Coffee from Africa, Burundi.

The coffee we want to introduce to you in the store of the coffee roaster, invites you to visit Burundi, located in East Africa. A landlocked country with amazing specialty coffees. Coffee makes our hearts beat faster (literally and figuratively), but Burundi coffee is so much more. Burundi, a tiny heart-shaped country sandwiched between the Congo and Tanzania, is the true heart of Africa and its coffee. A country where coffee is at the heart of the economy, providing a living for nearly 60% of its citizens and where 90% of the population is involved in agriculture. Coffee in Burundi is grown on tiny plots of land - less than one hectare, usually providing a living for entire families. Much of the country has excellent conditions for growing coffee; good terroir, favorable climate. Nitrogen-rich, nutrient-rich volcanic soil, close to 1,200 mm of annual rainfall that is largely retained by the soil, all create excellent conditions for growing arabica coffee. Burundi has some of the most productive coffee growing in the world. Burundi exports just over 260,000 bags of coffee a year all over the world, a few of those bags of Burundi Gitega Gaterama Washed A1- coffee just made it to our coffee roaster. It took us nearly 3 years to decide to import the coffee as we watched the quality steadily improve.

Coffee was brought to Burundi by the Belgians in the 1820s to take advantage of the natural tropical climate and mountainous terrain of Burundi. As European demand for Burundian coffee continued to grow, the Belgian governor of the colony enacted a law requiring each farmer to own a coffee field of no less than 50 trees, ensuring on the other hand that the harvest would be bought back. After 1962, when Burundi gained independence, there were several decades of various economic turmoil; wars and nationalization. In the first years of the 21st century, coffee growing in Burundi has again become the focus of attention of local farmers, mainly due to the success of coffee growers in neighboring Rwanda, but also as a result of growing interest in specialty coffee worldwide. Today, coffee cultivation is organized around coffee washing stations that strictly enforce the high quality of the coffee they buy. In addition to the work on coffee quality, local coffee quality competitions have also taken hold in Burundi, with winners receiving extra bonuses for the high quality of the coffee from their fields. The combination of farmers' expertise and excellent growing conditions produces better and better coffee every year, making Burundi a true diamond in the rough, even in the challenging neighbourhood of Ethiopia and Kenya.

The story of the Agahore farmers' cooperative from where the Burundi Gitega Agahore Washed A1 coffee comes from, began in 2016 when the cooperators decided to form a community and gave it its name, Agahore - meaning "best coffee" in Kirundi - the local language. The cooperative is distinguished by its emphasis on community value, respects local customs, and supports its members at every stage of coffee cultivation. Agahore distributes the best arabica coffee seedlings to the cooperative members, also imparting knowledge on how to plant coffee, how to create shade for coffee bushes and the results it produces. The first coffee harvest of 2017/2018, and the selected method of processing the coffee yielded such successful results that all cooperators received nearly 40% bonuses and several years of health insurance for themselves and their families. The next coffee harvest, will continue the string of successes started.

Agahore's growing fields are located between 1,600 and 1,850 meters above sea level. Burundi Gitega Agahore Washed A1 coffee, comes from the Gaterama washing station, Bugendana region, near the city of Gitega - the country's capital. The coffee washing station was built by Cassien Nibaruta. The cooperative grows the young arabica coffee variety Bourbon Mbrizi, a bourbon variety characterized by excellent natural sweetness and brightness. The coffee is from the 2018/2019 harvest. The top of the berry was removed from the coffee using the Fully Washed method, and after removal the coffee was dried on special African beds.

Burundi Gitega Agahore Washed A1 coffee is naturally bright and fruity. Processing the coffee using the Fully Washed method, produces an exceptionally clean robust flavor. This Burundi coffee has noticeable notes of black currant, tropical, has a refreshing, milky, buttery, creamy body. In our opinion, the coffee is perfect for alternative methods; drip, aeropress preferably in light or medium roast. It seems to be too refined for dark roasting, a characteristic style of Italian espresso - which of course does not rule out espresso in the medium roast.