IMG_0457 36.jpg
Advent Box.png
IMG_0457 36.jpg
Advent Box.png

Rwanda Rulindo Buliza

from $15.00

Miracle of miracles… from this small, landlocked country, with a plethora of internal problems while immersed in a geopolitically complicated region, we get one the world’s truly great coffees. Our coffee comes from the Buliza washing/processing station located in the Rulindo Coffee district approximately 7 miles due north of the centrally located capital Kigali.  Amy and I very much enjoy Rwandan coffees and find it, along with Burundi, to be the best balanced of the African coffees offering clean bright flavors as nice as the best Central American coffees… a bridge between the two continents. This coffee develops as in cools in the cup… so, be cool like the “Fonz” and allow the Zen to bloom. Although remoteness makes it difficult to relate to this far away place, one can appreciate while sending reflections of peace and prosperity… indeed hopes for respite in troubled times. 

Process: Washed… entire cherry fruit flesh is removed from the bean which is subsequently dried.

Elevation: 5900 feet

Aroma: On the grind… dried dark cherry, caramel. On the brew… sweet dark chocolate alluding to a fruited truffle, perhaps raspberry.

Flavor: The cup starts simply sweet with acidity that pops and cools to a muted chocolate cherry, with a tingly citrus zest sensation and a crescendo of pleasant tea like tannins. There is much going on in this cup… be patient and allow the flavors to develop.

Roast: Medium… medium heavy body… medium acidity that coats the mouth and snaps as the cup cools.

Size:

Miracle of miracles… from this small, landlocked country, with a plethora of internal problems while immersed in a geopolitically complicated region, we get one the world’s truly great coffees. Our coffee comes from the Buliza washing/processing station located in the Rulindo Coffee district approximately 7 miles due north of the centrally located capital Kigali.  Amy and I very much enjoy Rwandan coffees and find it, along with Burundi, to be the best balanced of the African coffees offering clean bright flavors as nice as the best Central American coffees… a bridge between the two continents. This coffee develops as in cools in the cup… so, be cool like the “Fonz” and allow the Zen to bloom. Although remoteness makes it difficult to relate to this far away place, one can appreciate while sending reflections of peace and prosperity… indeed hopes for respite in troubled times. 

Process: Washed… entire cherry fruit flesh is removed from the bean which is subsequently dried.

Elevation: 5900 feet

Aroma: On the grind… dried dark cherry, caramel. On the brew… sweet dark chocolate alluding to a fruited truffle, perhaps raspberry.

Flavor: The cup starts simply sweet with acidity that pops and cools to a muted chocolate cherry, with a tingly citrus zest sensation and a crescendo of pleasant tea like tannins. There is much going on in this cup… be patient and allow the flavors to develop.

Roast: Medium… medium heavy body… medium acidity that coats the mouth and snaps as the cup cools.

Slightly larger than Vermont, Rwanda is the 144th largest country with the 76th densest population.  Land locked north by Uganda, west by Congo along with the Lake Kiva, south by Burundi and east by Tanzania, this small coffee powerhouse can produce incredibly complex and flavorful brews.  The French reference to Rwanda as “Pays des mille collines” or “Land of a thousand hills” alludes to perfect elevations and, when combined with ideal equatorial proximity, provides excellent growing conditions for arabica coffee, however, there are environmental and organizational challenges. Literally every patch of land has been cultivated for decades, depleting the soil and making fertilization necessary. The “potato defect”, so named for the tainted odor, develops due to a bacterial intrusion with the effected beans difficult to identify… the result can be the occasional bad pot of coffee… one bad bean can spoil it all.   The washing stations, where the cherries are delivered for processing, along with the distribution system are poorly organized, leading to systematic dysfunction. Politically, Rwanda has experienced serious tribal consternation between Hutu and Tutsis factions with the 1994 genocide being the most devasting. 1.1 million people were killed, disproportionately men who were traditionally responsible for coffee cultivation, effectively decimating the workforce. From the ashes of tragedy rises the phoenix of resurrection with the invigoration of Rwanda’s women to fill the void and revive the countries coffee production. Rwanda is a rugged country with a complicated political past and present… the country is currently embroiled in the struggle for control of the mineral rich eastern Congo resulting in human suffering on the scale of Gaza and Sudan.

Miracle of miracles… from this small, landlocked country, with a plethora of internal problems while immersed in a geopolitically complicated region, we get one the world’s truly great coffees.

Process: Washed… entire cherry fruit flesh is removed from the bean which is subsequently dried.

Elevation: 5900 feet