Rwanda

Mahembe

Crisp citrus and berries

Crisp citrus and ripe red berries are balanced by a brown sugar sweetness in our first Rwandan release of the year.

Sweet fresh candied lemon and ripe red berries sit on a base of brown sugar.

Producer
Justin Musabyimana
Coffee expression
A fruity & acidic coffee

Regular price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
Sale price: $22.00
incl. vat/tax
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Justin Musabyimana grew up in a coffee family, and built the Mahembe station on his father’s land in 2010.

Rwanda

Mahembe

Justin Musabyimana grew up in a coffee growing family in Nyamasheke, Rwanda. After spending years in the city, he moved back to his father’s coffee plantation, seeing the potential of the burgeoning coffee market in Rwanda. Justin saw that he would be able to give back to the community by building a washing station, distributing the high potential prices among the many local farmers. He built the Mahembe station on his father’s land in 2010, and has been processing coffee here ever since.

"Securing a reliable supply of quality cherry each season becomes more difficult.."

Recently, with demand for quality Rwandan coffees growing, the competition for high quality cherry between the ever increasing number of privately owned stations has been intense. This is excellent for producers, prices are driven up, and they have a choice of stations to deliver to. But for the stations, securing a reliable supply of quality cherry each season becomes more difficult. The relationships Justin has been building with local farmers over the past 10 years help him to accomplish this, together with the healthy supply of coffee from his father’s land, around 8 hectares of which are planted with coffee.

Washed process

This washed lot was processed using a washed method, using Penagos eco-pulpers. We see these machines often in more developed coffee producing countries like Costa Rica and Brazil, allowing a great deal of control over the pulping, and saving on water compared to a traditional machine. The attention to detail continues through fermentation, with a Kenyan style double soak used.

This lot is composed of cherry both from Justin’s father’s farm, and from local smallholder farmers.

The pulped coffee is dry fermented for around 12 hours, washed and then soaked in clean water for around 16 hours, equalising moisture content and allowing for a final sorting stage before drying. The cool conditions during harvest mean long drying times on raised beds, often up to 3 weeks. All of this leads to excellent coffee and a consistent and stable profile, with crisp candied lemon and ripe red berry notes balanced by a brown sugar sweetness.

Technical Data

Producer
Justin Musabyimana
Region
Nyamasheke
Altitude
1900 masl
Varietal
Bourbon
Process
Washed
Harvest
June 2022

Washed Process

The washed process involves completely removing both the cherry and the mucilage from the outside of the parchment with the use of friction, fermentation and water. After being harvested, the coffee cherry is then sliced open by either a metal or a sharp plastic blade.

The two seeds (also known as beans) are pushed out of the cherry, which leaves the seed with mucilage as their outermost layer. It is essential in the washed process that all mucilage is removed from the seed which leaves only the flavour that developed in the cell structure of the seed prior to processing.