BWENDA – RWANDA

Description

Rwanda –  Washed

Tasting Notes: Honeycomb, Dates, Cherry
Roast Degree: Light
Process: Washed
Farm: Bwenda Washing Station
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Elevation: 1650 masl

This is a delicious easy drinking Rwandan coffee with lots of sweetness, subtle acidity and a smooth creamy finish. This is a coffee that you can drink all day and tastes great brewed as a filter coffee or esspreso and mixes great with milk too!

187km south-west of Kigali city, through the foothills and rice fields and into the Land of a Thousand Hills is the Bwenda washing station. Just north-west of Butare in the Kbumbwe sector, Bwenda occupies a small area of between 2 to 3 ha. The station employs 3 people full-time, including Eric the station manager, and provides seasonal work for around 60 casual workers during the harvest season. Women account for around 85% of the labour force at Bwenda. Farm sizes range from just 100 trees to 7000 trees (around 3ha), and the farms are between 0.5km to 4km away. To enable farmers to contribute cherry, the site provides collection points and site collectors who gather cherry from across 20 locations. Collectors inspect and weigh deliveries of cherry and pay the farmers straight away. Additionally, the station provides farmers with organic EM2 compost which consists of recycled cherry pulp with some animal manure.

HOW TO BREW

Espresso

Dose: 17g
Yield: 40g
Time: 24-25 seconds

Cafetiere

Coffee: 30g
Water: 500g
Time: 8 minutes
Add your coffee to the cafetiere – Pour Over 500g of boiling water – Wait 4 minutes – Stir the crust on top so the grounds sink to the bottom & scrape off the crema (foam) from the top – Wait 4 minutes – Place your plunger so it is level with the water (do not plunge) and pour.

Pour Over 

Coffee: 20g
Water: 350g
Time: 3 minutes
Put your coffee in your brewer of choice – Pour over 60g of water for a bloom – Wait 40 seconds – Over 1 minute pour 290g of water – Swirl – Wait for the water to drip through – Enjoy!