WHY RWANDAN COFFEE?
From the early years of colonialism and the horrific genocide in the 1990’s Rwanda has grown into one of the world’s biggest players in the speciality coffee market. Offering complex sugars from high altitude harvests and exceptional quality control with wash stations from Eastern regions to the South West - Rwandan beans provide red berry profiles and deep flavour taste notes making for some damn good coffee.
COFFEE PRODUCTION DURING CONFLICT.
Coffee production in Rwanda can be traced back to the early 1900’s, when German missionaries first brought coffee plants into the country. But it wasn’t until around the 1920’s, and exports started to rise, the country established itself as a true coffee region.
When Germany had its colonial rights removed, after WW1, Rwanda became a mandate territory administered by the Belgians, with the majority of coffee grown in the region being exported to Belgium.
During the 1930’s, coffee became the mainstay crop for the majority of producers around the country, similar to the activity seen south of the border, in Burundi. Due to the tight control of the Belgians, Rwanda was pushed towards high volume coffee production, which resulted in a much lower quality product.
After the country’s independence in the 1960’s coffee production remained Rwanda’s most valuable export, accounting for 70% of total revenue during the 1970’s.
However, in the 1990’s coffee production in Rwanda came under threat with the crash of the international coffee market and the Rwandan genocide in 1994. The country was decimated.
After the conflict a National Coffee Strategy was set-up and with the support of foreign aid, coffee production in Rwanda was slowly rebuilt. With a growing trend toward specialty coffees from around the world the conditions were right to revitalise markets.
Even though over the last 10 years there have been issues with soil depletion and transportation around the country, Rwandan coffee remains some of the best in the world.
THE GROWTH OF THE WASHING STATION.
With the Rwandan government starting to back a much more open approach to coffee production, washing stations were built across the South West and Eastern regions of the country. One of the country's first washing stations was erected in 2004 with assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Today there are around 300 washing stations in operation.
Rwandan coffees are traceable back to these washing stations, who handle and process the beans right through to the farmers and cooperatives that supply them. Each producer has just over 150 trees which they carefully tend and produce from - ensuring the quality of the bean.
Coffee roasters usually use the name of the washing station, district, or farming group the coffee comes from when listing Rwandan coffee.
HIGH ALTITUDE FLAVOURS.
The population of Rwanda is just under 12 million, with coffee being grown right across the country. There are predominantly two main growing regions that are associated with Rwandan coffee, and while the majority of the coffee coming out of the regions are Arabica varieties, a small amount of Robusta is grown and exported.
The South Western Region sits around the Huye and Nyamagabe mountain ranges right across to the shores of Lake Kivu in the Nyamasheke region. The altitude of the growing areas range from approx 1,700 to 2,000 MASL, with harvesting typically occurring between the months of March and June. The regions are known for their Bourbon and Mibirizi varieties.
The Eastern Region sits around the Ngoma and Nyagatare areas. Whilst not as high as the other regions, they still produced some great coffee varieties. The altitude of the growing areas range from 1,300 to 1,900 MASL, with harvesting again taking place between the months of March and June. Similar to the South Western Region, they are well known for their Bourbon and Mibirizi varieties.
It’s no surprise with elevations of up to 2000 MASL Rwanda is known as “The land of a thousand hills”. But what’s the impact of a higher altitude to coffee beans? The cooler temperatures result in a slower rate of growth. The coffee plants have more time to reproduce and develop, creating more complex sugars with stronger flavours.
Rwandan coffees often have a sweet fruitfulness to them, with flavour profiles of red berries, grapes and some floral properties being very common.
OUR ROCK STEADY EDDY.
Our rock-steady Eddy is a single origin coffee from the Nyamasheke District of Rwanda. From popping the pouch to the last pour, you can depend on this light roast to be packed full of flavours of mango, honey and strawberry jam.
https://coffeehound.co.uk/products/eddy
