Burundi, Kirasa

One of the finest red bourbon varieties from Burundi has just landed in your cup. This coffee is the accumulative effort of Rumonge and Bujumbura coffee farmers, who poured their best cherries into the local Kirasa washing station.

From there, the cherries underwent a double-sorting process before drying on raised beds for approximately two weeks. The Kirasa station has only been producing natural coffees since 2018, and the special care they put into the processing stage is what has this cup oozing red plum, red apple, and rooibos tea flavour.

Our ability to source this coffee was made possible by the Akawa Project, which focuses on developing viable agricultural practices in an effort to remove farmers from a cycle of poverty in sustainable and equitable ways. Specifically, the Kirasa washing station is one of several wet mills built under the Akawa Project.

One way that Mill Manager Emile Ndkiumasabo and agronomist Anne-Marie live out the environmental responsibility tenet is through producing natural fertiliser from discarded coffee pulp. They bury the pulp underground (where it naturally ferments) before using it as fertiliser for coffee seedlings. These seedlings are then given to local farmers to help them expand or renovate their coffee crops.