Speciality Coffee Highlight -Rwanda Bourbon Karengera
Brian Longley • 27 January 2019
Speciality Coffee Beans - Rwanda Bourbon Karengera
What makes Rwandan speciality coffee beans so good?
German
missionaries first brought coffee to Rwanda in 1903 and due to the ideal
growing conditions coffee plants grew well and produced ripe harvests of coffee
beans. After initially pursuing a quantity versus quality strategy for their
coffee beans the coffee farmers in Rwanda have realised the benefits that
speciality coffee status brings and have realigned behind a speciality coffee
strategy.
Natural resources enhance the speciality coffee beans
The high
altitude, regular rainfall pattern, volcanic soil coupled with a good organic
structure and abundance of the bourbon coffee varietal give Rwanda the ideal
growing conditions for speciality coffee beans. Rwanda produces some of the
finest speciality coffees in the world. Growing conditions are such that around
half a million smallholder farms are thought to produce the fresh coffee beans often
from not much more than a hectare of land.
Lake Kivu is
one of the two largest growing locations for coffee beans and this is where the
Karengara farm and coffee processing and washing station for the freshly harvested coffee beans is
located. Situated at an altitude of around 1650m above sea level the rich
volcanic soil on the Karengara farm produces fantastic coffee beans and
ultimately a speciality coffee that scores 89.25 on the SCA (Speciality Coffee
of America) cupping protocol. This Q score places the Rwanda Bourbon Karengara speciality
coffee firmly in the top end of the Excellent category.
How does it compare as a speciality coffee?
Like many
speciality coffees the harvested coffee cherries are fully washed and sun dried
on raised African drying beds. The finished coffee beans are given a medium to
light roast. The tasting notes which accompanied a previous batch of Rwandan
Karengara bourbon coffee beans described the coffee as super juicy with a creamy body
accompanied with tropical fruits with a very clean finish.
Not many
speciality coffees can rate such a high Q score and the Rwandan Bourbon
Karengara coffee bean is indeed an excellent speciality coffee.
How can I buy speciality coffee beans?
The nature
of speciality coffee growing in single harvest small batches means that the
coffee is only available for short periods. Blue J Coffee sources these
speciality coffees as they become available and supplies them as speciality
coffee beans in 250g sealed kraft pouches. The speciality coffee pouches are
labelled front and back with the single origin speciality coffee producer
information plus the Q score and tasting notes for each batch. Visit our online store
or get in touch for more details on speciality coffee beans.
