Rwanda Peaberry Natural - Huye Mountain
Farm Notes
Huye Mountain Coffee is a private washing station established in 2011 to provide farmers in the region with access to international markets and buyers of specialty coffees. Around 1,330 producers deliver their freshly picked coffee cherries to 26 collecting stations around the Huye community, where a truck visits daily to collect the farmers' coffee during harvest season. This unique coffee comes from the Huye Mountain in the Huye District, in Southern Rwanda and grown at altitudes between 1600 and 2200 meters. The natural process employed at Huye Mountain involves meticulous cherry selection and hand sorting prior to drying. Drying is done on raised African beds for between 14 and 28 days, depending on the weather, and the coffee is turned regularly.
The commercialization of coffee came about gradually in Rwanda and coffee was always produced on smallholder farms. Independence brought some improvement to the coffee infrastructure as the government established more modern and centralizing processing. But this meant the government set the price they would pay for coffee and farmers had no other options. There was no focus on quality because there was no incentive whatsoever. Despite much of the coffee being Bourbon, there was no sorting or grading so all the coffee was commercial grade. Rwanda exported 642,000 bags of coffee in 1993 and 447,000 in 1994. Then, as something of a stark reminder of the genocide, Rwanda exported a mere 22,000 bags in 1995. Today, Rwanda exports only 43% of what it did in 1993, but current exports represent much greater value because for the last 20 years the focus has been on quality rather than quantity, supported by various initiatives of the Rwandan government and international NGOs.
Rwanda’s ideal growing conditions are no longer wasted on poor processing. New washing stations have opened in all coffee growing regions, innovative cupping labs that arrive built into shipping containers, and cooperatives have been established. The vast majority of Rwanda's smallholder farmers grow high-quality Bourbon, well-suited to the high altitudes and volcanic soil of the region. For the last 10 years, Rwandan specialty coffees consistently rank among the finest in the world.
Country of Origin : Rwanda
Region : Huye district
Producer Type: Washing Station
Farm Name: Various smallholders
Processing: Washed
Processing Description ; Dried on raised beds
Growing Altitude; 1600m - 2200m
Harvest Season: 2022
Plant Species: Arabica
Variety; Red Bourbon
Cupping Notes
This is an outstanding lot of coffee. The coffee lot secured by my purveyor was 105 60kg bags, five of which were peaberry. The peaberry lot was sold out in a matter of hours. I was stalking this lot for months now. I was lucky enough to snag on bag of peaberry, based soley on the notes offered by my purveyor. I rarely buy bags of coffee without first sampling a 200g bag offered to roasters to assure quality and that descriptions are accurate and true. With this lot, I had to act fast, be decisive and, take a gamble and purchase this lot blind. I am sure glad I did! My only regret is that I did not buy two bags.
This coffee excels as an espresso extraction at a Full City- roast level. Using 24.5g of ground coffee and extracting 50g of expresso in 30 seconds this coffee expresses rich in dark berry flavors with hints of acidity that scream black cherry and blueberries. Luscious and bold, the fruit flavors hit your palate in the forward cup and sends my tastebuds into a frenzy of coffee joy and giddy amusement. Not surprisingly a rich dark chocolate undertone pops as a foundational middle palette experience at the 80% cacao level; a bit strong in the bitter chocolate side but nicely balanced by a sweet butterscotch back palate flavors. Strong and unapologetic with a statement that this coffee is unmistakably of African origin, I crave this coffee each and every morning since this lot hit my tiny Roastery. Seriously, if I could, I would keep all this coffee for myself but, that would not be fair. In fairness though, I will not lie; I plan on setting aside a good amount for my personal consumption so, get some while you can. My greed may overcome my willingness to keep this coffee on the website for too long :-).
So far, I have not yet experimented with a drip or french press extraction since I am so enamored with my espresso but stay tuned for a report soon(ish). I have roasted this coffee to a City and City+ roast level and the results were good for espressos but I found the Full City- roast OUTSTANDING. Guessing a bit here, I think the drip extraction will mellow the Dark Coco flavors and put forward the tart berry flavors of a blueberry sort while allowing more of the sweetness to pop but, to be honest, that is just my educated guess at this point. I will report more on cupping dynamics as soon as I can rip my espresso cravings out of my heart.
Huye Mountain Coffee is a private washing station established in 2011 to provide farmers in the region with access to international markets and buyers of specialty coffees. Around 1,330 producers deliver their freshly picked coffee cherries to 26 collecting stations around the Huye community, where a truck visits daily to collect the farmers' coffee during harvest season. This unique coffee comes from the Huye Mountain in the Huye District, in Southern Rwanda and grown at altitudes between 1600 and 2200 meters. The natural process employed at Huye Mountain involves meticulous cherry selection and hand sorting prior to drying. Drying is done on raised African beds for between 14 and 28 days, depending on the weather, and the coffee is turned regularly.
The commercialization of coffee came about gradually in Rwanda and coffee was always produced on smallholder farms. Independence brought some improvement to the coffee infrastructure as the government established more modern and centralizing processing. But this meant the government set the price they would pay for coffee and farmers had no other options. There was no focus on quality because there was no incentive whatsoever. Despite much of the coffee being Bourbon, there was no sorting or grading so all the coffee was commercial grade. Rwanda exported 642,000 bags of coffee in 1993 and 447,000 in 1994. Then, as something of a stark reminder of the genocide, Rwanda exported a mere 22,000 bags in 1995. Today, Rwanda exports only 43% of what it did in 1993, but current exports represent much greater value because for the last 20 years the focus has been on quality rather than quantity, supported by various initiatives of the Rwandan government and international NGOs.
Rwanda’s ideal growing conditions are no longer wasted on poor processing. New washing stations have opened in all coffee growing regions, innovative cupping labs that arrive built into shipping containers, and cooperatives have been established. The vast majority of Rwanda's smallholder farmers grow high-quality Bourbon, well-suited to the high altitudes and volcanic soil of the region. For the last 10 years, Rwandan specialty coffees consistently rank among the finest in the world.
Country of Origin : Rwanda
Region : Huye district
Producer Type: Washing Station
Farm Name: Various smallholders
Processing: Washed
Processing Description ; Dried on raised beds
Growing Altitude; 1600m - 2200m
Harvest Season: 2022
Plant Species: Arabica
Variety; Red Bourbon
Cupping Notes
This is an outstanding lot of coffee. The coffee lot secured by my purveyor was 105 60kg bags, five of which were peaberry. The peaberry lot was sold out in a matter of hours. I was stalking this lot for months now. I was lucky enough to snag on bag of peaberry, based soley on the notes offered by my purveyor. I rarely buy bags of coffee without first sampling a 200g bag offered to roasters to assure quality and that descriptions are accurate and true. With this lot, I had to act fast, be decisive and, take a gamble and purchase this lot blind. I am sure glad I did! My only regret is that I did not buy two bags.
This coffee excels as an espresso extraction at a Full City- roast level. Using 24.5g of ground coffee and extracting 50g of expresso in 30 seconds this coffee expresses rich in dark berry flavors with hints of acidity that scream black cherry and blueberries. Luscious and bold, the fruit flavors hit your palate in the forward cup and sends my tastebuds into a frenzy of coffee joy and giddy amusement. Not surprisingly a rich dark chocolate undertone pops as a foundational middle palette experience at the 80% cacao level; a bit strong in the bitter chocolate side but nicely balanced by a sweet butterscotch back palate flavors. Strong and unapologetic with a statement that this coffee is unmistakably of African origin, I crave this coffee each and every morning since this lot hit my tiny Roastery. Seriously, if I could, I would keep all this coffee for myself but, that would not be fair. In fairness though, I will not lie; I plan on setting aside a good amount for my personal consumption so, get some while you can. My greed may overcome my willingness to keep this coffee on the website for too long :-).
So far, I have not yet experimented with a drip or french press extraction since I am so enamored with my espresso but stay tuned for a report soon(ish). I have roasted this coffee to a City and City+ roast level and the results were good for espressos but I found the Full City- roast OUTSTANDING. Guessing a bit here, I think the drip extraction will mellow the Dark Coco flavors and put forward the tart berry flavors of a blueberry sort while allowing more of the sweetness to pop but, to be honest, that is just my educated guess at this point. I will report more on cupping dynamics as soon as I can rip my espresso cravings out of my heart.