Harvest Season
| Varietal(s) | Local bourbon cultivars |
|---|---|
| Processing | Fully washed |
Burundi is the country you forget is there. Ethiopia gets the attention, Kenya gets the reputation, and Burundi gets skipped over in most conversations about East African coffee.
That is a shame, because the washed coffees coming out of the north of the country are worth the detour. This one is from a single processing station in Butanyerera, in Ngozi Province, close to the border with Rwanda. The station is Nyamahiti, on Mbasi hill, owned and managed by Ndayishimiye Samuel. It processes cherry from 394 farmers on that hill. The name means “the place where bitter gourds grow,” a name the area carried before it was ever developed for agriculture, when bitter wild gourds covered the hillsides.
Processing here is fully washed, and it is done the same way every day. Cherry comes in from the surrounding farms, gets sorted for imperfections, is mixed and depulped, then ferments overnight in large tanks. In the morning it is cleaned with fresh groundwater and moved to raised screen tables to dry in the sun. Repetition at that scale is what produces a clean cup. No two days should taste like a different coffee.
The coffee grows at about 1,570 meters, on local bourbon cultivars. Burundian washed coffee from the northern highlands is typically bright and structured, with red-fruit acidity and a tea-like clarity rather than the heavier body of a natural.
When we roast this, we taste dried apricot, tomato, hops, and chocolate. The tomato and the hops are the unusual part — this is a savory, herbal coffee rather than the bright citrus and stone fruit that East African washed lots usually deliver. There is a plum-like acidity underneath, and bittersweet cocoa through the middle and finish.
We Roast It This Way
We roast it this way: to a Medium Light roast. This is a specialty-grade green coffee. We recommend targeting 400–420°F charge temperature and aiming for City+ to Full City for a balanced cup that honours the origin character. First crack typically appears around 385–395°F (varies by roaster type and drum speed). Development time: 1:00–1:45 after first crack.
Light-medium — about thirty seconds past the end of first crack. Burundian Bourbon beans are dense from the altitude and the sugars caramelize quickly. The window is narrow: push darker and the honeysuckle and black tea collapse into generic roast. Undershoot and you get grassy astringency. Hit it right and the cup tastes like it cost twice as much.
