FEBRUARY 2024 - Many Farms, One Micro Lot!

January 2024’s Coffee Origin
Burundi Gihere Ngozi Natural, Micro Lot

BURUNDI - GIHERE - NGOZI
Region: Myando, Tangara, Ngozi
Varietals: Bourbon
Growing Elevation: 4400-6300+ feet
Harvest: March through July
Process: Natural
Flavour Profile and Notes: GO CUP YOURSELF and find out!

This Month's Coffee Selection
While it may be land locked and almost 40 times smaller that Ontario, Burundi has caught our attention again. 
This month's coffee comes from the Burundi's Ngozi region (Burundi's second major coffee-producing region) where there are over 1600 "small-holder" farms (each maintaining around 250 or fewer trees). You may recall from a previous post where we explained that small holder farms produce relatively small amounts of coffee that need to be amalgamated to make export viable. The average farmer in this region harvests approximately 250 trees, which is extremely limited in coffee terms. Ripe cherries are hand picked by local farmers and delivered to the washing station where they will be sorted and combined based on quality and availability.

Established in 1984, The Gihere Central Washing Station has soaking tanks, floating tanks and over 200 drying tables. Their production can reach 20 000 bags allowing them to contribute to and maintain a viable export quantity. This sustained production has allowed the local farmers to gain access to capital as well as improved local education and infrastructure (similar to a coop system). Once the coffee lots are sorted and dried, they are sent to Gitega (Burundi's capital) for milling and export.


Micro-lots from Burundi
Due to the relatively small production from small-holder farms, Burundi micro-lots are selected from day lots. They are based on cup quality and may even be combined from several washing stations. The highest graded coffees are often blended coffees from many producers and stations. The up side is often amazing coffee profiles with high cupping scores, the down side is the "micro-lots" can not often be traced back to a specific producer.

Roaster’s Notes:
This Burundi origin is a micro-lot associated with its washing station, rather than a specific producer. Even though there are likely cherries from several producers involved in this lot, its beans were uniform and consistent.  In that sprit, I decided to roast this coffee in small batches and blend it before packaging. This may result in slight colour variations in your bag, but should add some depth the cup. 

Similar to Kenyan and Ethiopian coffees, this Burundi needed a relatively low initial charge. Low and slow was the rule of thumb with this roast.  Same as last month, we went with our supplier's suggestion and roasted to a light-medium roast. As a Natural Process, this coffee had a lot of chaf (the skin that comes off during the roasting process). While that likely means very little, I usually take it as an omen of a potentially great coffee, it also make a huge mess. Was the mess and effort worth it? We certainly think so! 

While cupping this month look for hints of Almond followed by …wait a minute, if you want cupping notes Go Cup Yourself!

Once you have finished Cupping, click on the “EXPERT TASTED” tab for our tasting notes. Can’t wait to compare notes.

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