Producer: Izuba Washing Station, Smallholder
Region: Runinya, Kayanza Province
Variety: Red Bourbon
Conditioning: Fully Washed
Taste: Rose hip, hibiscus, red stone fruit, spicy
Recipe:
For brewing we would recommend either a Hario filter or a Pellador, in the V60 18 gr to 300 gr of water for a brisk brewing time of around 2:20. If you're grinding with a Commandante Mill, aim for about 27 clicks. If you pour the 300 grams of water in 5 steps of 60 grams, always aim for the middle.
Here comes our first spring coffee for 2023. A beautiful classic cup profile from Burundi. Notes of rosehip and red stone fruit accompany a full, spicy body. Ishurwe is the Burundian word for flower. We are very proud of this coffee because it is exclusively from female members of the association that runs and supplies the washing station. This year, 454 women from the surrounding hills contributed to this coffee. For us it is the second harvest with this Women in Coffee project.
This coffee comes from the Izuba Washing Station in Runinya, Kayanza Province. Enclosed by the three hills of Kigeri, Ryamukona and Mugoyi, situated on a river, it is the perfect spot for a washing station. The farmers from the surrounding hills bring the coffee as they harvest it, then the coffee is classified by producer and hillside so that the small differences in coffee profiles can be attributed to individual farmers and locations.
The Izuba Washing Station mainly produces washed coffee, with honey processing and naturals methods slowly being developed. This washed coffee is sorted by hand and then rinsed, eliminating unripe or damaged cherries. Then these selected coffee cherries are depulped, i.e. separated from the cherries, and then fermented under water in concrete tanks for 12 hours. After fermentation, the coffee is directed into serpentine channels where further separation by density takes place. After this process, the coffee beans are rinsed again and re-selected to remove insect damage, discolored or broken beans before drying for 15-20 days.
Our Ishurwe consists 100% of the Red Bourbon variety, which gives the coffee its typical character in addition to the soil conditions in the region. Cultivation takes place here at 1500 to 1700 meters above sea level.
The coffee shows its origin in the cup, that typical light spice that makes Burundi so special. Slightly hibiscus smell, complex aroma with notes of rosehip, red stone fruit and a sugary sweetness. The acidity is crisp here, but with the sweetness it just brings out the complex fruity notes. This coffee is rather lean in body, but still present.