Mwami - Rwanda

Notes: Raspberry, apple, caramel and a chocolate finish

Rwanda is blessed with ideal coffee growing conditions that include high altitude, regular rainfall, volcanic soils with good organic structure and an abundance of Bourbon. The vast majority of Rwandan coffee is produced by smallholders of which there are thought to be around half a million with parcels of land often not much larger than just one hectare per family.

A big crowd favourite here at JCT, occasionally featuring as a stand-alone espresso at our roastery and high street espresso bars. For us it’s our go to home brew, perfect as an aeropress. 

All cherry is hand-sorted before floating, when under ripe or damaged cherry is removed, and the remaining fruit is depulped. Next, it is fermented in dedicated concrete fermentation tanks for an average of 12 hours. During this time, the fermented parchment is agitated several times through the day by way of ceremonial foot-stomping.

After fermentation, coffee is released into a large serpentine grading channel. This process also separates parchment into different density grades. 

During the washing process, parchment is continuously agitated to encourage lower density parchment to float and to clean any residual mucilage off the parchment. Once the parchment is separated into grades, it is given a final rinse. At this point, coffee is taken to an area where the parchment is hand-sorted, removing any insect-damaged, discoloured, or chipped coffee. The parchment is laid out to dry and turned regularly for 30 days.