Congo - Kahondo

Tasting notes: Milk chocolate, stewed rhubarb, candied orange

This coffee is great as a filter, a cafetiere, or a boozy espresso.

We are blown away with the vibrant taste of rhubarb from this Congo - it smells like a rhubarb crumble! Really worth a try - we’re so happy to have some Congo on our shelves again!

We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Kahondo village, nestled in the Isale region of Nord-Kivu, just north of Lake Kivu and on the edge of Virunga National Park, has a story worth telling. It's right next to Uganda to the east, and the area boasts ideal conditions for growing specialty arabica coffee. Think plentiful rainfall, high altitudes, and incredibly fertile volcanic soils. However, the region faces its own set of challenges. Despite being perfect for coffee, it's quite poverty-stricken and has historically struggled with inadequate infrastructure. This has made producing and exporting high-quality arabica a tough task.

But here's where the Virunga Coffee Company steps in. They've been tackling these challenges head-on with direct farmer education and investing in essential local infrastructure like roads and bridges. Their efforts are paying off, allowing for consistent quality improvements each season and, importantly, higher earnings for the farmers.

The coffee production process here is meticulous. Ripe cherries are brought to the station for careful sorting and floatation. Only the highest quality cherries make the cut. They're pulped to remove the skin and most of the fruit, leaving behind a bit of the sugary mucilage. This parchment coffee is then sun-dried on raised African beds for around 14 days, achieving the perfect moisture content. After drying, the coffee takes a little rest in a cool, dry place for 1-2 months. Then, it's time for milling, sorting, and grading by bean size. The attention to detail at every step is what makes this coffee truly special.