Burundi is perhaps less well known as a coffee producer compared to its neighbours Rwanda and Tanzania, but it is a country with great coffee tradition with fantastically high altitude, regular rainfall and an abundance of Bourbon. Being a landlocked country, sandwiched between the DRC, Tanzania and Rwanda, Burundi has typically had problems getting its coffee out of the country and on the water in a timely manner which has traditionally affected the cup profile of its coffee. However, recent advancements have been made as more mills and exporters become focused on the specialty industry to access higher prices for their coffee. All of Burundi’s coffee is produced by smallholder farmers who have between half a hectare and two hectares of coffee in their ‘shamba’ yielding between 1-5 sacks of cherry. They then deliver their selectively picked ripe cherry to a centralised wet mill, in this instance Dukorerikawa.

This washing station is situated in the district of Bururi in the south-west – a slightly lesser known coffee producing region in Burundi in comparison to its northern counterparts of Kayanza and Ngozi but this lot really stood out to us on the cupping table for its juicy character and jammy mouthfeel. Another legendary coffee from this beautiful producer that is wonderfully versatile displaying a good profile in most brew methods.