ROAST LEVEL: LIGHT

TASTING NOTES: -LIME-MELON-SAVORY

GROWER: Smallholder farms surrounded by the Kirorero washing station

REGION: Rutsiro District, Western Province, Rwanda

PROCESS: Washed then raised and dried in the sun

CULTIVAR: Bourbon

ALTITUDE: 1470 -1900 masl

The Kirorero washing station serves smallholder producers in the areas of Boneza and Musasa, and many of whom are women farmers. It is run by Coopérative pour la Promotion des Activités Café or COOPAC. This washing station is remote, only accessible by boat after an hour-and-a-half drive down the lake. Tucked in the steep walls of the Gasuma valley right at lake level, Kirorero lies the washing station. Some coffee arrives by boat and the rest on foot or bicycle, since they do not have direct access via road. This of course means that all processed coffee must be consolidated and make the journey up the lake by boat to Nyamwenda CWS where it’s trucked out to the main access point.

COOPAC is committed to environmental and social sustainability in addition to producing high-quality coffee. Waste by-products from processing are used as fertilizer rather than discarded into the lake, and shade trees are distributed to farmers to prevent soil erosion. COOPAC has assisted in the construction of a school, healthcare clinics, and roads and bridges in the community. The cooperative also has a program to distribute cows and goats to the most productive farmers and provides farmers with an agricultural advisor to teach the latest production methods.