CoffeeEmbassy

Mwito

$24.00 NZD

Sale Sold out

Taxes included.

Size 250g

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Mwito | Rwanda Natural Process

Producer – Local smallholder farmers

Location – Kigali

Farm – Various smallholder farms

Variety – Red Bourbon

Altitude – 1,350 masl

Process – Natural

Cupping Notes – Raspberry, Pineapple, Brown Sugar

Roasted For – Filter

Importer – Langdon Coffee Merchants

Rwanda Trading Company processes a quarter of Rwanda’s coffee, building resilient and transparent supply chains for local smallholder farmers. At remote Mwito station, RTC has improved farmer support and developed a sustainable farm. Mwito stood out on the cupping table for its natural processing (washed being the more common). Expect vibrant fruit notes and exceptional clarity, thanks to high altitude and volcanic soils.

About

Mwito Central Washing Station sits on the shores of Lake Kivu in Nyamasheke, west of Rwanda’s capital city Kigali. The station was established in 2008 and purchased by Rwanda Trading Co (RTC) in 2017. Rwanda Trading Co was established in 2009, and is responsible for processing and exporting a quarter of Rwanda’s annual coffee production, currently operating 19 wet milling stations. Their goal is to foster positive social change, focusing on providing economic freedom and security for the local smallholder farmers by building resilient and transparent supply chains - over 80% of the coffee RTC produces is fully traceable to the farmer.

Mwito is the most remote Washing Station RTC owns, which creates challenges for the local farmers. Travelling to the station is time consuming but beautiful, and the scenery by the lake is breathtaking. RTC decided to purchase Mwito and commit to bringing positive change to the community as they appreciated the hard work that went into cultivating high quality coffee. They started by creating a comprehensive list of coffee farmers, organising them by neighbourhood to improve access to agronomy training.

In 2019, RTC established a kindergarten for the children of coffee farmers, which currently accommodates over 150 children. They also have cows at the station, providing organic fertiliser for a learning farm, while the milk produced supports the students' nutrition.

The coffee from this region is exceptional, and the potential for collaboration with the community is immense. Most of Rwanda’s coffee is processed using the washed method, however this particular lot is a natural process coffee, which interested us when cupping samples.

The Variety

In 1859, Bourbon seeds arrived in Brazil, sent for by the Brazil central government after hearing that coffee growing on the island of Reunion, then called Bourbon, were more productive and of higher quality than the Typica variety. Now that the Yellow Bourbon variety exists, the original Bourbon is distinguished as Red Bourbon. In the 1930’s, different strains of Red Bourbon were bred at the Campinas Agronomic Institute (IAC) in the state of Sao Paulo and distributed to farmers in 1939. Studying the success of different selections of Red Bourbon planted in different regions with distinct conditions helped researchers understand the effects of environmental variations on coffee varieties.

As one of the main varieties grown in Rwanda, it is recognised for its complex and full-bodied profile with bright acidity and sweetness.