Burundi Gahahe

Description

Roasting: filter We roast our coffee in a Loring Falcon American roaster using hot-air technology in an insulated drum. This roasting technology helps us achieve a clean flavour, greater sweetness and more consistent roasting results. We roast this coffee to a light degree to bring out the character of fresh red fruit. Region: Burundi Coffee in Burundi is produced almost exclusively by smallholder farmers. Thanks to its exceptionally sweet, clean and often floral coffees, Burundi is gaining an increasingly prominent place on the map of speciality coffees year on year. Coffee is of vital importance to families and the country as a whole. It contributes to the improvement and expansion of infrastructure and enhances the earning potential of the entire nation. Farm: Gahahe The Gahahe processing station is situated in the Gahahe area of Kayanza Province. The station lies at an altitude of 1,805 metres above sea level. It is equipped with 10 fermentation tanks, 4 cherry sorting tables, 2 soaking tanks and a drying yard with 180 drying tables and 18 pre-drying tables, and can process up to 750 metric tonnes of cherries per season. Variety: Red Bourbon Most coffee trees in Burundi are of the Red Bourbon variety, chosen for their quality. Given the ever-decreasing size of coffee plantations, the ageing of the rootstock is a major problem in Burundi. Many farmers have trees that are over 50 years old, but given the small size of their plots, it is difficult to take the trees completely out of production for the 3 to 4 years it takes for new plantings to start yielding a harvest. To encourage farmers to renew their plantations, the importer establishes nurseries and sells seedlings to farmers at a price below cost. Processing: washed method During the harvest, all coffee is selectively picked by hand. Most families have only 200 to 250 trees, and the harvest is carried out almost entirely by the family. Quality control begins immediately after the farmers deliver their cherries. The cherries are processed using the washed method under constant supervision. The pulp, fermentation time, washing, sorting in the channels and final soaking are carefully monitored. All cherries are first immersed in small buckets as the first step in quality verification. After floating, the higher-quality cherries are sorted by hand once more to remove any damaged, unripe or overripe cherries. After sorting, the pulp is removed within 6 hours of delivery. The coffee is air-dried for 12 hours and then soaked in clean mountain water for 12 to 24 hours. The parchment is then soaked for a further 12–18 hours before being transferred to drying tables. The parchment is frequently turned to ensure even drying, and any damaged beans are removed. The drying of the parchment takes approximately 2 to 3 weeks.