A Nice Cuppa

I am an impulse shopper. I had already filled up my online shopping cart with plenty of beans to try from Burman Coffee Traders, when the Rwandan co-op beans caught my eye. After a bit of research, I decided that another pound of green beans wasn’t going to hurt (I certainly wasn’t going to not order the Ethiopian Harrar, PNG, or Hacienda las Nubes that were already in my basket!). They are green beans, after all, so they’ll last a while.

I’m quite pleased with the Rwandan purchase. The coffee, an Arabica Bourbon, is grown in rich, volcanic soil at a relatively high altitude and holds onto it’s milk chocolaty tones even when it’s roasted a bit dark. Each cup I’ve pulled has given me god-like shots, heady with crema. Other reviews I’ve read recommend the bean more for press coffee than espresso, as there is a bit of a sharp edge to the pulled shots. With a touch of velvety steamed milk, I thought the sharpness wasn’t a problem, but others might.

Even better, Rwanda is a country in dire need of recovery, and supporting the small farmers (like this co-op) is a great way to help. There is a fantastic article on coffee and farmers in Rwanda at Project Rwanda, who have started up a great coffee-bike program. This program gives small farmer’s access to bicycles which greatly reduces the time it takes for the coffee to get from the fields to the washing stations. Each hour between picking and de-pulping means that bacteria can start to break down the beans. With bikes, what takes farmers six to twelve hours to deliver, can start to take only two to four hours. The result? Coffee that can command a better price for the farmer and another great single origin to boot.