Rwanda is a latecomer to African specialty coffee, and Nyungwe is its core producing region. This article takes you through the rapid rise of Rwandan coffee, the characteristics of the Nyungwe region, and its flavors in the cup. [more…]

Rwanda, an East African highland country known as the "Land of a Thousand Hills," is claiming an increasingly important place on the global specialty coffee map. From coffee's introduction in 1904, to the post-1994 genocide effort to revive the economy through coffee, to breaking into the specialty market through the Cup of Excellence, Rwandan coffee has traveled an extraordinary road. Among its regions, the Lake Kivu production area—with its unique lake-and-volcano microclimate and benchmark washing stations such as Twumba—has become the emblem of Rwandan specialty coffee. This article takes you deep into the terroir code of the Lake Kivu region, along with related product information recommended by Front Street Coffee. [more…]