Origin: Giko Hill, Gakenke, Northern Province, Rwanda

Producers: Muzo Washing Station + Nkorebarye Francois, Bakinahe Leonard, Ubudehe Kanini, Kuraduhakwe Jean, Phenius Namayabagabo, Mburano Telesphole, Laban Uwimana, Muhawenimana Mathias, Bugenimana Consolle, and Bikorabagabo Joseph

Process: White Honey

Varieties: Red Bourbon

Altitude: 1570-2100masl

Importer: Semilla Coffee & Baho Coffee

Roast: Light

Notes: Lime Cordial, Rose, Melon, Lemon Iced Tea

*typo in region on bag pictured, coffee is from Gakenke, not Nyaruguru(we will fix)

We believe in transparency. For this exceptional coffee, we paid Semilla $5.75 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 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: $3.86 USD/lb.

Giko Hill, Muzo Washing Station, Rwanda

We're super excited to be featuring another amazing coffee from Baho, and this time from the new to us Muzo Washing Station! The smallest washing stations in Emmanuel's network, it produces some of the most unique and tastiest coffees that they have to offer.

In 2021 they began to separate the coffee from Giko Hill, finding it's unique micro-climate bringing out some exceptional, almost Ethiopian-esq flavours to their coffee. The producers working out of Giko Hill are some of the smallest out there, with the average producer only having 388 trees, and the smallest having only 60.

As with all of Baho's specialty coffees, the processing begins with hand sorting under shade, ensuring only the ripest cherries with no visible defects are selected. The cherries are then put into floating tanks to get rid of any duds that might of snuck by.

After their bath the cherries are ripe and ready for de-pulping, where they separate fruit and seed. After separation, the wet-mucilage covered parchment is taken directly to the raised drying beds, where it is sun-dried for 30-35 days. During this  process the coffee is constantly turned, as well as undergoes further sorting, removing any husks or damaged parchment. 

Once the coffee reaches ideal drying levels, it is then rested for 30 days before being milled and vac-sealed prior to shipping to us!

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

We love getting to work with Semilla and Baho through these coffees, and love to see the growth of transparency in a region where it hasn't always been commonplace. Rwanda has produced some of our favourite coffees we've released, and this White Honey lot is no exception! It's a fairly small lot, so please enjoy!