Muzo Nemba Hill's Washed Red Bourbon | Rwanda

Name: Muzo Nemba Hill's Washed Red Bourbon | Rwanda
Brand: PS Coffee
Price: 18.0 CAD
Availability: InStock

$18.00 CAD

Size

Grind

Description

Washed Red Bourbon¹
Muzo Washing Station, Northern Province, Gakenke District, Rwanda²
Farmers: Camile Misago, Cassien Nizeyimana, Isaac Biringiyiki, Innocent Dukuzumuremyi, Obed Habarurema, Juvenal Munyarugero, Cassien Naberaho, Issa Nirworushako, Joel Ubayimfura, Ismael Tuyambaze

This is our first time featuring Muzo Nemba Hill on our menu and we are absolutely thrilled to share it with you. Not only do we consider it to be amongst the best coffee coming from the Baho collection but it also marks the first time this group has been represented on the international market.

This standout lot comes from Baho’s Muzo Washing Station, the smallest in the Baho collection and one that is near and dear to Emmanuel Rusatira as it's the source of some of his most beautiful coffees. The farmers that make up the Nemba Hill group grow coffee cherries at a soaring altitude above 1900masl which attributes to its intensely sweet, red fruit-forward and highly complex profile.

While there is incredible high-quality potential in this region, producers are often very underserved and are offered little motivation to commit to any one washing station — or to coffee production at all. Emmanuel sees Nemba Hill as an opportunity to invest in smallholders and create a mutually beneficial model where they too can profit from the coffee economy. In addition to paying prices high above the national farmgate price, Baho invests in training and resources in hopes of removing some of the inherent risks and helping motivate smallholders to grow coffee and work with Baho.

¹ Processing & Varietal

Washed Processing at Muzo

The first step regardless of the process is cherry sorting. Under shade, every cherry is sorted to ensure only the ripest are chosen and that any visibly defective cherries are removed. Next, the hand selected cherries are placed into tanks where they go through multiple rounds of flotation to separate off the defective beans.

All Baho washed coffees undergo a double fermentation process. After depulping, the coffee is immediately dry fermented (placed into an open-air fermentation tank with no water) for 8 to 12 hours. The coffee is then washed and the tank is filled with water for an additional 8 to 12 hour wet fermentation (coffee completely submerged in water). Once the fermentation is complete, the coffee is pushed through the grading channels. Here the coffee is very rigorously washed and separated by density.

The traditional system in Rwanda separates coffees into A, B, and C grades, based on quality (at the moment, we’re only focusing on purchasing of A grades). In Emmanuel’s case, he has extended this into multiple grades within the A range. A1 is the highest density coffee, followed by A2 and A3. Emmanuel has broken this process down even further and separated each of these into three additional grades. So we have A1+, A1, and A1-. A2+, A2, and A2-. Etc.

After grading, the coffees are soaked (now with no mucilage attached) in a tank of water for a final 8 to 12 hours. This is thought to promote even distribution of moisture throughout the seeds, thus leading to more even drying. After soaking, coffees are moved onto shaded drying beds for 48 - 72 hours.

This has two distinct benefits. First, it sets the trajectory for the entire drying phase by initially beginning very gently and slowly under complete shade. Secondly, it allows ample time for additional sorting while the parchment is still wet - this is important because certain defects (Antestia in particular, thought to cause the potato defect ) can be seen much more easily when the parchment is wet. Total drying time for washed coffees is 35 - 40 days.

² Region of Origin

Muzo Washing Station, Northern Province, Gakenke District
Altitude: 1570-2100masl

Muzo CWS is nestled into the crevices of rolling hills near the heart of Rwanda. This station is the smallest in the Baho collection, and is near and dear to Emmanuel as the source of some of his most beautiful coffees. Average temperatures here are higher and the rainfall is lower, with altitudes that top out at a soaring 2100masl. All of these factors likely play a part in the intensely sweet and tropical fruit-flavored coffees that come through the stations.

With only 496 producers bringing in cherry to this station, at an average of 3kg of cherry per tree over approximately 200 trees per farmer, the result is an annual production of exportable grade coffee that numbers under 300 bags. We were thrilled with the quality of all the lots this year and consider them to be amongst the best - and rarest - in the Baho collection.

We Support

This

Working with and purchasing directly from local coffee-growing communities so more profits go into the hands of coffee producers.

Not That

Using the prevailing model of direct investment to support the elite interests of major corporations so they gross massive profits while virtually none of this profit makes it to the local worker.

About Muzo Nemba Hill

The Muzo Washing Station is nestled in the crevices of rolling hills near the heart of Rwanda. It's the smallest in the Baho collection and is near and dear to Emmanuel as it's the source of some of his most beautiful coffees, like this micro-lot. The farmers of the Nemba Hill group grow coffee cherries, amongst their other field crops, at a soaring altitude above 1900masl which attributes to this coffee's intensely sweet, fruit-forward and highly complex profile.

While the Gakenke District, with its rich red soil and high altitudes, is home to coffee cherries with some of the highest quality potential, producers are very underserved and likely see coffee as an unviable option. With little access to resources, training, and an extremely laborious journey to drop their relatively small yield of cherries off for processing, there’s little motivation to commit to any one washing station or to coffee production at all.

Some coffee exporters would perhaps overlook this low-producing region — after all, why put money into assisting farmers when it's possible to profit elsewhere in commercial-grade coffee?

Instead, Emmanuel sees Nemba Hill as an opportunity to invest in smallholders so they too can benefit from the coffee economy. In addition to paying prices high above the national farmgate price, Baho invests in training and resources, like free seedlings for example, in hopes of removing some of the inherent risks and helping motivate smallholders to grow coffee and work with Baho.

About Baho Coffee

“Baho’s vision on community is guided by having a synergetic relationship with the community of farmers that we work with, where we guide them and create solutions in a replicable, sustainable and scalable manner leading to economic growth and poverty reduction."
— Emmanuel Rusatira

Emmanuel is one of only a small select group of Rwandese people running coffee export businesses. This means that profits remain in the country and are reinvested back into the people who make the local coffee sector possible rather than sailing away from its shores in each container that is shipped. His commitment to his employees and the farmers who he buys cherry from is deep because, unlike multinational companies, he is invested in the future of his own country. In the last year alone, Baho has provided smallholders in overlooked regions like those near Nemba Hill with millions of coffee seedlings, an action that could increase the overall production in the country by up to 10%.

FAQ's

WHO MAKES P.S. COFFEE?

The P.S. Coffee menu is made possible by grower communities and smallholder farmers in Rwanda, Honduras, Colombia and Guatemala. Through our sourcing sister-company Semilla, we hold long-term and consensus based partnerships with producers that have had zero or limited access to or knowledge of the specialty market.

These skilled and passionate professionals are redefining coffee production within their growing regions that have historically been underserved and overlooked despite being within well-respected coffee producing countries. Through community support networks, access to knowledge and capital and investment into physical and intellectual infrastracture, they are transitioning towards autonomy and away from the exploitative model they’ve mostly always known.

These are the people and communities you’ll meet through P.S. — and build connections with as we continue to support and purchase from them year after year.

Meet the P.S. Producer Network

HOW IS P.S. COFFEE SOURCED?

All of the coffee on the P.S. menu is exclusively sourced with Semilla Coffee through the following principles:

Durable Relationships

All of Semilla’s relationships are formed with specific communities in underserved coffee growing regions within well-respected coffee production countries. Semilla identifies producer groups that have zero or limited access to or knowledge of the specialty market and takes on the requisite risk that comes with their transition into becoming specialty coffee producers with dedicated buyers across North America. Semilla’s commitment is to work only within the bounds of these groups, seeking to grow with them in pursuit of purchasing all of their production, year after year.

Best Prices, Defined by Producers

All coffees purchased by Semilla are purchased at the best locally available price. This is determined via communication with and understanding of local market dynamics, and prices are arrived upon via a consensus model in which the coffee growers and Semilla agree democratically on the best prices for all involved.

Traceability and Transparency

Semilla’s commitment is to work with complete commitment to traceability and transparency along the value chain. This means full transparency of prices paid to the farmer (farmgate) as well as prices paid at port (FOB). Additionally, Semilla offers in depth information and context for each coffee, the producers who grew it, and the condition within which they work with each purchase.

Quality

Semilla exclusively works in the specialty coffee realm, meaning all of the coffees purchase are above the quality levels offered by conventional commodity or Fair Trade and Organic buyers. Quality is determined in reference to the Specialty Coffee Association and Coffee Quality Institute’s grading standards, with all coffees source for P.S. achieving a minimum of 85 points out of a possible 100.

DO YOU HAVE THIRD-PARTY SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATION?

We are skeptic of most fair trade/organic/sustainability certifications. They often leave the financial burden on coffee producers who are, and let's be honest, not polluting anywhere near us folks in the Global North are.

Instead of focusing on these certification, we work towards a value system that uplifts everyone along the coffee supply chain. Through Semilla, our sourcing sister-company, we can connect directly with our coffee producer network to bring to life their ideas that come from, and work for, them towards a more sustainable, equitable value chain.

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