We’re blessed once again with an unusual single-producer lot by Rwandan Philippe Sinoyobye.
Most Rwandan specialty coffee lots are sold under the name of the cooperative that mixes and processes them. Only a few, like Philippe (or Marie Bedabasingwa or Andre Hakizimana), produce large enough harvests to sell them as their very own product.
Philippe Sinoyobye and his wife, Angelique Muhayimana, manage a piece of land in the lush, green hills of the Huye District in Rwanda’s Southern Province. Coffee cherries grow at 1800 masl, producing around 6,000kg of cherry yearly.
These are processed at the Maraba Kabuye washing station, which recently upgraded its cherry sorting equipment, installed water treatment facilities and constructed a storage warehouse where the coffee is safely kept before being transported to Kigali for the final stages of milling and preparation for export. No wonder—the Maraba Cooperative has consistently been recognised for quality, including numerous Cup of Excellence awards in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015.
(If you’re interested, you can read more about the producer and the cooperative at Melbourne Coffee Merchant’s site.)
This lot is a traditionally washed Red Bourbon with all the classic traits of Rwandan coffees: medium body, high acidity and sweet, citrusy flavours. Really, really pleasant.
All the images and information about this coffee and its producers have been kindly shared by the importer, MCM, and edited by us, Sample Coffee (unless linked to or credited otherwise).
Resting your beans inside the sealed bag helps develop peak flavours and acidity.
Learn how long and why you should wait on our brewing window recommendations guide.
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