. The coffee is carefully turned throughout to maintain a consistent drying process. Once the optimum moisture content has been reached the coffee is rested in a cool dark environment prior to export.