SEPTEMBER - Janja Hill | Rwanda - Washed - Red Bourbon

SEPTEMBER Coffee Roasters is located in Ottawa, Canada

From SEPTEMBER

This is our third harvest working with the Muzo washing station and Janja Hill. The Muzo washing station is excellent for producing clean, sparkling and sweet coffees from Rwanda, and this one is no exception.

In the cup

We taste sweet plums and purple fruits with black tea florals, and a sweetness that reminds us of blackberries and tangerine acidity. This coffee has a silky body with a clean finish.

About The Producer

Emmanuel Rusatira noticed a lack of support and motivational opportunities available to producers in the Gakenke District of Rwanda. He wanted to change that, not only to improve the quality of coffee being exported from the region, but to give smallholders the resources, finances, and overall support they deserved. He created the Muzo Washing Station, a centrally located washing station in the mountainous region of Rwanda, through Baho Coffee. A leader from Muzo will drive to collect coffee from all over the region, which aids producers whose farms are located too far away. The Muzo Washing Station also has an agronomist on site who provides training sessions to local producers on fertilizing, pruning, and harvesting.

Processing

The first step, regardless of the process, is cherry sorting. Under shade, every cherry is sorted to ensure only the ripest are chosen and that any visibly defective cherries are removed. Next, the hand selected cherries are placed into tanks where they go through multiple rounds of flotation to separate off the defective beans. All Baho washed coffees undergo a double fermentation process. After depulping, the coffee is immediately dry fermented (placed into an open-air fermentation tank with no water) for 8 to 12 hours. The coffee is then washed and the tank is filled with water for an additional 8 to 12 hour wet fermentation (coffee completely submerged in water). Once the fermentation is complete, the coffee is pushed through the grading channels. Here the coffee is very rigorously washed and separated by density.