Burundi

Description

Naturals done right make the most approachable cups, and this Burundi is exactly that. Unrefined cocoa, brown sugar sweetness, and just a hint of berry from the process. Familiar and comforting, with a little something to keep it interesting. Like a chocolate-covered berry in a cup. Super tasty!

Details

Producer: Nemba Smallholders
Region: Kayanza Province, Burundi
Variety: Red Bourbon
Grade: Grade 1
Process: Natural
Elevation: 1,800-2,000m

About the producer

Nemba is both the processing site and the hilltop village, "colline" in Burundian, where it sits. Farmers from the surrounding collines deliver whole cherry to the station, where it's graded, sorted, and dried. The sorting is meticulous: defects and unripe cherry are pulled by hand at delivery and again at the drying tables, all the way through. Nemba has been operating since the early 1990s and has taken first place in both the Cup of Excellence and Best of Burundi competitions. The farmers grow mostly older Bourbon types, the original cultivar introduced to the region in the 1930s by Catholic monks traveling from the island of Réunion.

Where it comes from

Kayanza is Burundi's benchmark province, bordering Rwanda to the north. The Nemba site sits at 1,813 meters; the small surrounding farms climb above 2,000. That elevation, and the volcanic highland soils it brings, are what give this coffee its weight and structure.

Processing notes

Dry process: the whole cherry dries with the seed still intact. Naturals carry their fruit flavors inward over time, which is where the depth and complexity come from.