About This Coffee
The Nyaruguru District, where Nyakizu washing station is situated, shares many of the features that make coffee from the Kayanza Province so memorable. The high altitudes (with farms between 1,750 and 2,100 meters above sea level) and rich soil combined with favorable climate and plentiful rainfall are a recipe for superb coffee. The sandy clay soil lends a higher acidity that other areas of Rwanda, and the rich topsoil with abundant organic matter promotes good harvests.
Harvest & Post-Harvest
Farmers delivering to Nyakizu washing station selectively hand pick their harvest, often relying on the help of family members. Once picked, the coffee is brought to the washing station.
The quality team at the station pre-sorts the cherry through flotation and visual sorting for ripeness. Approved cherry is then collected in the cherry hopper until enough cherry is collected to begin the day’s pulping.
After pulping, the parchment ferments in tanks for around 14 to 18 hours. The fermentation time varies with the season and the ambient temperature. Temperatures are lower at the start of the season, which means it takes more time for fermentation to complete.
After fermentation, coffee is washed in clean water and moved through the grading channel. This separates the parchment into four grades, from the heaviest (which is typically associated with highest quality) to lights and floaters. Throughout the rest of the process, each quality of parchment is kept separate.
This lot from Nyakizu consists only of the heaviest parchment. All coffee that receives this quality tag passes through an additional 24-hour soaking period to remove all traces of mucilage before being delivered to sorting sheds. Nyakizu also has four sheds available for performing extra visual checks on higher quality wet parchment. Defective beans can be more easily detected when the parchment is wet.
After sorting, the coffee is moved to the main drying beds where it is regularly sorted and sifted to ensure even drying. A gentle humid breeze blows through the valley. This breeze is one of the quality ingredients of Nyakizu coffee. Drying the parchment can take up to 35 days!
Nyakizu stores dry parchment in their own storage room until they sell it to their partners. In this case, we purchased the coffee from RWACOF (Sucafina in Rwanda), who purchased directly from Nyakizu. RWACOF oversees the marketing and sale of the coffee and, once sold, prepares the beans for export.
Coffee in Rwanda
Despite its turbulent history, today Rwanda is one of the specialty coffee world’s darlings – for good reason! Our sister company in Rwanda does an amazing job of bringing the best that Rwanda has to offer to roasters around the world.
German missionaries and settlers brought coffee to Rwanda in the early 1900s. Largescale coffee production was established during the 1930 & 1940s by the Belgian colonial government. Coffee production continued after the Belgian colonists left. By 1970, coffee had become the single largest export in Rwanda and accounted for 70% of total export revenue. Coffee was considered so valuable that, beginning in 1973, it was illegal to tear coffee trees out of the ground.
Between 1989 and 1993, the breakdown of the International Coffee Agreement (ICA) caused the global price to plummet. The Rwandan government and economy took a hard hit from low global coffee prices. The 1994 genocide and its aftermath led to a complete collapse of coffee exports and vital USD revenue, but the incredible resilience of the Rwandan people is evident in the way the economy and stability have recovered since then.
Modern Rwanda is considered one of the most stable countries in the region. Since 2003, its economy has grown by 7-8% per year and coffee production has played a key role in this economic growth. Coffee has also played a role in Rwanda's significant advancements towards gender equality. New initiatives that cater to women and focus on helping them equip themselves with the tools and knowledge for farming have been changing the way women view themselves and interact with the world around them.
Today, smallholders propel the industry in Rwanda forward. The country doesn’t have any large estates. Most coffee is grown by the 400,000+ smallholders, who own less than a quarter of a hectare. The majority of Rwanda’s coffee production is Arabica. Bourbon variety plants comprise 95% of all coffee trees cultivated in Rwanda.