Horsham Coffee Roaster: Pioneer, Rwanda, Relationship Coffee

Tasting notes: Juicy fruits and soft caramel sweetness

Brewing: This coffee works well with all filter brewers and espresso. For filter we recommend a 1 - 15.5 brew ratio, and for espresso a 1 - 2.25 brew ratio.

Example: Filter: 16g - 250ml // Espresso: 18g - 40g

We first visited Rwanda in 2014 and over the last few years we've developed some very close relationships. Every year we visit Bwishaza co-operative, a group of around 500 farmers who produce fantastic coffee for us. We are committed to supporting them with an open and transparent working relationship and ensuring that they are paid a fair price. This is usually between 1.5 and 2 times the fairtrade price. We are also supporting a school located within their community.

We've been working directly with the Bwishaza co-operative since 2016. Located on the north eastern side of Lake Kivu about one hour drive north of Kibuye. The Bwishaza co-operative is made up of 590 members and buys additional coffee from 200-300 local producers. Farmers will hand harvest coffee cherries and deliver on the same day to the washing station. The coffee is then hand sorted before processing. They use a variety of different processing methods to produce microlots specifically for us and we visit the co-operative every year during May.

This particular coffee was produced using a wet fermentation method. Firstly the coffee cherry is hand sorted followed by flotation in water to remove defects. The coffee is then pulped to remove the fruit and then fermented in water for 12-16 hrs. After fermentation the coffee is washed and graded in African grading channel and soaked a second time in clean water for 10 hours. Coffee is then shaded dried and hand sorted for 24 hrs followed by further drying on raised tables in the sun.