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Country: Burundi
Region: Kayanza
Farmer/Grower: 3100+ growers with 150 trees each
Washing Station:Nemba
Varieties: Red Bourbon
Processing: Fully Washed
Altitude: 1700 m.a.s.l.
Humidity: 11.1%
Density: 1.15 g/ml
Harvest Date: August, 2022
Arrival Date: February, 2023
Grade: Screen 15+
Marks: 027-0001-00983
SCA Cupping Score: 86.50
- Fragrance and aroma of dark chocolate and vanilla with a very unique flavor like dragon fruit and florals. Lingering sweetness of stonefruit and vanilla and a very bright citrus acidity. Medium bodied and more tea-like mouthfeel. Complex and delicious!
- The coffees from Kibingo are all very versatile. Light-medium roasts (about 85 to 100 Agtron) accentuate the bright citrus acidity and unique fruit notes while solid medium roasts (about 75 to 85 Agtron) show more of the vanilla and chocolate characteristics.
Nemba station lies in the northern province of Kayanza.
All 3,000+ producers are smallholders who own an average of 150 coffee trees.
A lead agronomist oversees the implementation of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs)
and farmer education. They collaborate with the local producers to ensure they have access to any necessary farming tools. The agronomist also helps farmers determine and implement the practices best suited to the specific growing conditions of each grower’s land. The Nemba station uses a monitoring system to ensure traceability all along the production and processing chain.
The growers delivering coffee to the Nemba station are all located around 1,700+ meters above sea level, near the Kibira forest. The washing station has over 200 drying tables and can process up to 750 metric tons of cherry each year. The washing station participates in a number of farmer outreach and support projects including a livestock rearing project and a range of Farmer Hub projects centered on strengthening cooperatives and improving yields.
Many trees in Burundi are Red Bourbon. Because of the increasingly small size of coffee plantings, aging rootstock is a very big issue in Burundi. Many farmers have trees that are over 50 years old, but with small plots to farm, it is difficult to justify taking trees entirely out of production for the 3 to 4 years it will take for new plantings to begin to yield. In order to encourage farmers to renovate their plantings, Bugestal purchases seeds from the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU), establishes nurseries and sells the seedlings to farmers at or below cost. At the washing station, farmers can also get organic fertilizer made from composted cherry pulp. Despite the ubiquity of coffee growing in Burundi, each smallholder produces a relatively small harvest. The average smallholder in Burundi has approximately 250 trees, normally in their backyards. Each tree yields an average of 1.5 kilos of cherry so the average producer sells about 200 to 300 kilos of cherry annually. During the harvest season, all coffee is selectively hand-picked. Most families have only 200 to 250 trees, and harvesting is done almost entirely by the Family.
Quality assurance begins as soon as farmers deliver their cherries. Cherry is wet-processed under constant supervision. The pulping, fermentation time, washing, grading in the channels and a final soaking are all closely monitored. All cherries are floated in small buckets as a first step to check quality. After floating, the higher quality cherry is sorted again by hand to remove all damaged, underripe and overripe cherries. After sorting, the cherry is pulped within 6 hours of delivery. The coffee is dry fermented for up to 12 hours and then soaked in clean water for 12 to 24 Hours. Parchment is then soaked for an additional 12 to 18 hours before being dried on raised beds for 2 to 3 weeks. Workers carefully inspect drying parchment for any damaged beans and rake parchment frequently to ensure even drying.
Once dry, the parchment is then bagged and taken to the warehouse. Greenco’s team of expert cuppers assess every lot (which are separated by station, day and quality) at the lab. The traceability of the station, day and quality is maintained throughout the entire Process. Before shipment, coffee is sent to Budeca, Burundi’s largest dry mill. The coffee is milled and then hand sorted by a team of hand-pickers who look closely at every single bean to ensure zero defects. It takes a team of two hand-pickers a full day to look over a single bag. UV lighting is also used on the beans and any bean that glows (which is usually an indication of a defect) is removed.