Artisan Roast: Rwanda, Bushoki, Washed

The soaring 1000 peaks of Rwanda’s highlands are home to a myriad of coffee washing stations, the centralised points for smallholders to process their coffee. Almost all of this coffee is the high quality and accessible Bourbon cultivar, or its local variants like Jackson and Mayaguez, so when flavour profile changes in Rwanda it does so as a result of local terroir.

There are three main zones of terroir in the country and the Bushoki washing station coffee is in the Northern zone. Here the coffees are known for their apple and molasses like flavours and for having a more pronounced zesty profile than the more Southern or Western coffees.

This is very true of Bushoki which processes coffee from around 800 smallholders in the more northerly Rwandan district of Rulindo. A rich muscovado sugar like flavour provides a delicious base for further flavours of red apple, candied citrus and dried dates to intertwine. Undertones of apricot and jasmine lead onto a dense, viscous mouthfeel with structure coming from an apple and citrus like acidity.