THE FARM: Kibirizi is the name of the town this coffee comes from, as well as the coffee washing station where it was processed. The wet mill sits at 1770 meters above sea level, and is buying cherry from small holder farmers in the surrounding villages of Nyamagabe. Most farmers have less than 1 hectare of coffee planted in Bourbon, as is largely the case for Rwanda. Kibirizi does many different types of processing, including honey. The honey process involves depulping the outer cherry, but leaving some of the fruit intact to the seed. Unlike the wet process method, the green seeds bypass a fermentation/washing step, going straight to the raised beds to dry. While not always true, honey processing can bring fruit flavors to the cup, and that’s what you will find in this lot.

OUR ROAST: Kibirizi delivers a surprising level of fruit! The stone fruit notes started to take shape in the wet aroma, dried peach, and hints of fruit nectar, and balanced bittersweets. When brewed, the sweetness has some rustic sugars that lead into flavors of earthy dried stone fruits, and pear jam. Our roast delivers low tones without too much of a drop off in fruit. There was a plump blueberry accent note that seemed to melt into a rich flavor of dark chocolate syrup. As an espresso, that fruited aspect carried some tartness that added a nice tart twang to the sapid dark chocolate flavor matrix.

*** All prices are per pound ***