Origin: Fugi Station, Southern Province, Nyaruguru District, Rwanda

Producers: Afrodis Munyangaju + 6 others

Process: Washed

Varieties: Red Bourbon

Altitude: 1550-1850masl

Importer: Semilla Coffee & Baho Coffee

Roast: Light

Notes: Lemon, Raspberry, Milk Tea, Caramel

We believe in transparency. For this exceptional coffee, we paid Semilla $5.45 USD/lb, plus shipping from Montreal to our roastery. To give you even more insight, here's a look at the farmgate prices for 2024:

• Rwanda National Farmgate Price: 480 Rwandan Francs (RWF) per kg of cherry
• Baho Farmgate For Afrodis' Cherry: 700 RWF/kg cherry on delivery, with an additional 20 RWF/kg second payment, totalling 720 RWF/kg.
• FOT Kigali Price to Baho for Washed Lots: $3.52 USD/lb.

Baho & Semilla

Back in 2019, Emmanuel presented Semilla with a bit of a rare thing, fully traceable lots in an East African producing country. These lots went all the way to specific hills near the washing stations where to coffees were grown.

This traceability and transparency is a core value of Baho Coffee in Rwanda. By connecting more closely with producers, we're able to ensure we continue to grow with them in the future. It is also hugely inspirational for the producers, not only getting paid premium bucks for their high quality coffee, but the recognition of seeing their name on these coffees.

"This project at Fugi first began with the Kiyonza Hill group - smallholders living on the nearby Kiyonza mountain - and Ikizere  -the widowed and single mothers group. The recognition these groups have received as smallholders has been so motivating for
the growers that now almost all of them hope to be included in a group. As such, we’ve now expanded to include multiple new hills and also a Senior Men’s group and the Urubyiruko (Youth in Kinyarwanda) group." - semilla

Afrodis Munyangahu:

While much effort was put into tracing coffee back to the growers, Semilla recognized that the crucial link of the mill managers was often overlooked. This realization gave birth to the "Manager's Blend," named in honor of Afrodis Munyangahu, the dedicated manager of the Fugi mill.

Afrodis is responsible for virtually everything at the mill: cherry collection, managing producer information and payments, processing, storage, and transportation. It’s an immense undertaking, especially while maintaining consistently high sensory quality. It’s only fitting that this exceptional, small lot—comprising the work of just seven producers, including Afrodis's own coffee and his selection of top producers—bears his name. It's a true testament to the passion and care poured into every step.

The Meticulous Washed Process

The team at Fugi Mill employs a meticulous washed process to bring out the best in these beans. They begin by hand-sorting freshly picked cherries under shade, ensuring only the ripest are chosen and any imperfections are removed. This is followed by multiple rounds of floating, where cherries are submerged in water. The densest, highest-quality "sinkers" are separated for their premium lots, while the less dense "floaters" are designated for lower-grade batches. Once they have enough cherries, they undergo a double fermentation process: 8 to 12 hours of dry fermentation, followed by another 8 to 12 hours in water. After fermentation, they rigorously wash the coffee, grade it by density, and then soak it for a final 8 to 12 hours to ensure even moisture distribution for optimal drying.

The journey continues with a crucial 48 to 72 hours on shaded drying beds. This initial slow, gentle drying helps set the stage for the entire drying phase and allows them to detect defects that are more visible when the parchment is wet. For the first five days on the tables, they expose the coffee to sunlight for a maximum of three hours daily and turn it every 30 minutes to prevent cracking. Finally, it moves to full-sun drying beds, where it's turned four times a day with constant temperature monitoring. Once the moisture content reaches 11.0%, the drying—a process that typically takes 30 to 40 days for washed coffee—is complete. The parchment is then bagged and stored, awaiting milling.

Fugi Mill: A Hub of Quality

This exceptional coffee is processed at the Fugi Mill, owned by Emmanuel of Baho Coffee. Situated uniquely between the Nyungwe National Forest and the border of Burundi in Rwanda's Southern Province, the mill was built in 2013. It employs roughly 70 people during peak season, purchases cherries from approximately 950 smallholder farmers, and produces around 900 exportable bags of specialty coffee each year.

As Semilla highlights, "On average, producers bringing coffee to Fugi manage around 600 trees, with a median cherry yield per tree of 3kg - this equals about one and a half exportable bags of green coffee per producer. This figure perfectly exemplifies just how small the average producer is in Rwanda, and it gives some context as to why they are selling to washing stations rather than developing their own costly wet and dry mills."

Why This Coffee Excites Us

For us (Sonny), the relationships forged around coffees from Baho are what truly ignite our passion for the coffee industry. Beyond the incredible cup quality, it's inspiring to witness people collaborating towards a shared goal of upliftment and growth. We feel incredibly privileged to play a small—and frankly, the easiest—role in this process.

Rwanda, as a country, has faced immense challenges, from brutal colonial rule to economic crises and the devastating genocide. That's why the dedicated work of individuals like Emmanuel and Afrodis, who care so deeply for their people and their country, is profoundly inspiring.

Emmanuel writes -

 “Baho’s vision on community is guided by having a synergetic relationship with the community of farmers that we work with, where we guide them and create solutions in a replicable, sustainable and scalable manner leading to economic growth and poverty reduction. Our overall vision is implied by the meaning of our name, Baho, which in our local language means live/life. It is like a tree that grows up and has branches, flowers and fruits and still keeps its roots in the ground. Baho is born, grows up and sells coffee both locally and internationally and never forgets the origin.”

We hope to to be able to buy more coffee from Baho as we grow, and hopefully continue to watch Baho's branches of producers grow as well.

Thank you if you made it this far down! you can read more at Semilla's website if you're keen. 

https://www.semilla.ca/baho-coffee-rwanda