What defines Rwandan coffee bean origin and its washed flavors?

Rwanda is a high-altitude, landlocked coffee country in central Africa whose beans are drawing more attention from specialty coffee drinkers. Coffee arrived in the early 20th century under German missionaries, and during later German and Belgian colonial rule output rose while quality suffered from labor exploitation, low crop prices and heavy export taxes.

Rwandan lots today are commonly washed Bourbon grown above 1,200 meters, and the country's coffee producing regions are promoted through programs such as PEARL and SPREAD, with results tracked at Cup of Excellence competitions. Bourbon spread widely in Latin America but lost ground to hardier varieties, which makes Rwanda's stable Bourbon performance notable.

As a high-altitude coffee-producing country in central Africa, Rwanda is gradually coming into the view of coffee lovers. This article starts from Rwanda's coffee history and development, growing environment, main producing regions, and washed processing method, and sorts out in detail the transformation process of the country's coffee industry, including the promotion of the PEARL and SPREAD programs, its performance in the COE competition, and the origin of Starbucks' "Blue Bourbon." At the same time, the Rwanda Gathesi washed Bourbon and Nyamamba washed coffee beans launched by Front Street Coffee also provide specific roasting suggestions, cupping flavors, and brewing parameters, helping readers fully understand the unique charm of Rwandan specialty coffee.

Among the high-altitude coffee-producing countries in Africa, besides Ethiopia, Rwanda, a country located in central Africa, is gradually attracting attention. Front Street Coffee recently launched a Rwandan washed Bourbon coffee bean. When it comes to Bourbon, it was once introduced to Brazil and quickly spread throughout Latin America, but due to weak disease resistance, it was later gradually replaced by other varieties, and Bourbon beans in Latin America no longer have the advantage they once did. Front Street Coffee has currently only introduced two Brazilian Bourbon coffee beans, with relatively stable flavor performance, but due to the impact of the pandemic this year, whether they will continue to be listed still needs to be judged according to actual output. Back to Rwandan Bourbon coffee beans, before listing them, Front Street Coffee compared multiple producing regions and found that Rwanda's Bourbon performed quite stably, truly worthy of being one of the varieties vigorously cultivated in the country.

Rwanda Coffee Development

Rwanda is located in central Africa and is a standard landlocked country, with almost all its neighboring countries being major coffee producers. At the beginning of the 20th century, Rwanda successively became a colony of Germany and Belgium, and coffee was first introduced by German missionaries. During the colonial period, coffee production increased significantly, but labor exploitation, price suppression of coffee crops, and high export taxes led to less than ideal coffee bean quality, which was also a common phenomenon in the development of commercial coffee at that time.

After Rwanda's independence, the first official coffee organization, OCIR, was established, and only then did coffee bean production gradually receive attention. The country's coffee production continued to climb from the 1960s to the 1980s, reaching a historic peak in 1986, and it was not until the domestic political turmoil in the early 1990s (the Rwandan genocide) that the coffee industry fell into stagnation.

Today Rwanda has gradually regained its vitality, and in terms of urban construction, public security, friendliness of the people, and cleanliness, it can be called an "atypical" African country. Rwanda is currently recognized as the safest country in Africa. In the "2017 World's Safest Countries and Destinations" ranking, Rwanda ranked ninth among global cities and was the only African country to enter the top ten.

This year, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rwanda's coffee sales have also been hit considerably. To help Rwandan coffee farmers get through the difficulties, on May 14, Viya, Alibaba's top livestreaming host, recommended Rwanda's Gorilla's coffee beans and sold a year's worth of sales in one second.

Rwanda Coffee Growing Environment

Known as the "Land of a Thousand Hills," Rwanda is mostly mountainous and plateau terrain, with most coffee trees planted on mountains at an altitude of 1,700 to 2,000 meters. Most parts of Rwanda have a tropical highland climate and tropical savanna climate, which are mild and cool. The country has about 33,000 hectares of coffee plantations, and 500,000 people are engaged in coffee cultivation. Rwanda is one of the very few countries in the world that can fully enjoy a harmony of soil, altitude, and climate. Its unique growing conditions make Rwandan coffee beans taste different, with the fresh sweetness of fruit, the delicate fragrance of flowers, and a finish like black tea.

Rwanda's coffee production is mainly based on the smallholder model rather than large-scale enterprises. Although it cannot compare with the assembly lines of large-scale enterprises, the smallholder production model can focus more on the coffee beans.

Rwanda Coffee Producing Regions

Rwanda's Arabica coffee bean producing regions are mainly distributed in the south and west. Due to their higher altitude, the Huye mountainous area and Nyamagabe region in the south give coffee beans floral and citrus flavors; the Nyamasheke region by Lake Kivu in the west is rich in high-quality coffee with a full body, aroma, and juiciness. Although the flavor differences between producing regions are not great, upon careful tasting there are still distinctions. People often ask Front Street Coffee how to distinguish them, always feeling that flavor is very mysterious. In fact, Front Street Coffee has also undergone a great deal of flavor cognition training to be able to distinguish the coffee flavors of different producing regions. This requires time, energy, and persistence.

Rwanda Coffee Processing Methods

In 2000, Rwanda, having just experienced internal chaos, sought to upgrade its coffee industry. Led by Michigan State University in the United States, several researchers from institutions such as Texas A&M University and the National University of Rwanda were assembled to jointly assist Rwanda in upgrading its coffee industry. The abbreviation of the project name was PEARL (in Chinese "Zhenzhu"; the full English name was Partnership for Enhancing Agriculture in Rwanda through Linkages project). The PEARL project aimed to promote the improvement of both the quality and quantity of Rwandan coffee and to help farmers obtain better incomes, forming a virtuous cycle. After the implementation of the PEARL project, Rwanda successively built 46 coffee washing stations, enabling Rwanda's economy to grow significantly under strong coffee bean exports. The PEARL project was also the largest and most complete development plan implemented after Rwanda's independence.

Therefore, Rwandan coffee beans are currently mainly processed by the washed method. Every year during the harvest season, farmers pick ripe coffee cherries and gather them at washing stations for processing. First, they are manually sorted to ensure that no immature or damaged fruits are mixed in. Then the skin is removed, and washed fermentation is carried out for 12 to 18 hours in a cool, low-temperature environment, and the attached mucilage is cleaned off in channels. During drying on raised beds, members of the washing station turn the beans manually and take careful care to ensure that under sufficient sunlight the parchment beans do not lose moisture or dry unevenly, until the moisture content of the green beans steadily drops below 14%.

Rwanda Coffee COE Experience

In 2006, after the PEARL project, another project, the SPREAD project, was implemented. In addition to continuously improving coffee production quality, it also began to pay attention to smallholders themselves, including their living environment, their children's education, and local issues such as AIDS. In addition, while marketing coffee beans, it also let buyers and drinkers know that they were not just tasting a cup of coffee, but indirectly helping producers and their families. The SPREAD project cost a total of 5 million USD and continued until 2012 before ending.

In 2008, during the SPREAD project, Rwanda held the Cup of Excellence competition (COE) for the first time, which was also the first COE ever held by an African country. That year's champion bean sold for 18 USD per pound, and by 2014 the price of Rwanda's COE champion bean had reached 37 USD per pound, showing that international buyers and the market were becoming more and more accepting of Rwandan coffee beans.

Rwanda Coffee Bean Defects

Although Rwanda has performed well in the COE, it has twice shown potato taste in competitions, which is a green bean quality defect and directly resulted in disqualification from the competition. There are various explanations for the formation of potato taste, and it may be caused by contamination by a certain insect in the region. However, the several batches of Rwandan coffee beans recently brought in by Front Street Coffee did not show potato taste.

Rwanda Coffee and Starbucks

In the early stage of the SPREAD project, that is, in 2006, Starbucks began selling Rwandan coffee beans, incorporating them into Starbucks' top product line "Black Apron" (the English name is Black Apron, a Starbucks internal certification program for "Coffee Master"; ordinary Starbucks employees wear green aprons, and only after going through many exams and competitions can they wear the black apron symbolizing honor). Starbucks selected Bourbon coffee beans from two Rwandan washing stations (the Shuli cooperative washing station and the Musasa cooperative washing station) and named them "Blue Bourbon," priced at 24 USD per pound.

Front Street Rwanda Gathesi

Coffee producing region: Nyamasheke

Processing station: Gathesi Processing Station

Growing altitude: 1,700 to 2,000 meters

Processing method: washed processing

Coffee varieties: Bourbon, Caturra, Catuai

Gathesi Washing Station

Fidele Ndagijmana is a young trader in the Nyamasheke region. He saw the development potential of Rwanda's specialty washed coffee and applied to the government to build this processing station. In the first year, he successfully processed 170 tons of coffee cherries. He used the off-season to improve and expand production equipment, so that when the next harvest season arrived he could provide better production machines and a better storage environment. This outstanding trader also secured more land near the processing station for himself to grow coffee.

Roasting Suggestions

Because Rwandan coffee has delicate acidity and a fresh flavor, in order to highlight this characteristic, Front Street Coffee recommends a medium-light roast.

Cupping Flavor

Brewing Suggestions

Dripper V60

Water temperature 90℃

Dose 15 grams

Coffee-to-water ratio 1:15

Grind size BG#5G (80% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve)

Brewing Method

Front Street Coffee uses staged extraction, using 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pouring in a small stream in circles until 125 grams for the stage break. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225 grams and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Timing starts at the beginning of the bloom.) The extraction time is 2'00".

Flavor Description

It has a pleasant citrus sweetness, bright acidity, berries, apple, and citrus, with a honey sweetness in the middle, high-quality sweetness and balance, and a finish of almond and chocolate.

To drink Rwandan specialty coffee, Front Street Rwanda Washed Red Bourbon is the first choice. This single-origin coffee comes from the famous local Nyamasheke, one of the highest-altitude areas locally. After a medium-light roast, you can taste the bright citrus acidity unique to African coffee, while also having a sweet nutty aroma.

Front Street Rwanda Washed Red Bourbon Coffee Beans

Producing region: Nyamasheke district in the west

Altitude: 1,700-2,000m

Variety: Red Bourbon

Processing method: washed processing

Roasting Suggestions

Because Rwandan coffee beans have fresh acidity, in order to highlight this flavor, Front Street Coffee recommends a medium-light roast. The darker the roast level, the more the fruity acidity is lost.

Machine: Yangjia 800N, green beans 550g

When Front Street Coffee cupped this Rwandan washed coffee bean, the dry aroma had obvious floral and berry aromas, and the wet aroma had honey sweetness and nutty aromas. The overall flavor showed bright acidity, citrus, berries, and nuts, with a caramel sweetness in the finish.

Brewing Suggestions

Front Street Coffee uses staged extraction, using 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pouring in a small stream in circles until 125 grams for the stage break. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225 grams and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Timing starts at the beginning of the bloom.) The extraction time is 2'00".

Flavor Description

Floral and berry aromas, with obvious citrus, berries, and plum on the palate, nuts in the middle, and a caramel sweetness in the finish.

Front Street Rwanda Nyamamba

Producing region: Rusizi district in the west

Washing station: Nyamamba Washing Station Nyakarenzo

Altitude: 1,695m

Variety: Bourbon

Processing method: washed processing

Nyamamba Washing Station

Nyamamba Washing Station Nyakarenzo is located in Rusizi in western Rwanda, bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi. The washing station is composed of more than a thousand smallholders, three-quarters of whom are women.

Roasting Suggestions

Because Rwandan coffee beans have fresh acidity, in order to highlight this flavor, Front Street Coffee recommends a medium-light roast. The darker the roast level, the more the fruity acidity is lost.

Machine: Yangjia 800N, green beans 550g

When Front Street Coffee cupped this Rwandan Nyamamba coffee bean, the dry aroma had obvious citrus and walnut aromas, and the wet aroma had honey sweetness. The overall flavor showed bright acidity, citrus, raspberry, and honey sweetness, with a walnut finish.

Brewing Suggestions

Front Street Coffee uses staged extraction, using 30 grams of water for a 30-second bloom, then pouring in a small stream in circles until 125 grams for the stage break. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225 grams and stop pouring. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Timing starts at the beginning of the bloom.) The extraction time is 2'00".

Flavor Description

Citrus aroma and a light floral fragrance, with obvious citrus and raspberry on the palate, bright acidity, rich juiciness, honey sweetness in the middle, and a walnut aroma in the finish.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.