Sudan Rume Natural

This is the fifth year we have purchased Sudan Rume grown on Cafe Granja La Esperanza’s Las Margaritas farm, and the third we have purchased a naturally processed lot. Always stunning us with its strong varietal characteristics, we once again look forward to this wild twist on the distinctive Sudan Rume character. The Sudan Rume varietal has been lauded for its cup quality in recent years, partly down to competition success, but it hasn’t always been so. The Sudan Rume varietal originates from modern day South Sudan, in what is now the Boma National Park. The park lies just across the border from Ethiopia, inside the small area where Arabica coffee still grows completely wild. Sudan Rume, or RS-510 as it is officially designated, is indeed an heirloom or ‘wild’ varietal, mainly used as a stock of high quality genes for new hybrid varietals. There are very few commercial plantations of pure Sudan Rume due to its low yields and susceptibility to disease, but Granja have planted a 4.8 hectare plot on Las Margaritas, and it has consistently produced outstanding results. They apply their trademark level of attention to all stages of the production, from tree to dry mill, with a special focus on careful fermentation. The carefully hand-picked cherries are first pre-fermented in Granja’s stainless steel fermentation tanks for around 50 hours. This allows time for complexity and wild flavour characteristics to build within the coffee before it is sent to mechanical driers for 48 hours to remove much of the moisture from the cherries, thereby almost completely halting fermentation. The cherries are then dried slowly and evenly in solar driers over approximately 4 weeks, until they reach a moisture content of around 11%. This is followed by a resting of at least three months in parchment in climate controlled warehouses, allowing moisture content to stabilise and flavours to increase in intensity. During our visit in November 2019 we witnessed the wet mill in action, and were very impressed by the systems, control and cleanliness we saw. The lots of Sudan Rume fermenting had already started to develop their trademark ‘savoury’ profile, with lemongrass and ginger aromas emanating from fermentation tanks and mechanical driers. Here, the Sudan Rume is showcasing all of its traditional characteristics, with the distinctive aromas of ginger and lemongrass followed by a wild and rich experience in the cup, driven by the careful fermentation.