High-quality coffee beans from Africa and Rwanda in the world.

Rwanda Coffee

Global Coffee Origin-Rwanda

Since the 1920s, Arabica coffee grown in Rwanda has been known worldwide for its distinctive fruity sweetness and intense grassy aroma. In recent years, the Rwandan government has taken active measures to vigorously promote coffee production, establish coffee production cooperatives in various places, and provide technical guidance and financial support to farmers, so that coffee production has developed greatly.

Coffee production in Rwanda:

Rwanda has approximately 33,000 hectares of coffee plantations and 500,000 people engaged in coffee farming. With its high altitude and fertile volcanic soil, the country's fertile soil and climate are conducive to plant growth, and coffee trees seem to be driven or forced to grow upwards, or to grow too fast to produce the best coffee beans. Rwanda, the beautiful country of a thousand hills, has a long and rich culture of growing highland coffee, mainly high-quality Arabica coffee. Rwanda is the only country in the world that can fully enjoy the harmony between soil, elevation and climate. In this unique growing environment, Rwanda's high-quality coffee has a distinctive taste and aroma. Bourbon coffee grown in Rwanda is one of the original varieties of Arabica coffee.

Features of Rwandan coffee:

The taste of Rwandan coffee is described as "grassy aroma" with tropical climate characteristics. In addition to the fruity sweetness of this coffee, it can also taste refreshing, clear and fresh. Bourbon coffee grown in Rwanda is marvellous for its fruity sweetness, its rich, full-bodied aroma, without any convergence, and its lingering aftertaste. This coffee has a delicious, citrus sweet aroma and a deep chocolate color.

Flavor: Soft, aromatic, full grain

Recommended baking method: deep baking

Rwandan coffee market:

Rwandan coffee, in its washed Arabica bean form, is of absolute quality. As far as Africa is concerned, its coffee industry stands out because the country thrives mainly on producing the best possible coffee beans. Rwandan coffee is gaining increasing popularity on the international market.

The mission of the Rwandan Coffee Association is to manage and supervise the operation of the Rwandan coffee industry from production to marketing. The recently revised mission focuses on policy formulation and implementation, with greater emphasis on efforts to improve professionalism and marketing in the coffee industry. Since its inception, the Rwandan Coffee Association has been instrumental in promoting Rwandan coffee culture and influence.

But anyway, the soft, rich flavor of the country's coffee is excellent.

Rwandan washed bourbon coffee

Rwanda is known as "the country of thousands of hills". It has many mountains and plateaus throughout the country. Most of the areas have tropical plateau climate and tropical grassland climate, which is mild and cool. There are approximately 33,000 hectares of coffee plantations and 500,000 people engaged in coffee farming. With its high altitude and fertile volcanic soil, the country's fertile soil and climate are conducive to plant growth, and coffee trees seem to be driven or forced to grow upwards, or to grow too fast to produce the best coffee beans. Rwanda, the beautiful country of a thousand hills, has a long and rich culture of growing highland coffee, mainly high-quality Arabica coffee. Rwanda is the only country in the world that can fully enjoy the harmony between soil, elevation and climate. In this unique growing environment, Rwanda's high-quality coffee has a distinctive taste and aroma.

Bourbon coffee grown in Rwanda is one of the original varieties of Arabica coffee. In the annual professional evaluation of top coffee held by SCAA in 2008, Rwanda Aromec's best washed bourbon defeated Jamaica Blue Mountain No.1 and Sumatra Mandning G1 Special Selection at the same time and won the 2008 COE(Cup of Excellence) Award.

The taste of Rwandan coffee is described as "grassy aroma" with tropical climate characteristics. In addition to the fruity sweetness of this coffee, it can also taste refreshing, clear and fresh. Bourbon coffee grown in Rwanda is marvellous for its fruity sweetness, its rich, full-bodied aroma, without any convergence, and its lingering aftertaste. With a delicious, citrus sweetness and a deep chocolate color, Rwanda bourbon is known as "the coffee that captures and concentrates the essence of Africa in the cup."

Rwandan coffee is attracting attention for its high-quality washed Arabica beans and is gaining increasing popularity in international markets. Rwanda plans to export 3000 tonnes of coffee this year, further boosting production to meet increasing demand, according to marketing and promotion officer of the Rwanda Coffee Association, Karuretwa. Starbucks, the world's largest coffee retailer, has partnered with the Rwandan government to import Rwandan coffee, just as a coffee-colored dove flies from a coffee cup against the words "Cup of Hope" on the Rwandan coffee label. Indeed, coffee holds the hopes of the Rwandan people. They hope to increase coffee exports to drive the country's economic development, but also hope that Hutu and Tutsi, the two major tribes that once hated each other, will work together to build a better tomorrow by planting coffee and eliminating hatred.

Rwanda Maraba Coffee

Maraba coffee (Rwandan: Ikawa ya Maraba, French: Café de Maraba) is a Fairtrade certified coffee grown in the Maraba region of southern Rwanda. Malaba's coffee crop is a bourbon variety of Arabica species grown on fertile volcanic soils in high-altitude hills. The fruit of the coffee tree is mainly harvested manually during the rainy season between March and May, and then transported to the washing station in Malabar where the coffee beans are extracted and dried. Malabar coffee is also used to brew beer. In 1999, the Abahuzamugambi cooperative was founded, and about 2,000 smallholder farmers grow coffee trees under the cooperative's management.

Maraba coffee (Rwandan: Ikawa ya Maraba, French: Café de Maraba) is a Fairtrade certified coffee grown in the Maraba region of southern Rwanda.

Malaba's coffee crop is a bourbon variety of Arabica species grown on fertile volcanic soils in high-altitude hills. The fruit of the coffee tree is mainly harvested manually during the rainy season between March and May, and then transported to the washing station in Malaba where the coffee beans are extracted and dried. At some stage, coffee beans are classified into different grades of quality. Farmers earn relative profits based on the yield and quality of the coffee beans they produce.

Malabar coffee is sold to several roasting companies, with the best quality sold to Union Coffee Roasters in the UK and Community Coffee in the US. For the domestic market, Rwandan specialty coffee roasters buy coffee beans from Malaba and sell them domestically. Malabar coffee is also used to brew beer.

In 1999, the Abahuzamugambi cooperative was founded, and about 2,000 smallholder farmers grow coffee trees under the cooperative's management. Since 2000, the cooperative has received funding from the National University of Rwanda (NUR) and the Joint Programme for Strengthening Rwanda Agricultural Partnerships (PEARL). The Aba Uzamgambi cooperative improved the quality of coffee and succeeded in penetrating the coffee specialty market.

historical origin

Rwandans have been growing coffee since colonial times, but until 1999, the product was classified as below grade C and was not available on the global market. The reason for the poor quality is that farmers do not have a fixed procedure for cleaning coffee beans, and they do not process coffee fruits according to specifications in time. Buyers pay $0.33 a kilo for coffee beans, farmers subsist on meager profits from low prices, but remain poor.

In 1999, 220 coffee growers formed associations in the Malaba area (formerly part of Butare province) to combat the disease. Many of its members are farmers who have been separated from their loved ones for the 1994 massacre, while others have husbands who have been jailed or brought before traditional gacaca courts to face trial on charges of involvement in the massacre. They named the guild Abahuzamugambi, which means "people working together to achieve goals" in Rwandan. Farmers hope that by establishing this association, they can directly cooperate with Kigali exporters, instead of being stripped layer by layer through intermediary transportation companies, and thus increase their profits. Farmers divide their profits and spend them on tools, fertilizer, and seeds to increase production.

In 2000, the mayor of Maraba requested development assistance from the National University of Rwanda (UNR), located near Butare; the following year, UNR helped to establish the Partnership for Strengthening Agriculture in Rwanda (PEARL). PEARL is supported by several organizations: USAID, Michigan State University, Texas A & M University, and many Rwandan organizations, including the National University of Rwanda, the National Agricultural Laboratory (ISAR), and the Kigali Institute of Technology (KIST). In February 2001, PEARL began working with Abba Uzam Gambi to improve coffee quality to meet the standards of the U.S. specialty coffee market and sell coffee to the United States.

The first problem that Malaba coffee farmers solved was to set up a washing station. Coffee cherries must be transported to a washing station within twelve hours of picking to remove the sugar coating under the outer skin of the coffee beans, otherwise the flavor of the coffee will be greatly damaged. In July 2001, with funding from UNR, the Office des Cultures Industrielles du Rwanda (OCIR-Café), ACDI/VOCA and ISAR, they built the first cleaning station near the main road in Cyarumbo district. However, the washing station was not activated until late in the harvest season, so that only 200 kg (441 lb) of the harvest was washed that year. However, the result was unexpectedly good. In 2002, the washing station was upgraded to provide more coffee processing. ACDI/VOCA was responsible for funding the construction of pipelines to bring in Mount Huye mineral water and help improve the efficiency of the cleaning station. The pipeline was commissioned in March 2002.

During the 2002 harvest season, Rwanda introduced a new certification system to ensure that coffee beans delivered to washing stations maintained proper quality. About half of Abba Uzamgambi's members are certified, enabling the cooperative to find buyers in specialized markets in Europe and North America.

Recognized by the world

PEARL brought coffee specialists to Rwanda, where it was responsible for maintaining contact with the seller, Community Coffee in Louisiana, USA, and sending samples to Louisiana. In June 2002, representatives of Public Coffee visited Malabar. At that time, the current President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, stated on behalf of the Government the importance of this programme. Public Coffee bought 18000 kilograms (40000 pounds) of maraba beans for $3 per kilogram, above the market average. Coffee beans are shipped to Louisiana, where they are roasted and used in the company's fine coffee. It was also the first direct contract between an American roasting company and an African coffee cooperative.

Comic relief, a british charity, has also taken an interest in malaba. They pledged to donate some of the £ 55m they earned in Britain and Africa on Red Nose Day in 2001 to the Association des Veuves du Genocide (AVEGA), an association for widows of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The charity found that many Malabar smallholders were also AVEGA members and were therefore able to provide funding and assistance to Malabar farmers through AVEGA. They contacted Union Coffee Roasters, a British coffee roasting company, and in 2002 their representatives visited Malabar along with Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) executives. After visiting various places, the group was awarded certificates, and Maraba coffee became the first commodity for which Rwandan cooperatives had won fair trade status. UCR described Maraba coffee as "sparkling citrus flavours with rich, sweet chocolate notes" and bought all the unsold products from the 2002 harvest.

In early 2003, UCR distributed Malabar coffee through Sainsbury's supermarket and sold it in 350 of its stores until Red Nose Day. In 2003, the Abawuzamgambi cooperative earned a net profit of $35000. Seventy per cent of that amount was distributed to farmers at a price of $0.75 per kilogram, more than three times the profits made by other Rwandan coffee growers and enough to cover previously unaffordable health care and education services. The remaining 30 percent is invested back in the cooperative and used to purchase calcium carbonate, an agricultural lime that reduces soil acidity caused by rainfall loss of minerals.

coffee beer

Since 2003, PEARL has gradually reduced its financial support to the Abawuzamgambi cooperative, considering it self-sufficient. Cooperatives provide loans to growers to help improve their living standards and can invest in livestock, health insurance and education. A cooperative bank opened in the village in March, empowering farmers to maintain and manage their savings locally rather than having to travel long distances to Butare.

In late 2004, Meantime Brewery in London began serving coffee beer made from Maraba beans. The drink is positioned as an alcoholic iced cappuccino or digef. The brewer chief tasted coffee from all over the world and decided to add trace amounts of vanilla and chocolate to maraba coffee, which tasted better than using nut coffee and bitter coffee from South America. The original beer, with an alcohol content of 4% and the same caffeine content as coffee, was described as having a "silky and mellow style." Coffee and beer are sold in large Sainsbury's outlets and in some pubs and clubs. The drink was one of only two beers on the UK market with Fair Trade status until 2006, when lowering the coffee ratio and increasing the alcohol content (now 6%) caused it to lose its Fair Trade status. Coffee beer is still made from maraba coffee beans and is the only authorised coffee beer in the British Isles, winning a gold medal in the coffee flavoured beer category at the 2006 World Beer Cup.

In 2006, Sweden's Minister for Development and Cooperation and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Carin Jamtin, visited Malaba to expand cooperation between Sweden and Rwanda and promote Malaba coffee to the Swedish specialty market. In July 2006, a telecentre was opened in Malaba in coordination with PEARL, USAID, NUR and Washington State University (WSU). The Center to Bridge the Digital Divide (CBDD) provides funding and resources. Three WSU students spent six weeks in Rwanda helping to set up the center and train local staff. The centre is now run by local staff.

production process

The peak harvest season for Rwandan coffee is during the main rainy season, from March to the end of May. During harvest season, farmers spend most of their day picking coffee by hand. In the afternoon, farmers carry coffee nuts in traditional baskets woven from banana leaves to washing stations hours away. Artisans hand-pick the best coffee cherries with a deep red hue and return the rest to farmers for sale at low prices in markets outside the Malaba processing zone. The mechanic pays the farmer $0.10 per kilo. Every fortnight the guild deposited the reward into the farmer's bank account.

The sink technician in the process will clean the coffee immediately because the delay will ferment the sugary outer layer of the coffee beans, ruining the taste of the coffee. The coffee beans are first thrown into a deep trough, and the best quality coffee fruit goes into the bottom and passes through a machine that peels off its skin. The mechanic takes out the floating coffee fruit, processes it in the same way and allows the cooperative to sell it at a lower price in the domestic market. Coffee beans through three cooperative peeling and selection machines, remove the skin and sugary outer layer, and then let the coffee beans individually through the vibrating filter. The filter separates the highest quality A beans from those classified as Class B; the two grades are transported to the hills with a 1% slope of the waterway. In the process of transportation, coffee beans of all qualities are further classified, and there are about 15 sinks at the bottom of the channel that can capture different kinds of coffee beans. Coffee beans are preserved continuously in water. Grade A beans and grade B beans stay for two days and 15-20 hours respectively to slightly ferment and convert the remaining sugar without serious damage to the taste.

After the washed coffee beans are air-dried on the net rack, after washing the coffee beans many times to completely remove the remaining skin and sugary outer layer, the coffee beans are put into the sheltered rack to air-dry. Cooperative staff regularly flip coffee beans, while technicians continue to look for and pick out poor quality coffee beans. The two-week drying process takes place in the sun (prepare the mulch in case of rain) and keep turning the coffee beans. This step reduces the water content of coffee beans from 40% to 12%.

Then the mechanic transported the coffee beans to the technology center near Chez. Some machines installed in warehouses on the hills remove the cutin from coffee beans. The staff sent the coffee beans to nearby research institutes for final quality control-manual sorting, which was carried out by several experienced women. After bagging and labeling according to its quality, the coffee beans can be stored in the warehouse waiting for market.

Nouns related to Malaba coffee

Flavor [Flavor]: the overall impression of aroma, acidity, and mellowness. Acidity [Acidity]: the strong acidity of all coffee grown on the plateau. The sour here is different from bitterness and Sour, and has nothing to do with pH value. It refers to a fresh and lively quality that promotes coffee to exert its functions of invigorating the mind and clearing the taste. The acidity of coffee is not the acidity or sour smell of acidity or alkalinity, nor is it an uncomfortable acid that enters the stomach. When making coffee, the performance of acidity is very important. under good conditions and skills, a special taste with fresh acidity can be developed, which is a necessary condition for high-grade coffee. The sour taste of coffee describes a lively, bright flavor, which is somewhat similar to that used in wine tasting. If the coffee bean lacks acidity, it is equal to lose vitality, taste empty and boring, without layer depth. Acidity has many different characteristics, such as coffee beans from Yemen and Kenya, which have an impressive fruity aroma and a red wine-like texture. Mellow [Body]: the taste of the tongue after drinking coffee. The change of mellowness can be divided into light to light, medium, high, fat, and even Indonesian coffee is as thick as syrup. Odor [Aroma]: the smell and aroma emitted after the coffee has been prepared. The words used to describe smell include caramel, carbon roast, chocolate, fruit, grass, malt, and so on. Bitterness [Bitter]: bitterness is a basic sense of taste, and the sensory area is distributed in the base of the tongue. The bitterness of deep baking is deliberately created, but the common cause of bitterness is too much coffee powder and too little water. Light [Bland]: coffee grown in lowlands, usually quite light and tasteless. Coffee with insufficient coffee powder and too much water will have the same light effect. Salty [Briny]: after brewing, if the coffee is overheated, it will produce a salty taste. The aroma of soil [Earthy]: commonly used to describe spicy and earthy Indonesian coffee, not the smell of dirt on coffee beans. Uniqueness [Exotic]: describes coffee with its unique aroma and special flavor, such as flowers, fruits, and spices. Coffee from East Africa and Indonesia usually has this property. Aromatic alcohol [Mellow]: used to describe coffee with good acidity balance. Mild [Mild]: used to describe a coffee with a harmonious, delicate flavor, used to refer to all plateau coffee except Brazil. Soft [Soft]: describes low acidity coffee such as Indonesian coffee, and also describes it as mellow or sweet. Sour [Sour]: a sense of taste in which the sensory area is mainly located at the back of the tongue and is characteristic of light roasted coffee. Spice [Spicy]: a flavor or smell reminiscent of a particular spice. Strong [Strong]: technically, it describes the advantages and disadvantages of various tastes, or the relative ratio of coffee to water in a particular conditioned product. In terms of popular usage, it describes the strong flavor of deep-roasted coffee. Sweet [Sweet]: in essence, it is like fruit, and it also has something to do with the taste of wine. Wild [Wild]: describes coffee with extreme taste characteristics. Wine [Winy]: fruit-like acidity and smooth mellow, created by the contrast of special flavor. Kenyan coffee is the best example of wine flavor. In addition: coffee beans can only be roasted to become coffee beans for grinding and drinking, generally divided into light, medium, deep and extra-deep roasting.

Brief introduction to Rwanda

The Republic of Rwanda is located in east-central Africa, covering an area of more than 26000 square kilometers. With a population of more than 9 million, it is composed of three ethnic groups, Hutu, Tutsi and Tewa, and believes in Catholicism, primitive religion, Christian Protestantism and Islam. The official languages are Rwandan, English and French. The capital, Kigali. The current President Paul Kagame.