Process: Washed We Taste: Tropical Fruit, Caramel Apple Sweetness, Raspberry-Limeade Sparkle Roast Level: Light
From Importer (Cafe Imports):
Like many of its neighbors in Africa, Burundi produces microlots almost by default. Each farmer owns an average of less than even a single hectare and delivers cherries to centralized depulping and washing stations, SOGESTALs (Sociéte de Gestion des Stations de Dépulpage Lavage), and it may take more than one producers’ delivery in order to create a lot.
This purchasing style makes it nearly impossible, if not completely impossible, to arrive at single-producer, single-farm, or single-variety lots. Instead, coffees are typically sold under the appellation of the washing station. (In Kayanza, there are 21 washing stations, including familiar names to Cafe Imports’ offerings page: Gackowe, Butezi, Gatare, and Kiryama.)
Depending on the leadership and management at the stations, both private- and state-run, the attention to detail in the processing makes a big difference. Meticulous sorting, fermenting and washing are necessary to create quality and uniformity among the coffee. The typical processing method in Burundi is somewhat similar to Kenya, with a “dry fermentation” of roughly 12 hours after de-pulping, followed by a soak of 12–14 hours in mountain water. Coffees are floated to sort for density, then soaked again for 12–18 hours before being dried in parchment on raised beds