OFFER LISTS ORIGINS EVENTS SERVICES ABOUT TRANSPARENCY BLOG Rwanda 2021 | Looking back Published by Jamie Jongkind on October 11, 2021 It’s truly a pleasure tasting the finished roasts and thinking back at how they started in the early crop and tasting super fresh. I’m always amazed by what you roasters manage to pull out of it. Jamie Jongkind, Sales EU & Green Buyer January, before the harvest When I first started reaching out to the producers and farmers we work with in Rwanda back in February, all seemed very bright and hopeful. Gitesi was about to start the coffee harvest and Mahembe a week later. In general, West Rwanda – where these stations are located – was about a month ahead of normal crop timing. This means we could be tasting the first Rwandans a lot faster than expected! This is always a great scenario; it gives us more time to reach out to you all and find profiles that fit in your menus. Things were looking up where the weather for the 2019/2020 crop was quite irregular. West Rwanda experienced an incredible amount of rain at the start in November-January and lacking sun. The cherries didn’t develop heat resistance, a situation followed by a long dry period which ruined ~20% of the harvest. But the weather during this crop looked a lot more normal with a good balance of rain (good for flowering) and spread out sun heat to create that resistance. March, start of the harvest With a good progression, the farmers kept saying “in 2 weeks we should be getting volumes”. But sadly, cherries didn’t seem to ripe as normal. People were confused. Gitesi and Mahembe didn’t get the amount of rain they’d like early on but improved later down the line with the trees looking healthy. Early on, our partner RTC started warning the farmers that the harvest would be a short intense one. Meaning they had to make sure their drying beds were ready for quick handling and filling to get lots of cherry in a short time window. In a normal year, we’d be getting about ~85% of the harvest somewhere stretched over March to the end of May. Now we’d get 60% from April to May. Gitesi washing station, 2021 ..more natural production! Despite knowing that demand for naturals is growing, especially in Rwanda’s case, we haven’t met that demand for years. I reached out to Mahembe to produce their first naturals alongside the ones we started producing from Gitesi last year. RTC has been great at supervising the process and helped educate how to prepare natural and also sent over their head agronomist from Kenya to check up. Last year we had some moisture issues. These addressed by getting a new “more hardcore” huller and are now all within our preferred range. Overall it’s been a tough harvest year for the farmers once again, with all things covid not helping very much. The tiny harvest made it hard balancing my demand of washed vs naturals. But I DEFINITELY didn’t want our natural demand to chip away at the volume of cherry we had available to produce the washed lots. Yes… they’re a bit harder to sell because of lower demand but damn! Those coffees are incredible and so complex. They have battled their way up to secure a place among our coffees and, with incredible consistency, it will be for years to come. Nonetheless, we were able to secure 2 full containers of incredibly diverse Rwandan profiles with the 2nd container more focussed on naturals. I’m super excited to get them to the roasteries around the globe. It’s truly a pleasure tasting the finished roasts and thinking back at how they started in the early crop and tasting super fresh. I’m always amazed by what you roasters manage to pull out of it. Part of them are some new stations that showed a lot of promise and that we’re piloting this year across the Western (where originally we sourced everything from), Eastern- and Southern provinces. I think you’ll like them too! Naming concept Over the years we’ve had some internal discussions about what to do with the names. As “Mahembe #1, Mahembe #2, Mahembe #3.. #4, #5, #6, #9, #21, #22, #23, #67 – ok, ok… I think you get it – just didn’t seem to cut it anymore. In some origins it’s easy; we either already work or grow towards separating the lots into specific farmers. But in Rwanda it’s a lot harder considering the number of farmers contributing to one single lot. I simplified things and, with respect to the beautiful Kinyarwanda language, you will see these new names appearing on our offer list: Muama Mu- -ama abbreviation of Mugire amahoro meaning Go in peace – which has quite a bit of depth to it due to Rwanda’s history. It also sounds like Mama – mother. “Go in peace, as in a peaceful washed flavour profile, soothing soft cup notes of berries or florals”. Imbuto Kinyarwanda for “fruit”, as in the cherry/fruit of the coffee. A reference to the coffees (naturals/honeys) being dried with either the complete cherry intact or most mucilage/fruit still on – also referring to the intense fruit notes and aromas that are infused into the final cup with this process. Ie; Mahembe Muama… Gitesi Imbuto.. That’s it for the Rwanda update for this time! If you feel like you’ve missed something or are just curious for more, send whatever pops in your mind to your friendly neighborhood spider-man sales rep to find out more and if there are any coffees left for you to grab. Have a beautiful day, Jamie Categories: 2021COFFEE ORIGINSRWANDA Tags: 2021harvestnatural processingRwanda 0 Comments Leave a Reply Name * Email * Website What's on your mind? Related Posts 2021 What can you expect from our Perus? Our sourcing has focussed on three primary distinctions for coffee lot styles: microlots, cooperatives, and community lots. We have encountered 87+ cups and complex characteristics among all three. Ceviche, Pisco Sours, ayahuasca, and stunning coffees Read more… 2021 How to plan your buying for Jul – Dec 2021 If you only have 30 seconds, read this: For the second half of the year we will have coffees from Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Uganda, Rwanda, and Indonesia. Samples will start arriving in July/August, and coffees Read more… 2021 Spring Cupping is here! Spring Cupping has begun! Spring Cupping is here! While it won’t be our usual event at our Oslo HQ, it will still be a lot of fun. Check our Spring Cupping page for new videos Read more… Nordic Approach AS Tøyengata 29c 0578 Oslo Home » Blog » Rwanda 2021 | Looking back Privacy Policy E-MAIL INSTAGRAM YOUTUBE FACEBOOK NEWSLETTER We use cookies on our website to give you the best experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Cookie Settings Accept All